Giving up catching a cat with 匙を投げる

Idiom Explanation: Giving up with 匙を投げる

Eve takes the job of catching a cat that ran away from its owner. Following a successful mid-air catch off the roof and into a tree, Eve returns the cat to its owner.

お城(じょう)ちゃん:: 「よかったぁ　うちの仔(こ)すばしっこすぎて業者(ぎょうしゃ)さんに匙(さじ)投(な)げられて…」; “Thank goodness! Our little one was so quick that the hired help gave up on us...”; Literal: “Thank goodness. Our little one was so quick that the hired help threw the spoon...”; 「ありがとう　魔女(まじょ)さん」; “Thank you, Miss Mage.”

Key Points

1匙(さじ)を投(な)げる means to give up as hopeless

The hired help abandoned the job because the cat was too quick.
The idiom is figurative; no spoon is actually being thrown in the scene.

2The receptive form shows what happened to the owner

匙(さじ)投(な)げられて means they had the job given up on them.
It frames the owner as the person left without help.

3すばしっこすぎて gives the reason

すばしっこい means nimble or quick.
〜すぎて says the cat was too quick, leading to the hired help giving up.