AIBU to feel that the cat is playing silly buggers, and I should not pander to him.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

At least - no more than I have already.

CatBastard (so called because he bites you if you stroke him too much/not enough/or even consider stopping stroking him) eats tuna - because if we give him ordinary cat food, he leaves home.

We buy him nice tuna, in spring water, because I worried about the salt in ordinary tuna damaging his kidneys. This far I am prepared to pander.

He insists on having his tuna outside, on the garden table. I don't have a major problem with this, but it means that anyone else who can get to it, eats it - the dogs, if they are out in the garden unsupervised, or the local seagulls - so I prefer to feed him on the utility room draining board.

This is not good enough for CatBastard - ohhhh no. He can jump up to the draining board (I've found him on the work top before now), and is cool with the idea of food in the utility room (we used to keep the dogs' food in an open box, high up on the microwave in the utility room, where they can't get to it, and we found him knee deep in it, eating it, one day - the dogs were appalled) - but he is currently shouting at me because I have put his bowl of tuna on the utility draining board, not the garden table.

It is the last can of tuna - I need to go shopping tomorrow - so I think it is perfectly reasonable to want him to eat it all - not the birds or the dogs - but he disagrees.

AIBU not to pander to him?

Yes, toughen up. I am frequently to be found in my kitchen having the "There are starving cats in this world who'd be very grateful for this bowl of salmon in gravy." chat with DCat.

Cowbag doesn't listen obv, but it makes me feel better.

Cats need taurine which he won't be getting from the tuna. I hope you're giving him biscuits or a complete wet food too or he could get really sick.

Sorry to put a downer on it but tuna is meant to be a treat for them, not their only food source!

Cats need taurine which he won't be getting from the tuna. I hope you're giving him biscuits or a complete wet food too or he could get really sick.

Sorry to put a downer on it but tuna is meant to be a treat for them, not their only food source!

Rule 1. Moggy is right and will win.

Rule 2. When Rule 1 does not apply, Rule 1 does apply.

OK?

My DCat decided a few months ago that he won't use his cat flap to exit the house. The only acceptable method of exit is the lounge window, which he expects to remain open at all times. Now the weather is getting cooler I have begun to close it and then have to put up with pathetic mews until I open it for him, he won't go out immediately as again he needs me to know that he won't do anything to my timescale, so I have to leave it open, ignore him for a bit and when he thinks I have waited a sufficient amount of time before thinking about closing the window because he doesn't want to go out after all, he will finally deign to jump out. Repeat approx 20x per day.

The cat flap is apparently still an acceptable method of entry to the house. So at least I don't have to do the whole thing in reverse as well.

if we give him ordinary cat food, he leaves home

Let him. He's just a cat. Get a new one with less refined tastes. I suspect that's not what you want to hear though.

I'm so glad to hear it's not just my little barstewards who behave like this. One of mine would literally rather die of a kidney infection that drink out of a bowl and the other needs to be guarded when she eats so the fat cat doesn't steal her food, she comes and gets you when she wants to eat, and she eats soooooooo slowly, like a tortoise, until you have the urge to steal her food off her yourself.
Oh she also likes me to sleep on my right hand side so she can snuggle in in the way she likes, and will wail and bat me until I turn over if I'm not in an acceptable sleeping position.
But I'm obviously the head of my house and have it all under control, obvs.

Me624 that's so funny!! I can imagine his little cat expression as he's asking you to open the window 'come on it's not THAT hard'

And I thought it was just our house where the cat launched warfare tactics. I know life would be much easier if I just surrendered but somehow I cling to the hope it will accept I'm boss. Nope never gonna happen. Even worse I catsat for neighbours 2 cats they were lovely

me624 I laughed. I'm sorry. My cat will only exit the house via the kitchen or living room window. She will cry at a window (even if the other is open) until it is opened. She will, however, go straight outside when opened. The look you get if the ground is a teensy bit damp is spectacular. Heaven forbid if it's raining - how dare you let her go out in the rain, despite the fact that she's been meowing at the window for half an hour...

You are playing with fire, OP. I recommend that you start sleeping with one eye open.

Controlled meowing, ah yes that one doesn't work at all. Currently exhausted from the 3am wake up with claws demanding breakfast. 30 minutes after eating breakfast back again screaming for more.

I'm beginning to suspect our dog was a cat

• Couldn't hear you shout her name from right next to her, but if you so much as looked at the cheese drawer while she was asleep upstairs she was suddenly by your side
• middle of bowl empty means whole of bowl is empty
• Water had to be fresh, and a dirty puddle was preferable to a fresh dish of water
• All doors had to be open, if we dared shut one over she would immediately run over and paw at it (shutting it further) and whine and bark. She didn't want to use the door, she just wanted is open! As soon as it was open she went back to where she had been
• required feeding with a fork for a while... Not sure how she got us to start that one!
• Did NOT like the brown bits of food, tried leaving them in the bowl but we weren't getting the message so she started putting them in her water dish to go soggy and leave us to clean it up!
• Bark at the back door and then give you a look of disgust if you opened it and it was raining

So many more!

Ohhh god - I didn't know that about tuna! I do try to give him proper cat food (Waitrose own, last time, so decent stuff, one would have thought) but he turned his furry nose up at it.

I shall start adding dry cat food to his tuna, and will gradually up the amount, so he's eating plenty of it. To be honest, I should have been doing that anyway, because any decent dish needs different textures, and some crunch is important, if I am to have any chance of going through to the next round of Feline MasterChef.

I suspect that, whatever he eats, he is still going to win the battle of where he bloody eats it. Even today, when it is blowing a gale outside (50mph winds predicted), and has just hammered down with rain.

We tried using a cat basket with the door taken off, to act as a feeding shelter (to keep both the weather and the local wildlife off his food) but he was Having None of That Nonsense.

My cat will eat anything. A few weeks ago he ate 10 sachets of felix. I didn't give them to him. He tore them open and chewed out the contents.
The food cupboard has an internal child catch, a hook an eye, string across the handle and an external child strap lock to prevent him getting the sachets out.
He will eat anything he can get, doughnuts, bread, mini cheddars and growls ferociously as he eats.
I am sending him to stay with your cat to learn more fine dining manners. He is obviously a ill mannered beast and needs to learn some etiquette.

We are slaves to the dog and the cat!

feeling we went through the 'feed with a spoon phase'with the dog.

The only way she will eat her proper dog food, not fish flakes, chicken etc but proper dried food we have is to pour it out and call the cats name. If she thinks the cat will get it she will rush and eat it all.

The cat refuses to use the flap but miaws u till we open the upstairs window and she climbs out.

They both lie right in front of the coal fire and the wood burner.

The dog starts yapping at 10.30 to make us go up bed, she of course sleeps between us! So we usually go up and watch the rest of the telly show in bed. She sleeps on a silk throw and won't settle on anything else.

Mind you I did once phone the vet as the dog looked depressed.

Our teenagers think we are crazy.

Ours went through a faze of demanding to be brushed after breakfast - and it had to be outside on the garden bench. And you'd get swiped if you tried to do anything in the garden other than brush him.

We just started ignoring him and he's kind of mostly got over himself. They can learn new behaviours.

Waitrose sell tinned tuna for cats - have you tried him on that? It's normal tuna but it has taurine and things added into it so he'll at least be getting all the nutrients he needs.

It's normally with the rest of the cat food, by the Sheba :)

I am torn now - do I make CatBastard go cold turkey tuna, and just put out wet cat food for him, or do I mix dry cat food in with the tuna, and hope he doesn't just eat around the biscuits?

When he was just on dry cat food, he used to turn his nose up at it - the bowl would go largely untouched (until the dogs got at it), and he got very skinny (despite being fed at a neighbour's house). Now he's on the tuna, he looks much better, but I am worrying that that is just appearance and actually I am making him ill.

Oh - and just to underline what a difficult bastard he is - when the neighbours were feeding him, they were giving him dry cat food (because that's what their cat eats), and he was scoffing it happily. Would he eat it at home? Would he heck as like! Even when I bought the expensive stuff, the little furry git turned his nose up at it.

Oh - and I promise that, despite all evidence to the contrary, I do love the little furry bastard.

I would try him on tinned tuna for cats, or mash up biscuits in with his regular tuna and see if he eats it. He probably is healthy enough for now, but I know in the long run a lack of taurine can cause problems. Maybe ask the vet for advice?

I refuse to help you in any way until I see a photograph of the cat man. not that I have anything new to add

Some of these posts really have made me laugh out loud but you do know you don't actually have to give in to all this demanding stuff from pets don't you? I have three cats and they have been trained not to hassle me about anything - woe betide any animal (or human) that wakes me up! - they are all really loved and completely spoilt, but on my terms. They do follow me around and give me sad looks if I don't offer them dreamies all the time but I ignore them until them stop. Stay strong!

Tinned tuna for cats? I didn't realise this existed - that might be the best answer, Hermione - thanks.

Uptown - I have consulted with the dogs and CatBastard, and they say I am welcome to try not pandering to their demands but, as a previous poster said, I should sleep with one eye open!