That's not what cats ask if they find your food interesting. Nope, some of them will wait until you look away from your plate and make a grab.
Huck will do this, if he thinks he can get away with it. Since he's tall enough to counter-surf, the typewriter tray of my desk is no problem for him, though he rarely goes after it unless he's feeling particularly ornery. This morning, I had my breakfast there (a stack of Swedish pancakes and a strip of bacon, worked down to a couple of forkfuls and a single bite, respectively) and I'd been saving a little coffee to wash down the last of it. Turned to the keyboard, typed a couple of words and-- Thud! Splatter! Huck had decided to try his luck and pulled the coffee cup over.
There was about one swallow of coffee left, most of which hit the floor. A little on the cat, a little on the typewriter shelf. The mug was unharmed.
...I had not anticipated that a cat might be after my coffee. He certainly doesn't need the extra energy! At least my food didn't get nabbed.
I've never had a cat go for coffee, but I have a dog who'll happily drink it if given the chance.....
ReplyDeleteTea, now... Minnie the Princess is interested in Peppermint Tea. And Fuzzy Britches once stuck her whole head inside a mug of Sleepytime and came out with the bag in her mouth. (Or was it Tension Tamer? The one with valerian in it.)
ReplyDeleteHe was aiming for the bacon and missed? I've known cats that showed no interest for "people food" still going mad over bacon.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Ruth... And you DO NOT want a Rottie on coffee, trust me! :-(
ReplyDeleteYou don't just hiss at them when they try to get up on the people surfaces? Tables, countertops? Show them boundaries?
ReplyDeleteMonty, we squirt 'em with water and say NO. Huck is only slightly deterred. As far as he is concerned, rules only count if someone is watching.
ReplyDeleteWe got our current critter from the used cat store (a pet shelter in rural MN); we were assured that although a year old (more or less) that he had low miles and had been well maintained.
ReplyDeleteWe found out that the idiot who had raised him had apparently either fed him from his plate on the table or counter, or hadn't cared that he snitched food from them. Our first meal at the table he jumped right up as though he belonged and started scarfing food off our plates. He has significant "food issues", and if we fed him as often as he wanted he'd look like a round balloon with a head, paws and tail.
It's taken three years to domesticate him to the point where he now simply goes and naps on the kitchen radiator instead of pestering us during meals. Discipline included small squirt-guns scattered around the kitchen and dining room, with a sharp "Turbo, NO!" just prior to squirting (he was already named when we got him). I think for the first year he thought his name was "Turbo, NO!".
But even now he will still go up on the forbidden counters if we're not right there looking at him, and we'll occasionally find him on the dining room chairs checking to see if there's anything edible left on the table (we've learned to keep NOTHING edible out where he can get it). And sometimes even when we ARE looking right at him, and he knows it, he'll still try to push that boundary just to see if we'll do something. I know exactly what you mean when you say that, "rules only count if someone is watching".
Cats here have little interest in the coffee. But do like the cream therein!
ReplyDeleteThe dogs love it, but per the Internet they aren't supposed to have it.
The cats also have an interest in just knocking shit off desks, tables, anywhere horizontal.
(and as my roomie prefers her hoarding to be stacks of uneven stuff - which I call Jenga - it happens often. And she hasn't learned!)
:-P
Sorry about the work SNAFU, but it seems you are feeling better(?)
gfa
Huck needs rehab.
ReplyDeleteThe odd HOT pepper left around might work, then again, you might end up with a feline with hot pepper dependancy.
ReplyDeleteIn other news: Have you seen these mugs?
http://www.cafepress.com/mf/54513078/viva-la-evolution_mugs?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=pla-google&utm_campaign=615349583-d-c&utm_content=26246958370-adid-88415620210&utm_term=pla-72698967970-pid-538593126&productId=538593126
C-90
I love little Pussy, BUT...
ReplyDeleteAs far as he is concerned, rules only count if someone is watching.
ReplyDeleteThat is cattitude defined. I've had cats that will stop doing what they're not supposed to be doing when they hear me coming. I've had others who will give me a stinkeye as if to say "yeah, you and what army?"
Chip thinks that his food is his and my food is sharable. And keyboards are for walking on.
"You don't just hiss at them when they try to get up on the people surfaces? Tables, countertops? Show them boundaries?"
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned in the text, he didn't *get up on* the people surface, he just reached up from the floor and pulled the mug over.