What if it is all a big misunderstanding?
Like the cat being somewhat of a retard and mistaking that roll of duct tape for a ball of yarn, then going nuts on it only to find itself in sort of a "situation." Then along comes Davis. Of course he tries to help but finds that the combination of fur and duct tape is beyond his abilities. Then it dawns on him what it must look like if anyone were to see him in this situation, so with jolt he drops the cat and runs inside and pretends he never saw it. But the cat keeps meaowing and he realizes that suspicion would obviously fall on him if the cat was found on his property! Panicking he sneaks outside to toss the unfortunate cat on the neighbour's lawn. "Better them than me" he mutters while cursing the cat for it's stupidity. Little did he know that his fate was already sealed. He had been spotted. The cat had doomed him to become Bubba's "friend" for the next two years.
A very unfortunate series of events...

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"I have a high art, I hurt with cruelty those who would damage me." — Archirocus, 650 BC