To my cat, all food is tuna fish until proven otherwise.

[marydell]

My cat Ahab doesn't like people food, except for tuna fish. And he doesn't even like the fish itself, he just likes the water from the can. I've had the habit for my entire life of giving a little water from the can of tuna to the resident cat(s) so they'll stop meowing at me while I make a sandwich. Once I've spoiled the tuna with mayo they're no longer interested, and as long as I don't give them more than a flake or two of actual tuna there's no barfing or unhappiness.

Anyway, Ahab is finicky to the point that he won't eat cat treats, so until a couple of years ago he didn't bother me about Tuna and I didn't give him any tuna water. But then I did, and he liked it, so now he's decided that anything that requires standing at the counter to prepare must be Tuna. He meows when I'm cutting up an apple; he meows when hubby makes a cup of coffee, he meowed at me this morning when I was putting shedd's spread on a bagel.

Generally putting the food in question under his nose makes him shut up and go away in a huff, once he realizes that it's not tuna, but hubby gets alarmed when I do that because he's afraid Ahab will stick his nose in my food, and he's more fastidious than I am (hubby, I mean. So is Ahab, probably). Every other cat I've had or known can tell the difference between tuna and not-tuna from approximately one block away, but Ahab just has to see for himself, I guess.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I had a cat like that once; he loved salmon, and figured everything we did must somehow be related to it. He actually had to eat things, though, to realize they weren't salmon. The look on his face when he ate the capers was priceless.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Ooh, capers! That's just mean. Someone gave some to me once, and...ehhh.

[kouredios.livejournal.com]

Our cats always seemed to have the sounds of opening a can of tuna memorized, so they didn't appear whenever we prepared any food, but they did appear whenever we opened a can of anything. Of course, this was before the dog. Now they won't come near the kitchen if the dog is inside.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Our cats aren't that much into human food although we've learned not to leave nourishment exposed on the kitchen counter otherwise our oldest Bad Cat will go and give it a few licks. And a few more. And a few more. Even if it's cake. Overall though neither cat is the begging type although, when they hear us rummage thru the dry-food bins, they meow as if we had not fed them in a week.

Our dogs on the other hand will eat anything that humans eat, and they most definitely are the begging type.

[readinggeek451]

My childhood cat would eat anything dropped on the kitchen floor. Including frozen peas.

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Fortunately Ahab can't get onto the counter to lick things - eyew, cat-licked cake! Ahab only has 3 legs (hence "Ahab") so he's an ideal cat for someone who likes to collect fragile stuff.

(we didn't modify him, we got him that way)
(but the next cat had better watch it!)

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

we didn't modify him

Hmmm... "The Modified Cat" sounds like a Young-Adult novel's title. As for Ahab, if you don't feed him when he is hungry, does he start meowing about the great white (tuna) god, and how you tasked him and all that stuff?

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Back when my other cat, Mirabell, was alive, Ahab did like to chase him sometimes. Judge for yourself: <img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/42/95537320_4e571f56d8.jpg" Ahab is the grey one.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Mirabell is nothing but skin and bones, eh? As for small cats going after bigger ones, we have the same thing happening here, with Agatha jumping on Jefferson. I'm not sure the latter likes it or dislikes it, but it sure beats his kitten days, when one of our dogs enjoyed grabbing him by his head and just holding him that way.