Conference misery::feline_v1

    Just last night, we had shark steaks for dinner.  My cats don't
    really go out of their way for fish, but the parrot does!  Well,
    Fred, the parrot, was eating a piece of fish, and Gai Poo, my 9
    year old best buddy, jumped on the table, sniffed the food Fred
    was eating, and between the claw to the beak, Gai grabbed the fish
    and ate it!  I almost fell over!
    
    Fred was miffed too!  So, she came back to my plate and just *took*
    more and waddled off to eat in peace!
    
    The cats don't drink milk often.  If we offer it, they walk away.
    However, if my husband has a glass of milk, the 3 girls and Gai
    all come and steal a sip!
    
    They are a Riot!  I love to see what's next!  Now, if I can only
    keep Tai out of the refrigerator.....8^}
    
    Jean
    

    
    
    	My 4 month old fuzz ball decided she wanted a drink of water.
    	So she checked out the plastic cup I had on the coffee table
        to see if there was anything left in it (fortunately there
    	wasn't) She stuck her whole face and neck into the glass
    	and then realized she was stuck....so she picked up her head
    	and started to walk around with this cup stuck on her face!!
    	She knocked the candles out of their holders and a few things
    	onto the floor before she got it off......I thought Cary and
    	I were going to die of laughter.....needless to say she doesn't
    	try so hard now to see what's at the bottom of a glass!!
    
    	JJ
    

    These are great! A parrot that eats fish -- I could just see it
    waddling around the table.  And the cup on the cat's face--I can
    see it in my mind's eye now.  I'm sitting here chuckling in my
    cube.  I'm sure they're going to come and take me away.
    
    Jill

    Speaking of just last night.
    
    Well let me start it off that I am addicted to coca-cola classic,
    and I use those ice-balls (the pastel colored one).
    
    Anyways my youngst Lynx loved the color of the ice-balls and he
    decided to stick his paw into the soda glass and attack them, well
    when he paw first got wet he was a little upset until he tasted
    it, and they he went beserk.  He kept trying to tip over my glass
    and I ended pouring a little in a dish for him, well anyways he
    ended up drinking a whole 12 oz. can and still wanted more.
    
    I figured that the sugar/caffeine rush was going hit in a few
    minutes... he slept through the whole night and was his usual self
    this morning.  (He has never slept a whole night through).  It worked
    like a sedative.
    

    
    Puffin LOVES Smartfood (the cheese popcorn that comes in the black
    bag) I can't sit down with a bag without her practically crawling
    in.  She probably would if I let her, and eat her way out!
    
    Joanne, Puffin & Buttons
    
    P.S.  My mom's three cats all like spagetti, I guess it's not that
          uncommon but it sure is funny!
    

    


    All three of our girls love spegetti (we cut it up tho).  Melody,
    in particular, has a varied appetite.  She loves:
    
                        french fries
                        baked potato
                        potato chips (notice a trend?)
                        popcorn
                        broccoli with cheese sauce
                        peas with butter
                        any kind of cheese (inc. globs of cream ch)
                        bagels
                        any kind of gravy or sauce and whatever
                          is in it
                        cantelope (the kittens love this too)
    
    The list will probably grow--they all want to try whatever I am
    eating.
    
    One thing that Melody does, if encouraged (and sadly, we do encourage
    her) is to try to pick up a piece of food (hot dog works well) with
    her paw off the edge of the table and bring it all the way to her
    mouth without dropping it.  She has succeeded twice!  While doing
    this, she sits on the chair at the table like a little lady.
    
    The kittens aren't so fastidious, they will climb anywhere to try
    to get at food--they have even tried to lick our lips to get a taste!
    (My father would DIE!)
    
    Barbara, Melody, Melissa & Brittany (the baby)
    

    
    
    The other day I had company over and we were all eating popcorn.
    A few pieces got onto the coffee table, and T.K., who had been
    watching the goings on very attentively, snuck his dainty little
    paw up onto the table to pull the popcorn to the floor.  Very
    smooth, but he was caught.  So, then some of the guests decided
    to feed him and he would sit back on his haunches, wrap his two
    front paws around the hand with the popcorn, then very carefully
    take the popcorn out of the fingers.  My guests commented on what
    a polite kitty I have!!  Right!  Maybe in front of guests he doesn't
    want to be rude....
    

    re .7
    
    >My father would DIE.<
    
    My father was the first one I saw feeding a cat from the kitchen
    table.  Pretty, my first kitten, used to sit on the stairs next
    to the table each evening waiting her turn.
    
    My father would take one bite of food and give the next one to pretty
    through the bannister.  If he tried to take more than one bite,
    he had a gentle reminder with a paw on his wrist (claws in).  Like
    father, like daughter.  All of my babies get bites from the kitchen
    table.  How can I scold my kids for something I try to do on the
    sly (I've been caught in the act many times).
    
    Sandi (Lightning, DejaVu & Thunder's mom)
    
    

    
    I have one (Otis) who likes spaghetti sauce, mushrooms and sausage.  Doesn't
    bother with the spaghetti itself.  He'll try most anything once
    but doesn't get many chances.  He makes a great dishwasher which
    leads to his nickname of "Hoover".
    
    Found out last night I have an alcoholic.  Was treating myself to
    vanilla icecream with Amaretto on it and Rascal decided he
    needed to try.  I had to finally beat him off in order to get any
    myself.  The spaghetti lover wouldn't touch it though.
    
    My old cat (since departed) loved blue cheese and lettuce.
                                      

    RE: .7

    By any chance does Melody have double paws? Argus does and he has
    become quite good at using his thumb while cupping his paw to really
    hold on to something (on his way to his mouth).

    Deb

    My parents have one of those kitchen tables with the benches that
    go around it, like a booth.  Well, their cats got into the habit
    of joining them for dinner and what a riot it was to watch them sit
    on the bench patiently awaiting their serving.  They would just
    hop right up and watch you cut up the meat, paws reaching out for
    a piece of it.  And if you didn't provide it, you heard about until
    you did.  My father, who was never one for pets begging at the table,
    never complained about the kitties begging as long as they minded
    their manners.
    
    One especially funny time I remember is when I invited a friend
    of mine over to their house for Thanksgiving dinner some years ago.
    The smell of turkey drives the cats wild.  We had just sat down
    to dinner when all of a sudden, Fluffy leaped onto the table and
    landed right in my friend's plate of food.  Good thing she knew
    the family well and had a sense of humor.  I'll never forget that
    time.
    

    Encore?  OK!
    
    In .1, I neglected to mention that Gai Poo is a Seal Point Siamese
    cat, umm, I mean person! 
    
    Sometimes he'll even eat bird seed!  I make up a real interesting
    mixture to feed my birds, mostly a rice and veggie meal, and Gai
    will eat that too if I leave in on the counter before it gets to
    the cages!
    
    We have two dogs that lay under the table and wait for *anything*
    to eat, but since we found out the parrot likes fish, steak and
    chicken, the dogs don't get many table scraps anymore, and Gai Poo
    just takes what he wants away from the bird!
    
    I just love my pets!
    
    J

    I have four cats:  Love (near-sighted 7 year old), Bailey (her 6
    year old half-sister), Wander (2 year old "garbage kitty"), and
    Hoover (2 year old half-brother to Wander).  Love likes spaghetti
    sauce, pizza, and beer.  Bailey likes popcorn and grape-nuts.  Wander
    likes anything at all (we rescued him from an abusive home and he'd
    learned to scavenge before we got him) as long as it really *stinks*--
    including old sneakers, and Hoover likes cantalope, honeydew melon,
    crakers and bread, and milk-from-someone's-glass.
    
    Love will trip someone to get the beer, and Hoover will box your
    knees for the milk or melon.  Baily and Wander sneak quietly to
    their junk foods when no one's looking.  Wander has learned to open
    the refrigerator door (if we're not careful closing it) as well
    as the cabinet.
    
    None of them beg at the table, but we've never made them wait, either!
    
    Kim (whose roommate calls her "cat-slut" because if it's furry and
    it purrs, I'll sleep with it!)
    
    

    
    RE: .14 ---  "Cat Slut"  ...  I love it!! ha ha
    
    BC

    
    
    Re: 11  
    
    Melody doesn't have double paws.
    
    More on "My father would DIE":  My dad never gave our family cat,
    Muffy, anything while at the table.  However, all he ever said when
    Mom, my sister and I pulled up an extra chair for Muff, was "This
    is ridiculous!"  (And, in Muff's later years, we would even hear
    Dad talking to him when he thought no one else was around.)
    
    One BAD habit that Melody has is to jump up and get between me and
    the back of the dining room chair (with 2 feet on the chair back
    and 2 feet on my back, claws extended to hold on) if I don't leave
    enough room in my lap for her to check things out.  For this reason
    only I am glad that she is shy and takes off for under our bed
    when we have company!
    
    As bad as they all can be about counters and tables at time, all
    3 kitties have learned that "GET DOWN" in that tone, means just
    that!
    
    Barbara

    
    
    Regarding my last reply--
    
    When we pulled up the extra chair for Muffy, we didn't feed him
    at the table.  He would sit with us while we said grace and then
    one of us would prepare him a dish which we then put down on the
    floor--there was only so much Dad could take!
    

re .16:

Greylock, my fat grey cat is beginning to get upset - now that I am over 7
months pregnant he doesnt fit on my lap between the baby and the table, but he
still tries! If I sit far enough forward on the chair he'll sit behind me and
stick his nose in my lap.

Eryn

    Our departed Kitty Lou would feed herself the hairball remover.
    (It comes in a tube like tooth-paste) You just had to unscrew the
    cap.  She would sit up like a kangaroo, take the tube between her
    paws, and squeeze away--she looked just like a baby with a bottle,
    or a kid with a lollypop.
    
    We really miss her... she did some terribly cute
    things, and she knew we ate that up!!!!!!!!!!
    
    Cathy

    W's pretty funny about eating sometimes.....
    
    Once I made some REALLY spicy stuffed shells with tomato sauce.
    When I was done eating, I put the plate on the floor for him to
    finish licking the plate.  The more he ate, the more tears poured
    out of his eyes.  Poor guy looked like he was crying, but didn't
    stop until he had his fill.
    
    Then there was the time I was making sandwiches for lunch.  I had
    the sandwiches half made (ham & 1 piece of bread - the other piece
    of bread wasn't on yet) and when I left the counter for half a minute
    to answer the phone or something, he stood up on his hind legs &
    hooked his claws into the meat on the sandwich & pulled it down
    to eat.  I wasn't happy about it at the time, but it sure did look
    funny !!!
    
    Punjab is NOT a picky eater - she eats almost anything except french
    fries.  Whenever I'm cooking, she's always by my feet looking for
    a preview of tonight's dinner.  Maybe she figures that if she passes
    up something she doesn't like, she won't get any of the stuff she
    does like.  What a beggar she is !!
    
    Silly cats !
    
    Joy

    My Ozzie will eat everything that I have.  I need to have some sort
    of protection when I sit down to eat.  If I'm sitting in front of
    the TV munching on what ever. Ozzie will come right up to me and
    try and take my food from me.  I am forever dodging him and making
    him get down. He is so bold....