 her imperial majesty - foto by Smith Our loaner cat Mandy just shocked me. I was in the kitchen and Mandy decided it was time for her nightly wet food. She has dry cat food in her bowl all day but obsesses about her once-a-day treat. She starts hinting about it when we get up in the morning, and tries to charm it out of us each time one of us heads toward the kitchen during the day. But around 5 pm she starts getting more insistent in her requests, sharper in her mewling. Tonight at 6:30 I was cleaning up the kitchen dishes (Lady cooks, I wash and clean-up after) when Mandy told me to stop fooling around and feed her. Told her no, she had to wait one more hour until it got dark because if I fed her now, she’d try to con us out of more when it got dark. As I left the kitchen, she snarled at me, swatted my leg with her claw and tried to bite my shin - essentially shouting FEED ME GODDAMMIT YOU’RE MY SERVANT DO YOUR JOB ! ! ! I’m amazed at her communication abilities, amazed at the intensity of her need, shocked at her show of force to get what she wants, confounded that she’s not afraid of my huge size and strength compared to her. Told Lady all this and she shrugged and said, “Feed her. We ate, she has a right too.” So I told Mandy she’d won and fed her. Now she’s eaten, she’s the sweetest most affectionate fur purrer around. We were feeding her wet food at 6 in the morning when we awoke, but Mandy decided to wake us at 5 to get her food earlier, and when that mostly worked she tried 4, and then 3, at which time we switched her to night eating. Cats are walking need, and they’re incredibly smart - know how to try and get what they want, and they are incredibly persistent, know no shame. I’m learning a lot about humans from watching Mandy.  Mandy on art I’m repairing - foto by Smith |
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I forget exactly where, but I read an article (not too long ago) stating that cats developed their purr specifically in order to manipulate human behavior, that the purr developed only after feline / human relationships became established. Clearly, she feels you are somewhat slow to learn.
when mandy lived with me, she would sit on the counter with the food bowl & snag us (claws out) as we walked by. it’s a corner counter by the passageway to the living room. i thought she was lookin’ for attention.
my brother had her trained to jump up on the counter as he approached it.
i have fourteen other cats, & if any of them got near mandy as they were walking past, she would hit them too, claws out, in the face.
but she’s smart & fun, affectionate, playful. (she’s not all claws)
this comment from wendy’s loaner cat service.
We can’t have cats anymore because of my wife’s allergies. I miss ‘em - but then again I don’t. Think our three dogs are plenty nuff now.