The effect of Cowthulhi

[Cankiie]

Me and a couple of friends played munchkin cthulhu not long ago and one was struck with Cowthulhu.

I read the card and the card specifies that the player would lose his footgear before.

[MODERATOR EDIT: Please don't quote card text on these forums. You are welcome to paraphrase, if necessary, but SJG does not want people not quote their card text.]

Does this effect count for combat against Cowthulhu alone or combat in general?

You see, Cowthulhu was not encountered by kicking in the door, but by the usage of wandering monster. This means that if Cowthulhu's effect is combat in general, then the effect no longer counts because it is no longer before combat. However if it is just combat with him, then the effect will take place.

So the question is.

If Cowthulhu appears in combat through any other means but kick in the door, will the player who is unfortunate enough to have cowthulhu thrown at him, lose his footgear?