FEEDING TIME AT THE BLUE ZOO

Feeding Kitties Blue

I previously mentioned our morning and evening feedings of stinky goodness and why it is served in the post, “Angels, Lisbeth and Astrid, Turn One.”

 

 

Morning feeding time normally occurs prior to 8:30 a.m. This morning, however, I didn’t serve the first meal of the day until after 9 a.m. Breakfast being served late usually causes an uproar as well as me being pushed and prodded to get out of bed and to my duties. Not so today. Misty May remained above my head on the pillow. Lily Olivia and Mauricio were curled up on either side of me.

Giulietta and Fiona rarely sleep on the bed but will pester me in the mornings to get up. They were no where in sight. Neither were Astrid or Lisbeth. When I went to bed, the former was asleep in a kitty bed in the sewing room. The latter was on a folding table in the laundry room.

 

 

Lack of Urgency

When I made it to the kitchen, Lily Olivia took up her place on the counter next to the food bowls. She sat quietly at attention while I dished up her meal. Normally she has her head in the can, and I cannot get her food in a bowl without getting it on her head or the counter. Almost always, Lisbeth jumps up on the counter while Lily is waiting. Lily usually ignores her, as she did this a.m. Her sheer lack of urgency, however, was totally out of character.

Whenever we are away and a PlayTime Pet Sitting caregiver comes to feed, we always get notes about Lily Olivia. She’s the first one to arrive when it is time to eat. Her penchant for “helping out” while food is dished up is noted each day.

Opening any kind of can has always brought the kitties running, even before we began serving stinky goodness. In times past, when we ate tuna from a can instead of a pouch, kitties appeared out of nowhere when they heard the electric can opener. Sometimes they only found soup or veggies at the end of their quest. It was always better, however, to check out what was in the can than to miss out on a meaty treat. With tuna I would drain the water into small bowls for whichever of Kitties Blue showed up.

Can Opener on the Porch

When our first cat, Skooter, was young and would not respond to our pleadings to come into the house, we plugged in the electric can opener on the front porch where we ran it “sans can” to lure him. He would come, but unless we were really fast at grabbing him, he would sprint off again when his nose didn’t detect the aroma of any savory substance.

We still have an electric can opener but rarely find a use for it. Most cans, including cat food, now come with a pull-tab. I doubt that Astrid and Lisbeth have ever heard the can opener. I believe I may have to experiment with them and see if responding to its sound has now become instinctual in kitties.

Catnip Hangover

I suspect the reason for this morning’s scenario was due to hangovers from the catnip ingested last night by all but Misty May (who had already gone to bed). I had to bribe a few of them to come in off the back deck last night so I could go to bed. Bribery has always consisted of Pounce or some other brand of cat treats, but with all the catnip Chris has been bringing the kids, I have been using some when trying to prompt them to do my bidding.

 

 

Lily Olivia returned to her pushy, insinuating self at dinnertime. Order restored at the zoo! And I made everyone stay in the house after they ate; though, I had to listen to Astrid bellyaching and watch her shred another newspaper. So…no treats or catnip for the troops tonight. I expect an early wake-up call tomorrow morning.