Conference misery::feline_v1

    
    
    	I had a similar experience but it was with spaghetti...
    
    	I had made spaghetti with meat sauce for supper one night.
    	I put my plate on the table and went to get a glass for my milk.
    	I got back to the table only to find Sasha (6mos) with both
    	paws in the spaghetti and she was eating the hamburg from the
    	meat sauce!!  Needless to say, she got the old water in the
    	squirt bottle treatment and a spanking on the behind along
    	with the "bad kitty" remarks....all of this while trying
    	to contain my laughter!!  She's slowly learning that climbing
        onto the table is not a good idea.
    
    	Now if I can only stop her from climbing up the curtains!!
    
    	JJ
    

    Punjab LOVES chocolate.  Around Christmas time I had a crystal dish
    filled with covered cherries on the kitchen table, and she jumped
    onto the table (while I was out of the room, of course) and bit
    right into one of the covered cherries.  Apparently, she doesn't
    like anything except plain old chocolate, because she didn't bother
    to eat it - just marked it !  I can't even eat a chocolate bar with
    her around !!!
    
    Joy

    All 3 of my girls will eat just about anything.
    
    In addition, they will sample whatever they can get their teeth
    into to see if it's edible.
    
    We've found teeth marks in the candles on the dining room table,
    pictures left on the coffee table, corners of magazines--you
    name it!
    
    Missy, if we're not looking, will also jump up on the counter, go
    to the sink and stick her paws down the garbage disposal to see
    if she can retrieve anything.  What a pig!
    
    Barbara

    
    Smudge is a very self-contained, well-behaved kitty who wants nothing
    whatever to do with human food.  We weren't at all prepared for Tas!
    We were eating dinner with trays in our laps in the living room on his
    first night home, and he literally hurled himself into my plate.  As
    fast as I put him down, he jumped again!  I ended up shutting him into
    the bathroom so that I could eat in peace :^}
    
    He's since learned to be a *little* more patient - and we've learned
    not to leave our food unattended.
    

	Tsunami doesn't touch people food unless I give it to her.  In other
words, she doesn't steal it.  She does, however, beg for anything I am 
eating.  When I am eating she sits as close as she can to me without
touching me(because I don't allow her to get too close).  She just sits
there watching every bite until she hears the fork(or spoon) scraping up the
last of the food.  Then she lets out one small humble "meow?", as if to say
"you are saving some for me, aren't you?".  Of course I always do.  Who 
could resist!?

Being the only other person in the household, Tsunami probably realizes that
if she touches something I am going to know who did it!

-Becky

    Fool that I am, I figured the last muffin would be safe in a heavy
    plastic-sealed Ziploc bag on the counter.  I came home last night
    to find the one remaining muffin "sampled".  *But* this time the
    culprit left a "tell-tail" hair - and I only have one silver tabby.
    Of course, maybe Charm is framing Boogie......
    
    Mary-Michael

    Silly You!!!!!!  Ha Ha - gotcha Mom!
    
    Last night one of my friends dropped by with pizza - well, I expected
    the usual stampeed to the table, but only VikkiToria and my Pashenka.
    Well, we convinced Pashenka to vamoose, but not Vikki - she is SO
    stubborn, 7 1/2 months that she is, she gets down, and gets right
    back on the table again - at least 10 times - when we are tired
    of her doing that, she knows it, and starts doing her "Cute" 
    routine.  I've had cat do cute before, but this little lady is
    really something else .  She will lay down on her side, roll over,
    curl her tail around and sort of wave just the end of it, tilt her
    head to the side (almost swivels all the way around !) bats her
    eyes, you can hear her purr 3 miles away, tucks her front paws
    under her chin, curls her back toes - until I can't stand the
    pose, and of course, let her have some....... I'm a sucker for a
    pink nose, I guess.  Pashenka coule take lessons from her - he
    just purrs so loud, you can hear him in Manchester!
    

    E.T.
    
    You just described my Lynx doing his cute act.  (doesn't it get
    you every time?!!)
    
    Kathy
    

    The only real "hog" for people food in my house is Sam and he doesn't
    play cute, rather he simply swats the food right of off the fork
    as its going from plate to mouth.  Quite annoying at times!!!  Since
    I no longer  eat meat its no problem for me but its a real
    scream to watch my husband trying to eat meatballs with this swatting
    cat by his side!  
    
    Jeanne
    

	 I once  picked  up  some blueberry newtons for a friend of mine
     and left them on the counter so I would remember to bring them into
     work  the next day.  Joshua found them and sampled about 5 of them.
     It  had  to  be  Josh  cuz Becky's not into people food (except for
     yogurt).

	 Our original  cat,  Tiger,  once  'sampled'  the  lemon cake my
     mother  had  made for my birthday.  My mother then had the nerve to
     accuse  me  and  my sister of carving this little round spot out of
     the top of the cake ;^)

	 T-II (pronounced  tee-too)  goes  for  fresh  breadstuffs.  All
     bread   must   be  placed  in  a  T-II-proof  container  (like  the
     refrigerator or freezer).

	 Joshie has been known to swipe pieced of turkey off a (covered)
     platter  on  a  table, even with a crowd of people hovering around.
     (Of course, he believes I make turkey just for him!)

    re: .0  We've had similar capers in our kitchen. IN fact, Dundee
    is so fond of breads that we call him "Bagel-kat".  He seems especially
    fond of my homemade breads.
    
    re: .7 - I think its amazing that not only do other cats do this,
    but other cat-people call it the same thing.  Bumpy-tail does cute
    also - with a slight difference.  She sort of throws herself over
    - we call it Kitty PLF (Parachute Landing Fall - I'm an ex-skydiver)
    then while laying on her back with head tilted at the angle calculated
    to be most endearing - she will suddenly flip one of her front paws
    in a slightly spastic manner.  I'm not sure what the significance
    of this gesture is, but the overall desire is for attention.  We
    also call it "doing cute" or "Kitty cute".
      Nancy DC
    

    re: .2 chocolate
    
    I read somewhere that chocolate can be potentially lethal for
    dogs - there is some kind of enzyme in chocolate that dogs can't
    digest, and could cause problems.  Does anyone know if this is
    the case for cats too?  

    Pam

    Kyrielle also has a bread fetish.  She will eat any and every type
    bread imaginable.  We have resorted to storing all breadstuffs in
    the microwave 'cause they are history if we don't.
    
    I came home from the grocery store one evening and unpacked the
    bags.   I had bought english muffins, pita bread, diet bread for me, 
    dark rye for Ken and some muffins.  I had put them on the counter
    to be concealed later.  Went off to do laundrey, forgetting all
    about them.  Came back an hour later and every single bread had
    been chewed up!  She had sampled everything I had bought!  I was
    furious!  She isn't allowed on the countertops to begin with, but
    I hadn't caught her in the act.  She was sitting sweetly in the
    middle of the floor, licking her chops.  I picked up the bag of
    english muffins (every muffin was missing pieces), took one out,
    broke it into pieces and put it in her dish.  "You like these so
    much? Well here, have it for dinner then!", I sneered at her.  She
    looked at me like I had lost my mind, flicked her tail in the air
    and sauntered out of the kitchen, leaving me standing there dropping
    crumbs all over the kitchen floor.
    
    My husband swears that he saw her on the counter the other day,
    pushing buttons on the microwave, trying to figure out how to get
    it open. ;^)
    
    Jo
    

    RE:13
    
    Trying to open microwave probably means she now wants her bread
    and muffins warm!!  Beats having it cold :) :)
    
    

    Boogie does "cute" too.  She rolls onto her back, folds her front
    paws under, tilts her head and does little "silent mews" until she
    gets what she wants.
    
    Little beggar!
    
    Mary-Michael

    True, but the problem is that SHE IS VERY VERY CUTE.  I know!
    
    me

    re: .16
      Aren't they all!  And Bumpy-tail is hysterical flipping that half
    tail around!  
      I once got into playing Dungeons & Dragons with a group from UMASS
    Boston.  We'd occasionally meet over at my apartment and Bumpy would
    inevitably wander onto the game board, crouch down and start flipping
    that tail of hers which would send game pieces flying all over the
    place.  The gamesmaster never missed a beat - he just invented a
    giant cat monster with a mace on its tail to attack the players!
    
    re: microwaves - we've had to put thawing chicken in the microwave
    to keep the cats out of it.
      Nancy DC
    

    Punjab and Barley (our golden retriever) work together when it comes
    to the sandwiches on the counter or table.  Punjab used to push
    the sandwich off the table and Barley would rip the bag open and
    they would share the rewards.
    
    The last time Punjab did this, I was in the spare bedroom doing
    my hair, and she went rushing by me with the ziplock baggie (including
    the sandwich) hanging out of her mouth.  She got behind a long box
    and figured I couldn't get her there......SUPRIZE !!!! What a terror
    that one is !
    
    Joy

    
      ISIS is the worst of our lot.  We can't eat cold cereal with milk
    without her hovering around.  I usually have it on weekends (no
    time before work), sitting in front of the TV.  Well, one morning
    I was so engrossed in a show that I forgot to pay attention to her.
    The bowl was in one hand, the spoon in the other and Isis on the
    Kitty condo next to the chair.  I looked down to see a striped head
    deep in the bowl, contentedly lapping up the milk!
      "Thanking" her profusely as I had only had about 5 bites, I put
    the bowl down for her and anyone else and went to get some more.
    I came back in the living room, sat down and proceeded to eat my
    cereal.  (The milk was all gone from the other bowl!)  I no sooner
    took a bite from the new bowl, when up she jumps on the condo-reaches
    over with a paw and tries to pull the bowl out of my hand!  
      I hissed at her and she backed off and sat on the condo looking
    very distainful as if to say--well, hurry up! I want the milk in
    that bowl, too!  Piggy little brat, isn't she!
    
     Debbi--M.K.,Duchess,Isis,Sable and Jasper(oh, and Nikki puppy,
    too!)
    

    I was making my lunch this morning, and dear little Boogie was watching
    me from atop the kitchen cabinets, her usual perch.  I turned
    my back for an *instant* to get a lunch bag, and turned back to find
    her inches from the luncheon meat on the counter, necked outstretched, 
    nose sniffing, whiskers twitching as if to say, "Snack!"  I said
    "Boogie..." in my sternest manner, and she looked at me and mewed
    reproachfully, "Mother, I was just *looking*!"  Then she jumped
    to the floor, rolled on her back, tucked her front paws under, turned
    her head to one side, and gave me the "silent mew" treatment.  
    
    Sigh.....She got her piece of luncheon meat.  Thank God she'll never
    have kittens!  My grocery bill couldn't take it!!!!  Gee, but I bet 
    they would have been real cute.... 
    
    Mary-Michael

    re.20  
    
    I agree - they would have been something else - she is soooo
    beautiful!!  I'm still kicking me buns!!!!
    
    E.T.