Oh good, a kitteh thread—I have some more entertainment for you. My feline overlords have triumphed yet again. I just totally caved to my younger cat’s repeated melodramatic performances—this was like the 6th one today.

Kitty Theater

CL walks from living room through front entryway into kitchen. There’s one of those benches with a hinged seat in the entryway, which is where the cat food is stored (some on top, some inside).

Younger cat—who is an extremely picky eater with a sensitive stomach—jumps on bench and pointedly begins rubbing against the cans of the only flavor of wet food she’s decided that she likes.

CL, attempting to avoid eye contact with above mentioned cat, begins preparing a fresh pot of espresso…

Cat: Meow?

CL: *sighs* What?

Cat: *rubbing food* Meowwwwww! [Hopeful.]

CL: No. You have to finish your plate. [She knows what this means—that she has to eat all the dry food in her dish before I’ll give her anything else—and it is NOT the response she’s looking for.]

Cat: MEEEEOWWWWWW!!11! [Outraged—no, that’s not fair!]

CL: I said NO. You have to finish your plate.

Cat: meowwwww… [This time expressed in a very weak, pitiful tone designed to pull at the heartstrings.]

CL: *looks away* No, I said FINISH YOUR PLATE.

Cat, usually very agile & light on her feet (unlike the elder one) flings herself onto floor, landing with a heavy *thud*, then makes a great show of walking dejectedly (drooping tail and all) to her food dish and sniffs at the dry food. She looks back one last time, hoping against hope…. She then begins to nibble gingerly at the food….

CL: Oh, FFS—okay, you win! [Goes to open new can of wet food.]

Cat: Meow! [Ecstatic—I love you soooo much!]

CL: *shaking head* Yeah, uh-huh. You’re welcome. //

I swear, if she was a human kid she’d be crying “crocodile tears” and making a show of gagging every time she had to swallow a bite of dry food. *eyeroll*