Beware of the cat

July 20, 2014 • 9:06 am

Here’s a funny sign put up before a party and then posted on Twi**er:

Screen Shot 2014-07-13 at 12.43.51 AM

Actually, most cats fit that description: narcissistic, sybaritic, affectionate only when they get something out of it, like fusses or food. Why, then, do we love them so?

h/t: Barry

28 thoughts on “Beware of the cat

  1. My best friend had a cat like this. His family couldn’t leave any open liquid container standing around, because the cat would knock it over just to watch the water flowing.

    1. Oh yeah and, unlike a certain other type of animal, they do something in between jumping all over you and just sitting there motionless while you pet them.

      1. No, they walk two feet away and then get upset that you’re not petting them because they’re out of reach.

        1. Cats have an excellent sense of distance. They know exactly how far away to flop down just out of petting distance.

          1. Pet me here. Now over here. Under the table. In the kitchen. In the bathroom. In the bathtub. Hey. Hey. HEY. Where did you go? I want you to pet me!

  2. Baihu doesn’t fit that mold, actually. He’s never been one for knocking things off tables just for the sake of doing so. He’s probably more likely to want to cuddle after meals than before; before, he simply lets me know in no uncertain terms how positively starved he is because he hasn’t eaten in hours! Hours! Hours! Hours! So I should feed him now! Now! Now! Now! And he’s there when I need him every bit as much as I’m there when he needs me….

    b&

    1. “And he’s there when I need him every bit as much as I’m there when he needs me…”

      Yes. This has been true of all of mine. And they need each other, too.

  3. Because they are to us as cowbirds are to other birds?

    Whatever it is, my sloppy pattern matching says they are cute and adorable, and thanks to the inconsistent positive enforcement of their fickle attention I try even harder to get it. Damn you BF Skinner!!!

    1. It’s not a bad idea…but a much better idea is to just play with the cat. Baihu generally goes into turbo mode about this time of evening, and he’s already spent a good bit of time chasing the laser and then the mouse at the end of the wire. He probably has at least one more good sprint in him tonight….

      b&

  4. My two rascals (oriental shorthair cats) are affectionate almost all the time; more so than my golden retriever. The female could be described as being on the self-absorbed side of the spectrum, the male, astonishingly, could not rightly be so designated.

  5. Well, one reason we love cats is that while they may knock stuff off tables just for fun, they will never indiscriminately mix minuscule and majuscule letters in a sign.

  6. The motto for Clan Chattan is Touch not the catt bot a glove. ‘Bot’ meaning “but”, and translating into English as “without” or “ungloved”, either being a warning to those who would harm the clan.

    1. Yes, that’s the MacPherson clan. If the ‘bot’ has no claws you are okay. Otherwise take your chances.

      1. MacPherson are part of the Chattan confederation. Many (all?) of the Chattan clans use a wildcat in their heraldry.

  7. I now keep all my laptops and iPads on the floor under the couch, because my three sweetie-pie darlings love the sound of devices hitting the floor after they’ve been knocked off tables and desks. (Also, charging cables = the best chew-toys ever!)

    But, it’s worth it. Because of the little devils’ darling-ness. If you just view it the right way, knocking devices to the floor and chewing up the cables is actually part of the cats’ charm.

  8. Leaving drinks where Jaffa could reach them was problematic, but not ‘cos of knocking them over; she was particularly partial to Baileys and similar cream-based things. (Also indoor plants. In pots.) And she would eat leftovers of anything I cooked, including vegetarian.
    I haven’t bought broccoli for years, and I just remembered why. I miss that cat.

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