Im in a standoff with my cat.

[Illbefinejustbloodyfine]

Her bowl is FULL of the only foid she will eat. She's eaten it for the 11 years shes been alive. Except, since saturday mirning, she has decided that it is not acceptable.

She will make an exception for dreamies, so i have sprinkled a few on top. Sniffs. Walks away. Gets under my feet. Tried a different flavour of dreamies. Sniffs. Walks away. Meows. Trips me up.

What she wants, is for me to empty the bowl and refill with FRESH UNSNIFFED BISCUITS.

(Shes not il, teeth are fine)

Who will give in first?

Are they a bit stale? I’d refill. But then I’m a fully immersed cat slave, attuned to my DCat’s every whim.

They were not stale when i put them in the bowl!

Yup. I feel the soft, scrambled egg (with a swirl of cream - even though we know they're Lactose intolerant) attempt in the horizon followed by Artisanal Smoked Salmon; the one saved for Christmas starter which will now be rinsed off because too salty. Obviously, I've never succumbed to blatant, nose in the air, "Catmail" ...

Oh but she is gorgeous, how could you resist that little face.

No, you live in their house.

Oh this is a thing! Pick the bowl up and toss the kibble like you would a salad (except I use my fingers), it releases the aromas.

Do it in front of her, should work!

Will she eat the dreamies - if not you know there’s something wrong!

One of mine stopped eating for days, and was very snappy and bad-tempered. I took her to the vet, where they ran tests and eventually gave her an ultrasound - all the tests came back negative. They kept her in and put her on a drip and kept tempting her with food. At some point she suddenly turned from being cross to her usual sunny self, started eating and was released back to my care. No reason was ever found, and the bill was about £1200 (luckily she's insured). I'm inclined to think she was just in a Very Bad Mood.

Standoff?

As a fellow cat owner your job is to give her the best life you possibly can: My cat is tres gourmet and tires of food very easily, so I am constantly having to present dishes that excite her. Luckily, she's not fussy, so long as each day is different. At 15, she is on medication now (hyperthyroidism) so it is always a challenge to hide her pill in a morsel of chicken; or in a sardine ball; softened up Dreamys; Felix, etc.

Nothing makes her happier than to be meowing at me, giving orders, having a human under her control and following her to the kitchen or bathroom so I can turn on the taps for her to drink. We are very bonded and she likes doing things together, including sleeping, watching bird videos on Youtube while I read my book; she loves rewatching the BBC Big Cats series (too many times for my liking). In return, she's often slow blinking her 'I love yous' at me and grooming me while I am trying to sleep...

Oooh I might try youtube videos for mine.

We had a dog who loved watching Crufts. She was especially fond of the agility classes.

There you go, OP.

You thought you were asking a simple question over a standoff and now you have been given recipe and entertainment ideas.

There is a whole section of Youtube videos for cats, which they enjoy - outdoor bird videos; aquariums, mice videos, etc. She doesn't enjoy seeing other cats though unless they are Big Cats, lions, cheetahs, leopards...

I can tell when she wants to watch something as she will come and sit in front of my laptop facing the screen and then waits for me to stop what I am doing on it and switch to YouTube Cat TV.

She's also a fan of certain music and often will come into the room and sit near the speaker. I can see her ears swivelling as she tunes into the sound. She loves classical, mainly violin & cello, but her all time favourite is the sinuous sound of Lévon Minassian's duduk (Armenian flute / recorder type instrument).

She always sends love (very slow blink) if I put it on for her. She's very appreciative when things are done for her. Strange to be so bonded with a cat!

Mine does a dramatic stand up and huffs himself and sits back down with dramatic sad eyes looking in the general direction of the treats when his bowl is already full.

My solution is to give the biscuits to one of the gang that live in the garden and refresh his bowl but if you don't have a gang of other semi ferals living in the garden then maybe get some to resolve this situation?

I have semi feral chickens who love the iams....also my neighbours cats are always on the prowl.

Cats always win.

I'm surprised you have to ask the question.

You are not its owner. You are it's slave.

Cats are evil. This is one of the reasons.

My car pretty much gets a buffet every meal.
shes worn me down over the years with her very loud and annoying meowing.
the rescue told me she was talkative. She’s not chatty she just likes to yell at me. I’m convinced she thinks I’m deaf. And she’s worked out if she sits at the bottom of the stairs or goes in the bathroom her meow is amplified.

You know you've already lost.

Have you tried picking the bowl up as if you’re going to exchange the food, but don’t actually put new food in, just give the old biscuits a shake and put the bowl back?

I’ve done that! It worked once.

I have tried adding a sprinkle of new biscuits, picking the bowl up, pretending to refill , giving it a shake/stir. Shes not stoopid.

Anyone else getting the advert for the Cornish Seafood company with pictures of extremely appetising looking prawns and wondering whether the cats have already staged the takeover they've been threatening?

One of my childhood cats loved to watch One Man and His Dog. (A televised sheep dog competition, for those too young to remember it).

Mine has a new tactic. She demands licky licks mixed in with her second sachet. First one she’s so hungry she just eats. Second one she looks at in disgust until I fix it. She’s only allowed one per day, so my willpower is better for third and fourth sachets. Flipping unbelievable how they play us. DH says to ignore her, but it’s me who gets trailed around the house with big hopeful eyes and it’s so clear what she wants 🤦‍♀️

Been there. Surprisingly the cat gave up first. They say to pick your battles and this was one I needed to win.

I put them outside then and make a drama of washing the bowl and refilling.