My cat has developed increasingly strong opinions about food and will not shut up about them
My cat has access to a rotating menu of food options. In an effort to avoid being meowed to death, my wife and I keep the following in stock:
- basic dry kibble
- wet food (prescription, because she vomits)
- freeze-dried raw chicken
- Temptations (treats, but sometimes offered as a meal)
- Churu (a tube of puréed meat, which she absolutely loves)
Feeding her is mostly guesswork. Put something on a plate, hope the meowing stops. We get it wrong a lot. Two exceptions:
- Mornings are always dry kibble, because she's most likely to puke in the A.M. The kibble doesn't fully prevent this but it makes the cleanup significantly less horrible.
- No Churus until nighttime. We are gravely concerned that early exposure will cause her to demand Churus for every meal, forever.
Today was a worst case scenario. She rejected everything. Wouldn't even go for the Temptations, which is rare. I'd been eyeing the Churu in a moment of weakness. Instead, I tried something else. I'm not sure what inspired it. Desperation, probably.
I got a separate bowl and poured a small amount of dry kibble (already refused) into it. Then I brought it to a different room. She'd been watching intently, likely preparing her next meow, but as I moved past her out of the kitchen and down the hall she began sniffing the air instead. She hopped after me with pupils at medium dilation.
I placed the bowl on the floor of the entryway and she was on it immediately. Tore into it. Ravenous. Performative?
I tip-toed away to not trigger her skittishness. Her chomping was immense. My satisfaction was undeniable.
Then the realization hit. The room had made the difference. Same food, same bowl. Different room.
In addition to the careful orchestration of food types and timings, I must now consider the location of her meals. Or, worse, the choreography of her dining experience. She has preferences about ambiance. She is a cat.
Of course, the alternative theory is that she's just messing with us. This is an animal that will maintain eye contact while sliding a glass off a counter. Push other pets down flights of stairs. Try to take out an unsupervised toddler in midday combat. Beautiful, wonderful companions. Also truly awful.
Anyway, she's meowing again.