Top 5 Reasons My Cat is Crazy

When I get home from work my cat starts meowing like he hasn't eaten in weeks.  He hardly lets me get into the kitchen to feed him, as he blocks my every step.  He has always had a hunger issue.  And a few other issues.  But that's what makes him our cat.  We've learned to adapt to his funny ways in the nearly nine years we've had him.  Here are the top reasons he's crazy but loveable.

1. He eats like a bird.  As in literally, he eats bird food. 

This, my friends, was meant for the birds.  One afternoon I had the bright idea to make birdseed balls with some extra pork fat.  I found a recipe on the Internet and thought Juliette would enjoy the activity.  Turned out she was only mildly interested.  Catki, on the other hand, was highly interested.  And when he got the chance he attacked this ball on the balcony and started eating the fatty part.  I guess the seeds could give him some extra fiber?!

2. He thinks he's a dog.  He begs at the dinner table when I inadvertently bend over in his direction.  Or when I take the plates back to the kitchen afterwards.  We try to avoid scraps altogether now but there was a time he got too many.  And he has a long memory. 

"Did you forget me?"

I admit I staged this photo.  I had no intention of giving him anything.  I'm cruel like that.

3. He can open doors.  I've mentioned this before.  He knows how to jimmy the door handles to get into rooms.  He jumps and pushes on the handle.  That's why we switched the direction of the handle on the other side of this door.  But he still tries or gets on the couch to move the upside-down handle.  He's done it so much that this door doesn't properly shut anymore and we are forced to put this faux Swiffer to keep the door locked at night when we put his litter box in here.  Otherwise he will come into our rooms by jumping and landing on the handle whenever his tummy tells him it's morning.  The noise is atrocious when you're sound asleep!

Necessity is the mother of invention.

4. He plays with his food.  Actually, this is a good thing.  As he is still overweight (8.8 kg/19.4 lbs) and needs to be about 6 kg or 13 lbs (yeah, right!), he has to eat diet kibble.  And we weigh the amount morning and night.  But he is still hungry.  Recently I noticed he was missing most of the fur on his lower belly and another spot had appeared on the side.  I took him to the vet who said it could be stress.  If my cat is stressed then what am I?  But in fact the diet kibble and lowered quantity of food could be making him anxious, the vet said.  So she recommended we get out the old feeding ball.  This system lets you pour the food in the ball and as he bats it around a few pieces fall out.  His feeding time has gone from a fast 2 minutes to 20.  I hope this will help him lose those love handles...

Get that kibble, get it!

5. He likes to play with my pajamas.  This has to be the oddest one, I know. But when he senses it's time for me to get dressed for work, he will often be right there on my bed ready to catch the pj's and nuzzle up against them.  I suppose he wants to smell his owners?  Or play hunt with our clothes...

 So there you go, my cat is crazy.  But awfully sweet, too.  What weird things does your pet do?