Hi, I’m Dr. Karyn! Read my introduction to learn more about me and meet my five hilarious cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.

One problem I’ve never had to deal with in my house is picky eaters. The most likely reason for this is competition. There was only one time that I had a single pet in the house, and that was Clutch, a cat that had come to me fresh from the mean streets of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, UK, and a street cat is never going to pass up a meal!

Although it’s not always the case, most cats and dogs that are fussy eaters, or leave their food to come back to later, are only children. As soon as there is another mouth that might steal your food, you learn to eat what you are given when you are given it! The other reason many pets become picky is that they are in the process of training their humans.

Although it’s perfectly fine, and not at all dangerous, for a cat or dog to miss the occasional meal (as long as they’re not unwell or doing it on a regular basis), many owners will get quite worried if their pet refuses to eat their food. So what do they do? They race to the kitchen to find something more tempting, like some fresh chicken or fish, or some leftover rice pudding…you get where I’m going with this.

Animals aren’t silly, and once they realize that turning their nose up at their regular food will get them something even better, it’s only a matter of time before their cat or dog food is being replaced with a rotating smorgasbord of Michelin star-worthy meals. Fortunately, I have never fallen victim to this particular form of manipulation, and my cats remain unaware that things like cooked chicken pieces are anything but an ‘after-dinner digestif’.

However, they have managed to work out one way to manipulate their way into the occasional second breakfast or dinner.

Cats and Hobbits

Unless you’ve been living in a (Hobbit) hole, you’ll have heard of Lord of the Rings, and even those of you who haven’t watched the films (multiple times, in the extended versions, and with cast commentary) as I have, might have heard the quote from the mischievous Pippin:

Not to mention ‘elevenses, luncheon, and afternoon tea.’

We’ve established that my cats don’t shy away from a feed, and in fact, they can be downright greedy. But, they are also quite cunning.

Twice a day, all five cats gather together to meow and nag to make sure that Husband and I don’t forget to feed them. We never have, but obviously, they don’t want to leave anything to chance. If one of us has beaten the other home, or left for work early, we can usually tell if the cats have been fed by the enthusiasm of the group’s demands. On most days, one or two will come begging for some more later, but we are not going to be fooled by the food-loving Cyril into feeding them again.

Every now and then, maybe once or twice a month, I swear that the cats come together and agree to go for a second meal. They will come to either Husband or me, whichever one hasn’t already fed them, demanding, with all five voices, to be fed. It’s not until the food is down that a voice comes from downstairs, saying “I’ve already fed them!”

The Conspiracy Theory

You might be thinking that I’m reading too much into the behavior of a group of greedy cats, but here’s why I believe that this is a coordinated attack:

In order for their plea for ‘second breakfast’ (or elevenses, supper, etc) to work,

1. all five cats need to be in on it – if only a few (usually Cyril or Zelda) come begging, we can assume that they have all been fed, and that they are just hoping for second helpings.
2. they need to target the person who didn’t already feed them – for obvious reasons.
3. they can’t do it too often – if they were all begging for more food every day, we would never be fooled. It is because they only do this very occasionally that they manage to pull it off.

It might seem far-fetched to think that my cats are capable of such high-level espionage, but unless you can prove otherwise, I will continue to believe it!

Do your cats manipulate you? Tell me about it in the comments below.