Even Dodsworth is not immune to one of the oldest sight gags in cartoons: being seen in one's underwear after being accidentally skinned alive.
After the un-named Kitten fails to capture the woodpecker and is in the tree hole, Dodsworth at first believes that the kitten is taking what he planned for himself. So he pulls the rope back down, and a bowling ball falls on his head, with the note: 'My Mother always said, If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.' [signed] The Kitten.' Right after Dodsworth read the note, he looks up and sees the un-named kitten become an artificial woodpecker. After the beak is on the kitten, the kitten and woodpecker quickly pecked on the tree a note to Dodsworth and any other, [in capital letters] 'GNATS TO CATS'.
In the opening credits pages of Kiddin' the Kitten (1952) & its sequel, A Peck o' Trouble (1953). No name shows at all of the off screen speakers of actors, Sheldon Leonard (as Dodsworth) Mel Blanc as the un-named kitten and actress, Bea Benaderet as Dodsworth's owner in Kiddin' the Kitten (1952).
The mischievous (but silent) woodpecker might be a nod to Walter Lantz Studio's popular character, Woody Woodpecker.
Like fellow cartoon character Woody, the clever Picidae shown here is modeled after the North American Red Headed Woodpecker.