Do I get a prize for tritest post title?

As I’ve mentioned in the past, the behavior of domestic cats is idiosyncratic at best.

Here’s a current example with one of mine the ones that lives in the same place as me:

A common breakfast here at Chez Pannaceaeae is yogurt (Stonyfield Farms Banilla) with granola or müsli (Alpen, et al.), occasionally with raisins, dried cranberries, or banana slices.

Ernestine the Brat

Ernestine the Brat

Ernestine, the grimalkin (actually, she’s a “dilute shaded tortoiseshell“) matriarch hereabouts, becomes very interested when I start assembling the meal. The bowl could be for that purpose, but it isn’t until the gloop, gloop of the yogurt being stirred and poured that her little feline suspicions are confirmed. At this point she sits firm and erect on the floor, stares keenly at me, and initiates the meowing.

  • Meow no. 1: (announcement) “Hey. I’m here.”
  • Meow no. 2: (firmly) “HEY!        I’m here.”
  • Meow no. 3: (stare) “    ” (silent meow)
  • Meow no. 4: (rather demurely) “Just reminding you that I like that stuff.”
  • Meow no. 5: (stare) “    ” (silent meow, refrain of no. 3)

From experience, I know that she will not quit this until she gets some. She’s well-behaved enough not to jump on the table, claw at my feet, or meow incessantly. Instead, she will just stay close (keeping that bowl in sight at all times); she’ll wait until I’m done and put the bowl on the floor for her. She then springs into action, natural predator that she is, and licks that yogurt to death, leaving the cereal bits unscathed. This is fine, because cat number two is a grains freak and will consume the remnants. (He also likes my baked goods, the little brown-noser.)

Now, I try to circumvent these circumstances because I don’t particularly care to be stared at while I eat. I have tried, all to no avail:

  • putting a little of the yogurt in a kitty-portion-sized ramekin.
  • sprinkling a little of the müsli onto yogurt in said ramekin and mixing.
  • spreading some of aforementioned concoction into a bowl of the same size and shape as the one I eat from.
  • pretending to eat from each of the above, using an actual spoon to create the occasional clinking sound.

Ernestine will have none of it. Only after I have actually eaten my share, she staring at me all the while, will she bother to eat some, despite her intense interest.

Why is this cat so contrary?
Is there something magical in my saliva?

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