Chow Time Shuffle

Blue’s bowl is filled with fresh beef and chicken liver pate and there are a few tasty dental snacks next to his dish. But, as soon as he hears the rattling of hard biscuits being dropped from a bag into my food dish, he runs over to where our mistress, Lady Hun, is pouring dry food into my dish.  She shoos him away so I can eat in peace, since he and I have different diets.  He is stubborn to leave so Lady Hun has to keep gently nudging him away until he finally acquiesces. 

I began to nibble my special senior-formulated biscuits; they are crunchy with a soft center that also helps with hairballs and urinary tract health. I like to eat the morsels slowly, but oftentimes I am forced to gobble to prevent Blue from muscling his way into my bowl before I have a chance to even taste one biscuit.  He is greedy, always chowing down like a contestant in a hot dog eating contest.

When Blue sees Clyde eating heartily, He begins to stare Clyde down and growls until Clyde pauses from eating to look at Blue who is frowning.  

       “What’s up?” asks Clyde. Blue furiously stares at the dish. “Hmph, you’ve got some nerve, he cries. “I’m hungry!”  Clyde moves a little from the dish and invites Blue to share. Blue wants to protest, but is so hungry he sniffs the food instead and cautiously takes a taste, eyeballing Clyde, who hesitantly takes a taste as well. Then Blue takes another taste and Clyde does the same. They each take a bite of food, and then politely allow the other to take a bite until the food dish is empty. The back and forth bite taking is like a game between the two of them. Blue isn’t usually so generous, but he is no match for Clyde, a young, athletic specimen, so Blue has no choice but to share if he wants to eat. 

“I’ll get us some water, buddy” says Blue eagerly once he and Clyde are finished eating. Blue rubs Lady Hun’s leg for water.  She immediately understands what he wants and gets a filtered water jug from the refrigerator.  Blue waits patiently where he and Clyde have been sharing food and noticed that Clyde has vanished. He suddenly remembers the dental snacks that were left beside his bowl and sees that they are missing. He flashes me a nasty look. “What happened to my snacks, did you eat them?” I am surprised he accuses me of that. I snap back at him, “Of course not!”  He shrugs. “Serves me right, that’s what I get for caring enough to share my food with a sneaky tomcat like Clyde!”

Suddenly, Blue’s attention is drawn to the sound of water being poured into a dish. He quickly turns his head in the direction of another area in the room. “Blue, here’s your water” calls Lady Hun. I see Blue exam the empty dish from which he and Clyde had just shared food, and go over to where Lady Hun is calling him.  As he approaches her, his curiosity grows.  Upon reaching her, he notices that his bowl; which is the same type as Clyde’s, is full of food. The dental snacks are beside his dish…just as he left them.  He appears awkward, having jumped to the wrong conclusion, which is something that happens not just to cats, but also to humans.