Hey. Looks like we could use a new focus of discussion. So how about this:
When I feed my house panthers, I find myself (often, not always) bending down, and, like some over-familiar waiter at a restaurant trying too hard to be mellow, saying, “enjoy.”
I do realize that I am my cats’ servant…but everytime I do this, I have this sudden sense of being wholly ridiculous.
And then I do it again…
Is it just me?
And let’s have a couple of bonus images.
In case of emergency, pull cord (at your own considerable risk):
This thread is so open.
sab
Champ has a huge advantage not having a horse blaze on her face.
Benw
When I feed the house wolf I always give him two thumps on his side, for reasons.
sab
The other guy has the best blaze ever.
S Cerevisiae
Right now in the house are 3 humans, 3 cats, and 2 shepherds- it’s a crazy zoo at times. The 2 shepherds set each other off barking which scares the cats, all the critters try to get each other’s food, never a dull moment!
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
My house panthers benefit from an entire discussion on why their portions are limited as I place their bowls before them.
Alison Rose
When she’s getting wet food, Briery tends to get a bit yowly and impatient (a couple times she’s jumped up on the counter if I’m taking too long). So I don’t tell her “enjoy” when I put the bowl down, I usually say something like “Here, damn it, now shut up”.
But I say it with all the love in the world.
Doc H
Me: *puts bowl of kibble down*
Maisie the advenureteckel,”WTF, dude? Some bacon grease? Some wet food on top?”
Me, out loud, “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.”
Maisie, out loud, “BOWOOOOOWOOOOWOOOO”
Narrator: Maisie wins often enough that she’ll never give up.
Alison Rose
Also, since it’s an OT and we’re talking about food (in a sense) and a lot of you like to cook…World Central Kitchen is putting out a cookbook!
(I do not cook, but I thought I’d share this for those of you who engage in such things.)
From their FB post:
The publisher site indicates it’ll have a foreword by Stephen Colbert, which is cool, and adds:
Pretty cool! Also, if someone wants to make that lemon olive oil cake and drop it off at my door, I wouldn’t say no.
trollhattan
Possibly.
When the dog I feed, I have him sit and pretend I matter in his universe for that moment before I signal it’s time. I do not wish him bon appetit, in part perhaps because he’s a German breed. Also, it’s kibble and does not look particularly bon. He normally does not complain.
Josie
Since Duncan the corgi is such a gentleman, he waits anxiously as I refill his water and scoop out his food. I tell him “Okay. Good dog.” and then he starts to eat. I didn’t train him to this. He’s just always been this way.
Percysowner
I have a very old cat, 21 this year. Sadly, he forgets where his food is sometimes. Not his normal kibble, that is down all the time, but his canned food that he gets 2-3 times a day. He’ll start eating then wander away. Then he complains and cries and I have to open the gate to his food ( I have a beagle, if the cat food isn’t behind a gate, the cat food gone in 60 seconds) and literally put the food under his nose and say “It’s here”. Then he’ll eat it. It’s sad, because I know he’s going downhill. The vet thinks this and other behavior indicate dementia. So, I keep showing him where the food is and will for as long as he’s with me.
HeartlandLiberal
No, it is not just you. My wife has taken to taking a plate of soft cat food up with us when we go upstairs to the bedroom, to watch and episode or movie. We have one picky cat. Wife puts the food on her dresser, shows the cat where it is, and eventually the cat will deign to eat it, sometime in the course of the evening.
Chief Oshkosh
@Doc H: Intermittent reinforcement: Finest Kind!
eclare
@Percysowner: Your cat is lucky to have you.
Eunicecycle
@Chief Oshkosh: if you want the behavior to persist!
CaseyL
I don’t need to say “Bon appetit” or “Enjoy!” to feel like a servant. Just preparing the wet food does that, and here’s why:
Back in December when Seattle had a big bad cold snap and my heater was broken, the canned food was really cold. I thought it was too cold, so I heated some water to Very Hot and mushed the hot water into the food until it was about body temperature.
Oscar loved it.
Oscar loved it so much he refuses now to eat the food unless it has been well-mixed with hot water.
If the mix isn’t sufficiently warm, he will give me The Look that all cat owners know: “Why are you feeding me this SWILL?”
So every day now starts with me as the anxious kitchen help, hoping His Lordship will approve of what I put before him.
Tom Levenson
@CaseyL: Oscar is an awesome individual.
cvannatta
@Alison Rose: Thanks for the heads-up — I preordered it right away.
I talk to my cat all the time about the State of Things, and that includes food service.
“Here, you are, my darling,” as I put her bowl in front of her with a flourish.
And when she gives me The Look and haughtily walks away, I express respectful regret that the makers of kidney-diet foods didn’t consider her discerning palate.
MazeDancer
My cats know the words “lunch” and “dinner”.
So, I say “Here’s your lunch, Kai, Tess, or Alethia,” to each cat as I place their dish in front of them.
Alison Rose
@CaseyL: I do the same thing for most of Briery’s canned meals. When I first open a new can, it’s fine at room temp, but one can = four meals over two days (she also gets kibble), and since I have to keep the opened covered can in the fridge, which I keep very cold, the other three meals get mixed with hot water. She’ll still eat it if it isn’t, but she kind of wanders around mewing for a few minutes first to register her displeasure. The thing is, especially in the morning, it takes fucking forever to get hot water in my kitchen sink, and some days I’m like “sorry girl, even with 12 feet of rain this year, we’re still technically in a drought”.
eclare
@CaseyL: Hahaha…
sab
@MazeDancer: Four cats. Two know their names. Mouf and Dobby. Everyone else answers to Kitty!
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
Our cats are fed on their own special table, set under a window with a view of a bird bath just outside. They are getting older, so our large cat needs a step stool to get up to the table these days. When I give them their afternoon kibble, I just say, “Here ya go!” But my husband has a whole patter down when he feeds them their canned food in the morning. It’s an east-facing window, so they often spend the morning lounging on the table in the sun after eating.
The reason for the table in the first place is that my son’s chihuahua used to want to eat all of the cat food, he was very food-driven and fiercely protective of food, and for everyone’s health and safety we had to find a way to keep him away from it.
CaseyL
@Tom Levenson:
He is an awesome individual with, as I type this, a case of Poopy Butt. If he can’t remedy that himself, I will have to give him a bath. It would be his first ever.
Let’s see if Mr. Awesome Individual and I both survive the experience
@Alison Rose: I zap the water in a mug in the microwave. About one ounce, 40 seconds does it.
neabinorb
My cat wants to be escorted to the feeding station and then encouraged to eat. Sometimes he requests a little catnip before he’ll eat. He seems to like it if I sit on the floor and watch.
New Deal democrat
A couple of Sunday updates on the SVB debacle.
The Finanscenti seem to be divided into two camps: (1) those who think there will be bank runs everywhere Monday morning as large depositors discover that maybe they should diversify where cash in excess of $250,000 is held, vs. (2) those who think the FDIC will announce tomorrow morning before the opening of Wall Street which bank or consortium of banks will assume the assets and liabilities, including 100% of all deposits, of SVB.
I lean to the latter.
Secondly, this is a good explainer from Jim Bianco of the difference between SVB and 2008:
https://twitter.com/biancoresearch/status/1634885127179325440
“This is not a solvency crisis like 2008. Bad loans or poor investments were not made. Money was not lost. So, everyone is going to get their money back. (And please no takes about no interest rate hedging. Asset/liability mismatches are how banking works.)
“Instead this is an old fashion 1930s liquidity crisis. Too many depositors demanded cash at once (as in right now) and SVB (and SI) could not convert loans and securities (and crypto) to cash that quickly. So, everyone is getting their money back from SVB (and SI), just not at 8AM Monday. And, yes this is a big problem as this is working capital for a lot of companies. They have payrolls to meet and vendors to pay next week. And if they don’t pay bills and employees, they in turn don’t pay their bills and this can quickly cascade into a major economic problem.”
If there is no takeover deal announced by the FDIC tomorrow morning, the other big divide is what to do about depositors. While there is lots of bleating about how they are “innocent,” I beg to differ. Nobody put a gun to Roku’s CFO’s head and ordered them to put $500M on deposit with SVB. Moral hazard sauce for the student loan goose is moral hazard sauce for the VC gander (and the former are about 1000% less sophisticated than the latter).
There are ways to protect working firms that have to make payrolls this week short of 100% guarantees of their excess deposits. There is no reason that customers who made regular (e.g.) biweekly withdrawals to make payroll can’t have that regular recurring amount backstopped for the next week, or alternatively (3) granted a loan in return for a loan guarantee that the funds will be paid back with interest promptly (e.g., within 60 days).
Momentary
When I refill the hay racks for my sheep I yell “Pizza Delivery!”
sab
Shadow just strolled through my room. ignored everyone. Just she being herself.
EarthWindFire
@CaseyL: Our doggo Penny had a spell of bad appetite while on her antibiotic so I put chicken broth on her food as enticement. Her last pill was a week ago. The chicken broth is still being poured on her food. Because, shut up, that’s why, my hooman. I see you.
different-church-lady
I think it would be more ridiculous to wish your cats hated their meal.
Redshift
Nah, I don’t feel ridiculous at all. 🙂
Our current bunny Joe is quite a character. They’re grazing animals, so they eat hay all through the day, but more than most, Joe often treats being served hay as a meal, and will sometimes grab a piece from my had as I’m putting it down.
The other meals are the ones he gets excited about, though. In the morning, he races over to where I give him a blueberry and waits impatiently. In the evening, he gets his greens, and best of all, a piece of dried banana. For that, he does “the banana dance,” standing up on his hind legs to beg for it. And then he’s eager for his bunny chow at night.
Hungry Joe
Phoebe the Cat has never been picky — just demanding. And vocal. Once I start the evening ’s Wet Food Routine, she starts up. Meow. YOWL! “Do you really think this is helping?” I ask her, every time. “Do you think this makes me go faster?” Then, when I place it before her, “Here is your supper.” Every time. I’m not obsessive/compulsive about anything else, but when it come to the critters … yeah.
WaterGirl
@sab: If Mr. Bear greets me a the door when I come in, and Miss Willow does not, I say;
And Miss Willow makes her classic sound to let me know where she is.
Redshift
@Redshift: Oh, and there’s patter, too. It varies a bit, but morning hay as usually accompanied by “are you ready for brekkie?”, banana with “are you ready for some TREATS?” and dinner with “chow time, Joe!”
Like I said, not ridiculous at all!
Redshift
@Momentary:
Lol, I love it!
Another Scott
@New Deal democrat:
Dean Baker at CEPR cuts to the chase:
I think everyone realizes, after looking at the S&L bailouts, and the LTCM debacle, and the housing bubble, and all the rest, if not earlier, that the banking system in the US is broken and needs to be fixed. Separating investment banking from normal banking that the economy depends on would be a good start. They were much more separate (but not enough) before the shotgun marriages that (coincidentally, of course) made the big banks even bigger after the housing bubble burst…
Hold onto your wallets if there are stories on Monday morning that Congress and the Fed needs to act NOW NOW NOW to save the
Baily Building and LoanSVB.Grr…,
Scott.
WaterGirl
Every time John Cole calls me (I think he calls around lunchtime on purpose!) the cats start meow-ing their equivalent of prisoners banging their cups against the bars of the prison doors, and Cole makes me stop the conversation so I can feed them.
I swear John calls around lunchtime on purpose, and I swear the kitties know that as soon as they hear his voice. they will be fed.
eclare
@Redshift: That is adorable!
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: Oh, and i say “who’s hungry?” in a particular tone of voice to let them know we are about to eat.
Alison Rose
@Momentary: LOLOL I love that. That would absolutely be me if I had farm animals.
zhena gogolia
@Momentary: That’s hilarious!
My one black cat always had to have a bit of whatever we were eating cut up for him and given to him on a little plate. It delayed dinner quite a bit, but we just had to do it. Later cats had no interest in human food.
different-church-lady
@Another Scott:
Wait ‘til he hears what we’re doing to the environment.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I say to Yogi, Eat your breakfast/dinner. It’s delicious. He’s barely had any food in his life other than dog food. My in-laws on the other hand just got a new Bassett puppy. They treated their previous 2 like garbage disposals and it makes me sick. And it makes the Bassetts fat.
EarthWindFire
Pics please! That sounds so adorable.
FelonyGovt
I just love Tikka’s look of absolute disdain.
Redshift
@New Deal democrat:
Yeah, me, too. The ones in the first category seem to be saying “all these highly paid money people are brilliant like me and also too dumb to realize their deposits are at some risk until something like this happens.”
I also think some of these bozos are trying to create panic to make it more likely their friends will get bailed out. But the alternative is that they’re just idiots who don’t know anything, which is all too plausible.
Zelma
You are not the only one. Every time I go out, I tell my dog Bandit how long I’ll be gone.<g>
Redshift
@EarthWindFire:
Dang, how have I never gotten a picture of that? I’ll work on it.
eclare
@Zelma: I don’t say how long I will be gone but I always say “I’ll be back!” when I leave.
FelonyGovt
When we had our cat Fuzzle, he would seem to know I was making tuna casserole even before I did. He always demanded a little tuna first as tribute. At one point I was speculating facetiously about Fuzzle’s religion, and my husband said, “he’s a Tunatarian”.
Doc Sardonic
@Alison Rose: Let me mansplain /s …… No too long, let me sum up. My wife puts water on the food out of the ‘fridge and zaps it in the microwave for like 5 seconds. Works wonders for two of our cats that are very finicky and if the food doesn’t smell (even though I can smell the damn stuff 6 feet away) they won’t eat it. That 5 seconds in the microwave is gold Jerry.
eclare
@Redshift: At this point I think they are trying to cause panic/more bank runs to increase the odds of a bailout.
And no bank should offer services to Peter Thiel. He is a systemic risk.
Baud
@Another Scott: As a layman, I found that post incoherent.
rikyrah
Everyone looks so cute🤗
Ruckus
@Another Scott:
I think everyone realizes, after looking at the S&L bailouts, and the LTCM debacle, and the housing bubble, and all the rest, if not earlier, that the banking system in the US is broken and needs to be fixed.
Fucking This.
I researched the last two banks I’ve used, one in NorCal and one in SoCal. There are classes of banks depending on how they are run, how risky they are to put your money in – especially if you run over the Federal Insured limit. It is a pain in the ass to do but in the long run it helps. If I had anything like a large sum of money ( I do not) I would never trust the name or the concept of the bank. A lot of commercial banks have policies that can cost you a lot, and make life more difficult. Be careful though that the rating agency that you use is not owned by 1 a bank, 2 a mortgage company, 2 an investment company. They are, let’s say, slightly biased. There is a federal site that does this but it is about the largest pain in the ass to use I’ve ever seen. Might be worth it if you actually have enough money. There are little things, like fees and other charges that can cost you a lot. Some of the biggest banks are the worst, that seems to be how they got big, cost the customer the most.
Baud
@rikyrah: Thanks!
rikyrah
Nothing👏🏾but👏🏾truth👏🏾
Same muthaphuckas yelling about DEREGULATION ,are the same ones whining today😒
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR7Nq3yY/
MagdaInBlack
@CaseyL: La Gordita has had her canned food mixed with hot water for so long I can’t remember not doing it. The siamese yowling when I’m doing this too slowly makes me worry the neighbors will think shes being slaughtered
eclare
@rikyrah: Yep. No way my taxes should go to bail out Mark Cuban. I thought the whole point of investing was that you win some, you lose some, and isn’t he on a TV show where that is exactly the point? I forgot when the government promised every investment was safe.
You want your money go see Thiel.
Hungry Joe
When we’d have people over for dinner, Hennie (RIP), our wonderful gray tabby, demanded her own chair, her own place at the table. There she’d sit, through the whole meal, never whining or begging. And she NEVER sat with just us
Lethe
@Percysowner: usually just lurk, but you truly have my sympathies. My old boy lived to 22, and I miss him everyday even tho I have 3 more now…(and 3 brain cells between them).
I took herbs and spices from the pantry and sectioned them in one those cheap white plastic craft palettes. Every day he would go to a different one and just sniff. Good stimulation for him when playing was too tiring. Kept him a little more alert, and gave him something he could still enjoy.
Another Scott
@Baud: He’s leaving out lots of steps there.
Maybe this (which seems to be a similar idea) will help:
The embedded link says:
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
kindness
I feed my cats on a table in the open area living room/kitchen/dining area. If I fed them on the floor the dogs would eat all their food before they could touch it. I don’t get much a chance to ask them to to enjoy their meal. One is always demanding I get up a 6 and feed her (damn it!). She’s been waiting all night for her wet food, even though there is always a full bowl of kibble there for them.
SkyBluePink
After feeding the pigeons at the office I say” Have a good day. Stay safe.”
Kelly
Our cat Martin likes to nibble a bit throughout the day and stays trim. Our other cat Phoebe gobbles all the food down right away and is kinda fat. All attempts to put Phoebe on a diet result in hostility toward Martin. “There is not enough food! It must be Martin’s fault.”
brantl
I always ask my dog, Speckles, if she wants her dinner/breakfast, and she looks at me with an expression of: “Is this a trick question?”, so of course I feed her, and give her 5 pats of her ribs. And tell her she’s the best dog ever.
NotMax
@Momentary
Also works on werewolves (6:42 to 7:30 in video).
:)
.
rikyrah
Scream it to the bleacher seats.
WHO are the real “groomers”.😠😠😠
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR7NWSy1/
MagdaInBlack
@rikyrah: I have often said monsters don’t stand out, they look just like you and me.
J R in WV
@EarthWindFire:
One of our dogs was on antibiotics for a whole f’in month, served 3 pills in a teaspoon of peanut butter. Her big bro just got the p’nut butter, no pills. Now they both get a little peanut butter, ’cause the kibble isn’t that attractive, is it?
ETA: I have used chicken broth also too…
J R in WV
@zhena gogolia:
We had a big white tom cat with orange/red spots I named Rufus on account of his red spot on his head. He actually liked to sit in a chair at the dinner table with us, esp. when we had company.
Very polite guy! He would tap his plate gently to ask for a sample of what we were eating. So one of us would give him a nibble of meaty foods.
Long gone away now, sadly, a superior cat in every way. Nigh onto 20 pounds!
ETA: I see that we are not the only people to have had a cat that wanted to sit at the table with us. He was so polite !!
Sister Golden Bear
@Doc Sardonic: It may also be working because in the wild, cats’ prey is still warm when they eat it. So one tip I’ve gotten from a cat behaviorist is to put wet food into a baggie and then let it sit in a bowl of warm water to bring it up to “prey temperature” before serving it.
karen marie
@Alison Rose: The link goes to FB. Here’s a direct link to World Central Kitchen’s cookbook.
karen marie
@Percysowner: Not much of a beagle if it takes 60 seconds for the cat food to disappear. My spaniel got a cupcake last night within two seconds of me turning my back.
Never turn your back on a cupcake when there is a spaniel in the room.
@CaseyL: Your cat’s kidneys thank you! Adding water to wet food was recommended to me by a vet many years ago. He said cats don’t drink as much as they should.
evodevo
@Baud:
Yeah…what happens when your rent/car payment is due before the paycheck is deposited…probably would happen a lot… I would think Postal banking would be a better idea for working people…