Thursday 1 December 2022

Then what happened? Cooke's cats

 

 'Cats sleep anywhere . . .  

Cooke’s cats

Everyone has heard of Pavlov’s dogs, I’m sure. Well, we have a variation called Cooke’s cats.

Jellicoe has to be fed four times a day, at four-hourly intervals – 8:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, 4:00 p.m. and 8.00 p.m. It is important that these times are adhered to, so Alexa has been utilised to remind the Provider of Food, or Food Servant (me!) of those critical moments.

 . . . Any table, any chair'
Thinking

Jellicoe starts campaigning for food roughly ninety minutes after he’s finished a meal, but understands when I tell him how much longer he has to wait. However, once the klaxon sounds, he starts yelling at me to get a wriggle on and provide his sustenance. His brother, Herschel, also demands to be fed, but he is far less insistent than Jellicoe.


Watching

We use Alexa for many reminders in the house, so she is always issuing orders. Jellicoe and Herschel look alert and interested every time she speaks, but seem to know when she is not indicating meal times. At least, they don’t run around assaulting my ears with their yowls. I think that’s one better than Pavlov’s dogs!

That sounds as though Pavlov’s dogs yowled – I don’t know whether they did. I doubt it, since dogs don’t generally yowl. Howl, yes, though our dogs usually only howl in their dreams. I do recall, however, the late, great Frodo howling for the whole week I was away in New York. Every time Barry ‘phoned me, I could hear Frodo’s melodious voice in the background, poor boy.

Frodo 

On another note, Jellicoe is transmogrifying into a Labrador. He is constantly searching for food, so nothing edible can be left within his reach, and being a cat, his reach is . . . far-reaching. We now have locks on the fridge and the freezer.

Preparing food is a circus, as he leaps onto the work surface to steal what’s on offer. If the pickings are particularly appetising, Herschel joins in as well. We end up dancing round the kitchen, from one work surface to another, attempting to avoid reaching paws and claws and teeth.

Our cats are gentle and don’t bite, except for mild ‘love bites’. Barry is nervous of the teeth, however, and always pulls away, though I advise him not to. On some mornings, when he wakes, he finds two little teeth marks on his arm. Love will find a way!

I am looking forward to Christmas so much. I shall be an expert juggler by the end of it.

 

2 comments:

  1. Hi Janice - sounds like your animals 'rule the waves' - but quite understandable ... keep juggling along happily - cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's quite a game - and the yowls are ear-splitting!

    ReplyDelete



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