Cats have Staff

There were almost always cats in my family ever since I was a little kid.  I just grew up accepting the fact that cats ruled the roost, and any training that went on, they trained us.  It was just a fact of life.

That adage was so right, Dogs have Masters, and Cats Have Staff, only I hadn’t realised it back then.

Time moved on, I married and left home, and was introduced to the mysteries of dog ownership.  I found that here was an animal who would do anything for me;  all he wanted was a pat on the head and a bit of food…and if I was a bit slow doing it he loved me anyway.  Then I was reintroduced to cat ownership…not me owning the cat, but the cat owning me.  The cat soon worked out who the REALLY obedient people in the house were, and went to them with “requests” first.  I might add by this stage, the cat realised I was running my own little resistance movement, and was actually trying to train the cat to be realistic in his demands….

I also discovered that cats will try to be the boss over every other animal in the house.  If there are several cats, they work out their own “pecking order”, and everything else slots in beneath them.  As long as everyone else remembers their place things will go well.

However I have learned that there are little tricks of the trade to get them to do what you want them to.  One is (in this house anyway) to only give small helpings of food.  Cats invariably want to be fed, then get up and walk away before they’re finished.  In a house with dogs, this is a good way to lose your tucker, because a plate of food is fair game to a dog, specially if its owner is not present, and the food disappears quick smart.  Hence….a small amount of food….the cat eats most of it before he walks off, and the dog or dogs only get a tiny bit.  The cat comes back and wants more, you repeat the procedure.

I have also discovered that when the cat starts to fill up, he will complain bitterly that that food which was delicious at the beginning of the meal is now not good enough, and why can’t he have something different?  I have discovered that if you pick the cat up, and just plonk him straight back down again, in front of his food, he will eat it!

I tried this on Maureen’s cat, Lou, when I was visiting Maureen, and Jack, on my trip to the UK, and I discovered that British Cats react the same as Aussie cats when plonked down in front of their dinner….they eat!  Jack and Maureen had never seen this done before, and they took it on board, and added it to their own repertoire of how to get the cat to behave…

I might add that Lou added me to his staff while I was there.  I was another lap to sit on, and another person to stroke him, and generally do as I was bidden.  I have been added to various cat’s staffs….as a sorta aunt, who comes and baby sits when mum is away, and who will always provide sustenance and cuddles till mum comes back.

I am always reminded of an “alternative” creation myth.

God created all the animals, then he created Adam.  Adam was alone in the garden, and the animals were concerned, and approached God.  They told Him it was not good for Adam to be alone, so God gave Adam Dog.  Adam looked into Dog’s eyes and realised he was the centre of the universe, and got much too big for his boots.  The animals soon got sick of this and went back to God, and complained bitterly.  God removed Dog from Adam, and instead gave him Cat.  Adam looked into Cat’s eyes and realised that Cat, not Adam, was the centre of the universe, and was immediately deflated.  All things then resumed their normal priorities, and everything got back to normal….