Hobbit in the House

Our boy Cake was a stray for a lot of his younger years (the shelter estimated that he’s nine years old now) but we think he must have lived with humans at some point. He’s so friendly and has brilliant manners. For example, when Jen comes by, he runs to greet her at the front door. Then, when she’s heading back home, he accompanies her back downstairs. I'm tellin' you, he's just gracious as all fuck.

FYI—my cat has more refined social skills than me. I suppose that doesn’t take much.

The other way we can tell that he was on his own for too long is that he’s always hungry or, maybe more accurately, he always wants to eat. A stray cat never knows when its next meal is gonna be. They snarf when they can. Sustenance is never assured.

Now that he’s inside with humans at his beck and call, Cake has discovered the fine art of communication. He no longer needs to hunt and kill for his survival. All he need do is indicate that a fresh bowl of Fancy Feast wouldn't go amiss. Cake does this by sitting near his food bowl, repeatedly looking up from it to Ten or me. If that doesn’t get results, he’ll stroll up to Ten, sitting in his desk chair, stand up on his hind legs and meow in Ten's face. OR he comes over to me, sitting in my green velvet comfy chair, and starts clawing at the seat. Cake seems to have sorted out that I’m deaf but knows I'll respond to him digging into the upholstery.

Our wonderful furry boy wants to eat ALL the damn time because now he, theoretically, can. We try (OK, Ten tries) to make sure our boy doesn't overeat and turn into Jabba the furry Hut. While Cake does get first and second breakfast, we resist giving him elevenses and luncheon. He does however get a wee bit for high tea and, of course, dinner. Yeah, I’m pretty sure we have a hobbit, not a cat, in the house.

The other day, Cake was harassing Ten for MORE FOOD NOW. Given that he’d already had second brekkie and it wasn’t yet tea time, Ten was resistant. I just had to intercede—“just one teaspoon of Fancy Feast to hold him over until high tea?"

Quick aside: Cake always has a bowl of dry food available for snacks. We are NOT mercilessly depriving the poor boy of food. It’s just that he craves that Fancy Feast.

In any case, to my entreaties on Cake’s behalf, Ten gave out an exasperated sigh and said “there are starving cats in Biafra and he still has dry food on his plate”

Yes, our justly spoiled kitten got a little more FF—it was nearly time for high tea after all.