{"id":666350,"date":"2024-11-15T10:00:41","date_gmt":"2024-11-15T15:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/?p=666350"},"modified":"2024-11-14T10:57:20","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T15:57:20","slug":"but-what-about-second-breakfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.catster.com\/felines-weekly\/but-what-about-second-breakfast\/","title":{"rendered":"But What About Second Breakfast? When My Cats Think They\u2019re Hobbits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, I’m Dr. Karyn! Read my introduction<\/a> to learn more about me and meet my five hilarious cats: Clutch, Cyril, Alex, Zelda, and Zazzles.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One problem I\u2019ve never had to deal with in my house is picky eaters. The most likely reason for this is competition. There was only one time that I had a single pet in the house, and that was Clutch, a cat that had come to me fresh from the mean streets of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, UK, and a street cat is never going to pass up a meal!<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s not always the case, most cats and dogs that are fussy eaters, or leave their food to come back to later, are only children. As soon as there is another mouth that might steal your food, you learn to eat what you are given when you are given it! The other reason many pets become picky is that they are in the process of training their humans.<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s perfectly fine, and not at all dangerous, for a cat or dog to miss the occasional meal (as long as they\u2019re not unwell or doing it on a regular basis<\/a>), many owners will get quite worried if their pet refuses to eat their food. So what do they do? They race to the kitchen to find something more tempting, like some fresh chicken or fish, or some leftover rice pudding\u2026you get where I\u2019m going with this.<\/p>\n

Animals aren\u2019t silly, and once they realize that turning their nose up at their regular food will get them something even better, it\u2019s only a matter of time before their cat or dog food is being replaced with a rotating smorgasbord of Michelin star-worthy meals. Fortunately, I have never fallen victim to this particular form of manipulation, and my cats remain unaware that things like cooked chicken pieces are anything but an \u2018after-dinner digestif\u2019.<\/p>\n

However, they have managed to work out one way to manipulate their way into the occasional second breakfast or dinner.<\/p>\n

\"My
My five Hobbits…I mean cats<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cats and Hobbits<\/h2>\n

Unless you\u2019ve been living in a (Hobbit) hole, you\u2019ll have heard of Lord of the Rings, and even those of you who haven\u2019t watched the films (multiple times, in the extended versions, and with cast commentary) as I have, might have heard the quote from the mischievous Pippin:<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve had one breakfast, yes, but what about second breakfast?<\/div><\/div>\n

Not to mention \u2018elevenses, luncheon, and afternoon tea.\u2019<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve established that my cats don\u2019t shy away from a feed, and in fact, they can be downright greedy. But, they are also quite cunning.<\/p>\n

Twice a day, all five cats gather together to meow and nag to make sure that Husband and I don\u2019t forget to feed them. We never have, but obviously, they don\u2019t want to leave anything to chance. If one of us has beaten the other home, or left for work early, we can usually tell if the cats have been fed by the enthusiasm of the group\u2019s demands. On most days, one or two will come begging for some more later, but we are not going to be fooled by the food-loving Cyril<\/a> into feeding them again.<\/p>\n

Every now and then, maybe once or twice a month, I swear that the cats come together and agree to go for a second meal. They will come to either Husband or me, whichever one hasn\u2019t already fed them, demanding, with all five voices, to be fed. It\u2019s not until the food is down that a voice comes from downstairs, saying \u201cI\u2019ve already fed them!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sharing
Sharing is caring<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Conspiracy Theory<\/h2>\n

You might be thinking that I\u2019m reading too much into the behavior of a group of greedy cats, but here\u2019s why I believe that this is a coordinated attack:<\/p>\n

In order for their plea for \u2018second breakfast\u2019 (or elevenses, supper, etc) to work,<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. all five cats need to be in on it – if only a few (usually Cyril or Zelda) come begging, we can assume that they have all been fed, and that they are just hoping for second helpings.<\/li>\n
  2. they need to target the person who didn\u2019t already feed them \u2013 for obvious reasons.<\/li>\n
  3. they can\u2019t do it too often \u2013 if they were all begging for more food<\/a> every day, we would never be fooled. It is because they only do this very occasionally that they manage to pull it off.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"Everyone
    Everyone needs to be in on the plan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    It might seem far-fetched to think that my cats are capable of such high-level espionage, but unless you can prove otherwise, I will continue to believe it!<\/p>\n

    Do your cats manipulate you<\/a>? Tell me about it in the comments below.<\/p>\n

    \"Dr<\/p>\n

    This article is a part of Dr. Karyn's series with her five hilarious cats.<\/div>
    \n