Dr Jim the cat shrink told Mom to tempt the cats with delicious treats. Alas, the canned food doesn’t stay tempting for more than a single feeding. I suspect she’ll be heading over to Safeway for some generic version of Fancy Feast and maybe some human food in a lower-cost version.
Cathy’s following a diet she downloaded from the Internet. She looks great, but she says, “It ought to be called the Expensive Food diet. Lots of blueberries and salmon and organic produce.”
Alas, I have to go to my crate when Mom tries to tempt the kitties with treats. So far nothing seems to be working. Creampuff seems to have caught on to the game.
“Just a few years ago I was bragging about what great pets I had,” Mom sighs. “And now we’ve got the dog with the delicate tummy and the most neurotic cat on the planet.”
She exaggerates. But not by much.
One trick to keep canned food palatable beyond the first feeding is to put it in the microwave for just a few seconds to warm it up. That releases the odors and may make it more tempting for Ophelia.
That isn’t a problem for me because I love to eat whatever Ellen gives me, wet or dry. And I see to it that feeding me my breakfast is the very first thing she does in the morning–we have to keep our humans properly focused…
But my special treat is the gravy found in people’s canned tuna (the kind that is canned in water). I’ll come running for miles when I detect a whiff of that!
Champagne, you’re a cat after my own heart. Sensible with your priorities in order. Food first. Everything else second. Maybe you’d like to move to Seattle and we will send Ophelia off to you?
— Gracie
I could consider it, but I’m not a big one for travel. I don’t much care to be put into the cat carrier to ride in Ellen’s car to the vet. From what I hear about air travel, I’d like that even less.
So, you’d have to move to Philadelphia. Not that I’m so ready to trade humans after I have Ellen so well trained.
I have several techniques. Like any good trainer one has to use carrots and sticks. For carrots, I purr. It works every time. Humans are such suckers for purring cats. That’s how I convinced Ellen to pick me ahead of the other cats in the shelter. I even got the electrician to give me extra petting but doing a bit of well-timed purring.
Snuggling up and lap sitting works well, too, but not with everyone. Ellen’s dad wasn’t keen on my sitting on his lap, but it works wonders with Ellen.
Then there are the sticks. Getting in Ellen’s face when she’s late with dinner is one example. Fortunately I have Ellen so well trained that I rarely have to go further.