Perhaps you remember Theo, the all-black cat whose staff, Laurie and Gethyn, sent us this entry to the Cat Confession Contest:
If you can’t read it, it says, “My name is Theo and I drink coffee and lick plastic! Really!” His actions and contrition won him a copy of WEIT with a cat drawn in it: a coffee-loving moggie:
Yestereday, however, I received a photo of Theo drinking espresso. He apparently doesn’t drink the whole cup, but when Gethyn has espresso, Theo crawls all over his shoulders and lap, desperately begging for the coffee. He finally gets a bit to drink at the end, which he laps up eagerly—and then takes a nap!
Theo begins getting excited when he hears the beans being ground. Unlike other cats, who run to the sound of a can opener, Theo comes to the grinder!
And then really gets excited when the espresso is brewed:
There you have it—a first, and only on this site: the world’s only espresso-drinking cat.
(p.s. Let us not have tut-tutting, as Theo hardly gets any.)
The coffee plant is clearly planning for the day that cats take over the world by making sure felines are just as addicted to caffeine as humans, to ensure its continued cultivation and care. Very perspicacious.
It’s a slippery slope – first expresso then cappuccino leading to catnip and then a stay in a drug rehab facility.
Our cats drink tea!
Sent from my iPhone
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But he takes a NAP after drinking espresso, rather than dashing about the house! How strange (but then cats do nap most of the time…)
Theo of course keeps up with the latest research:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/03/coffee-sleep-power-naps-science_n_5753360.html
Interesting! I can’t drink coffee at all. It makes me waaaay too wired.
My father(deceased) used to drink a cup of coffee every night just before going to bed- he claimed that it helped him get to sleep!
I suppose caffeine does not effect cats. Perhaps Theo likes the oils in the coffee beans.
I see you have some interesting books there.
“Unlike other cats, who run to the sound of a can opener, Theo comes to the grinder!”
We’ve got two kitties. When the nearby ballpark has fireworks, one dives under the nearest bed. The other jumps to the window to see what the h*ll is going on.
And the cat likes it without milk? Hardcore!
I had some friends whose bowl of chocolate-covered espresso beans kept being depleted very quickly–they of course each thought the other was responsible, until one day in broad daylight they saw a mouse run out of the wall, grab a mouthful of beans and run back.
That mouse probably had a caffeine-to-body-weight ratio approaching 1.
I heard about a Cat Cafe opening in Montreal, but I was assuming that coffee would be for the cat owners/staff.
Very interesting! Never would have thought. I’ll have to offer some to Baihu next time I make some, see what he thinks….
b&
I would make a cup of espresso for my cat. But no way would I share my single malt with her!
But blended?
Somehow it makes sense to me that cats would like coffee. I had a friend whose cat would sneak her tea if she left it unattended. She’d return to find cat hair in it!
I like the selection of books in the last shot, especially The Walking Dead. I read all those comics on my Android.
forgot to sub. 🐱
Hey, my animal picture subbing is catching on! Is a meme yet?
Cat and dog hair everywhere, I’ve even found it in my icecubes. Was it someone on this site who said that animal hair was a condiment in her kitcheb?
I even find dog hair in my car that my dog doesn’t ride in. I guess it come off my clothes. Or my dog is driving my roadster without me knowing!
Theo, the grinder alert cat: “Bean there, do that!”
And that’s why when Orson tries to stick his fat fuzzy face in my coffee cut he gets a stern “That’s not for cats.” I grind chocolate with my coffee beans, so not even a sneaky lick is allowed.
One of my cats loves coffe but everywhere I look it says it´s toxic to cats & dogs!
Dosage is an important consideration. Aspirin, for example, has a similar effect in cats as humans…but they’re a tenth our mass. Imagine what it’d be like for you to take ten aspirin at once, and that’s what it’s like giving a single aspirin to a cat.
And there’re also different physiologies at work; as I understand it, theobromine is more toxic on a per-mass basis to cats than to humans.
A cat who, say, licks clean the spoon you use to stir your coffee or mocha java isn’t going to be at any risk. One who eats an entire king-size chocolate bar or inhales an entire doppio probably won’t live another day — just as you wouldn’t if you snorted an entire kilogram of cocaine all at once (or whatever the appropriate dosage comparison is).
How close you want to get to that dosage line is up to you…but, hopefully, you’ll stay far, far away from it. Personally, I’m thinking I’ll let Baihu sniff at some coffee and maybe lap at it a little, which is all I’d expect him to be interested in in the first place, knowing his tastes. But even if he wants more, tough luck!
…on the subject, members of the lily family, including onions and garlic, seem to be rich in compounds that do nasty things to cat and possibly dog livers. I don’t know if any safe levels exist beyond “trace.” I also don’t have any solid references to back this up…but prudence dictates to not even go there.
b&
My Akita used to drink coffee on the advice of her vet! She had anxiety issues and he recommended a bit of coffee to calm her down and it worked every time! Apparently caffeine has a paradoxical effect on higher metabolisms (and children and animals), because as a hyper-active child with asthma it was also the doctor-recommended treatment for my husband when he got too wound up or was having an attack (and it always put him to sleep afterward!)Only black though, no sugar or milk.
oh–and I also have a cat who only drinks warm water! He had been born outside in the South in the Summer and drank out of a yard fountain and I think it influenced his preference for warm water. Also he had tooth troubles early on (they were cracked) so again I think cold water hurt him.
Most cats like warm water. In fact, to encourage them to drink more water, serve it warm.
One of Theo’s dopplegangers like tea too. Like drinking the water puddles left on the shower floor too.
As far the tea-drinking cat goes, I think it’s the milk she’s attracted to.
To make sure that Baihu gets lots of water, when I serve him meals, I start with a tiny little bit of Trader Joe’s Tuna for Cats at the bottom of the bowl, add the Nature’s Variety Raw Instinct that’s his staple on the top, and then a very generous helping of tap water — not enough to cover the food, but not all that far below it, either. He’d just as soon I didn’t give him any water with it…but, if I have just that very little bit of tuna at the bottom of the bowl, he licks the bowl dry.
I do believe he may well be the best-hydrated feline in the Western Hemisphere….
b&
Freddie loves to drink water from his water bowl, his fountain, and any available sink. Also milk from cereal bowls, which he vultches.
Theo must have read about coffee naps. You drink a cup of coffee, then take a nap. It takes about 20 minutes for the caffeine from the coffee to make it to your brain & wake you up. So you have a timed nap. No doubt it takes a shorter time for the caffeine to reach Theo’s brain, so coffee cat-nap!
We used to have a cat that loved toast with vegemite, but have never heard of a coffee-loving cat!