Why Are Cats So Picky?
Have you ever wondered why cats are so picky? Ivy is very picky. Or maybe “spoiled” would be a better word.
About a week or so ago she stopped eating the treats I was giving her. I’d put them in the blue and white bowl on the coffee table. And she’d stick up her nose and walk away.
She’d also become picky about the previous treats I’d ordered. So they were set aside, and I’d purchased the ones she was still refusing to eat.
What was going on?
Then I ordered Greenie’s tuna flavored cat treats, because she used to like them. But Amazon couldn’t send them for almost a week.
Well, we can’t expect Ivy to go that long without treats!
So I ordered what I considered the next best choice: Succulent Shrimp. While also ordering the tuna flavored ones that would come later.
Well, you know how it goes. Days pass and you forget about this and that. Most days I forget things actually. Well, if I’m being truth, every day I forget things.
When Ivy turned her nose up at the Succulent Shrimp treats, I should have realized what was happening. But alas, life happens and I forgot.
So picky Ivy went a few days without treats until I could get the tuna flavored treats delivered.
The Package Arrives:
Yesterday a small package arrived at my door. It was the tuna treats. And I thought: Isn’t that what I am already feeding her?
I’d forgotten that I was trying to make do with the Succulent Shrimp treats until the tuna flavored treats arrived.
I guess the Succulent Shrimp does not make the cut for picky cats.
I put a few of the tuna treats down and Ivy gobbled them right up.
So I immediately sat down and began looking for Greenie’s tuna treats again. Luckily I found them online at Walmart and they’ll be shipped. Soon, I hope.
Lord, we’ll have to ration the tuna flavored treats.
When Steve, Peg, or Lisa walks through the door, Ivy hops on the coffee table. She is awaiting her treats in the blue and white bowl. I tell them she can have 2 treats because the vet is concerned about her weight.
It’s Steve’s fault that I cannot redecorate the coffee table and remove the blue and white bowl. He’s the one who began putting Ivy’s treats in there.
It is now of course her favored treat spot. And heaven help us if I try to change that.
And he is the worst about giving Ivy too many treats. When I told him she could only have two treats at a time, he looked at me and exclaimed: “Two!!!”
Obviously he does not think two treats are enough.
Ivy Is Not A Snuggler:
Ivy doesn’t want to be picked up. She will not sit on your lap. Ivy will sit or lay close to you, but not touching you. She has laid down strict parameters about that.
Ivy has begun waking me up at night again. It isn’t because she doesn’t have food and is hungry. She has food in her bowl. I’ve begun to think that she just wants company.
Or maybe she simply wants me to get up. She doesn’t want me to do anything and ignores me for the most part once I’m up. Apparently she just does not want me sleeping any longer.
Do you think that cats gets lonely during the night while they’re prowling about?
Cats are night creatures. They are crepuscular, which means that they are most active at dawn and dusk.
It is sometimes called “the night crazies” when they’re so active that you can’t sleep.
I don’t know what Ivy does at night. But dragging her toys out of the two bins is one of them.
Often Ivy will jump on the bed and lightly touch me on the arm with her paw. Followed by one meow.
After that comes the staring contest. I open my eyes and ask her what she wants. (Which is silly of course. It’s not like she’s going to answer.) And she just stares at me.
So I can try to go back to sleep with Ivy a foot away staring at me, or I can get up. She’s happiest when I get up.
What does she do once I’m up? She either stares out the patio doors, or takes one of her many daytime naps.
The Blanket Thrown Over The Chair Cat Fort:
The other day I moved the folded quilt I’d temporarily laid on the bedroom chair.
In short order it had become Ivy’s favorite bedroom napping spot. But I didn’t want her fur all over it, as I’d just paid to have it picked up and cleaned.
So I tossed a brown blanket over the chair for her.
That has now become Ivy’s “fort.” Remember making forts as kids? Well, it is the cat’s version of a child’s fort.
The blanket hits the floor in the front, but not the sides. She likes to get under the chair and hide.
Sometimes Ivy runs to the chair when she’s feeling playful when I enter the room. She ducks her head under the chair, but fails to understand that I can see the rest of her body. Ivy thinks she’s hiding from me.
So there she is, still so as not to be seen, and only her head is under the chair fort.
In the photo above, she is all the way under the chair.
Cats are such funny creatures. Ivy entertains me daily with her funny ways.
I wish I lived out in the country and was physically able to care for many homeless cats. I’d give them an excellent home and whatever flavor treats they desired.
My Chloe like the Greenies treats but they became upsetting for her digestive system. She was dropping stool bits around the house. Vet suggested stopping Greenies and wouldn’t you know, the stool drops stopped! We were using the Greenies for teeth cleaning purposes.
Sadly, our household is without a cat since a week ago. Our big, furry, Maine Coon-looking, Ninja, had to be euthanized due to kidney problems. He was a talker. Just meowed and meowed like he was complaining about the service around here! Sometimes it was that the dog had drunk out of his water dish leaving it full of dog slobber. Other times it was that he wanted to go outside and sometimes you just couldn’t tell what it was about. Seems very quiet around here now. I doubt we’ll get another cat, at least not very soon. I think about having one if I live alone again, but I am slightly allergic so a dog would be better. But cats are so much easier–except for the litter box issue. Anyway, I enjoyed hearing about Ivy’s antics in today’s post. She’s so beautiful and entertaining!
Oh Naomi, I’m so sorry! It’s so very hard to lose them. But the love they give you during their lifetime is priceless.
I’m so sorry about your precious fur baby! That is so sad. I must say, if my dog drank out of my water cup and got doggy slobber in it, I’d complain about it too! That’s a cute little story. Something you’ll always remember.
Cats are very finicky and fickle. My late kitty was on the heavy side because I couldn’t resist giving her lots of snacks. My son says that I spoil everyone and everything I love. I haven’t replaced my cat, but for years I have been feeding some feral/community cats. I call them my porch cats because that’s where I feed them and where they take refuge in the winter. We have tamed one of them and she has started turning her nose up at some of the food I give her.
Thank you for feeding them!
Oh my gosh, Brenda, I loved today’s post!! It’s always so much fun to read posts about Miss Ivy!! I love everything about her! 💕
Ivy is one quirky unique cat.
I loved every word of this Ivy report! It was fun comparing her antics to those of my cats, including the ones who wait for me in the next life.
I am forever grateful to rescuers…the person who took Ivy away from a probable short lived life of stress to survive and eased her path to the lap of luxury she enjoys with you today. God bless those big hearted folks! It’s up to us to “adopt, not shop” and donate whenever we can!
Oh, me too! I’m so grateful to them also. Or I wouldn’t have my Ivy. Absolutely: Adopt, don’t shop. And donate as well.
Brenda, it is always fun to read your posts about Ivy. She sounds playful, funny and like good company.
No cats at our house, 3 dachshunds that are funny, stubborn and wake us up at night because they want to eat, play or just don’t want us sleeping. Have a great day.
Such great companions, cats or dogs. I’ve loved them all throughout their time in my life. And miss them all.
Ivy would fit in here very well with Bella and Buddy!
Spoiled doesn’t begin to touch it, they’ll only eat the Hertz Delectables as their wet food 2x a day, but not all, only the chicken & duck or chicken & beef, seafood, no thank you!!!
Also, the bisque occasionally, we much prefer the stew…
Moving along to Temptations, affectionately called ” kitty crack” by our vet, once again we have specific tastes, no fish again,all the catnip are acceptable as well as backyard BBQ and never,ever try to pass a bag that’s been sitting around and could be stale, horrors!🙀
Mustnt forget Buddy only eats his on the windowsill.
I have created 2 monsters but as you said, their antics and shenanigans brighten up the gloomiest of days.
I do like to remind them once in awhile that they were homeless in another life, lol.
That’s so funny! They all have their special little quirks.
Lol! Oh Pat! This is the funniest thing I’ve read in a week! My daughter’s cats are similarly picky and I like to tell them, “pretty entitled for someone who forgets they were plucked from the bottom of a trash barrel!”
Cats are such wonderful creatures. Alike in so many ways, but then again different also. Cleatus always had the night crazies, running down the hallway. Although she really wasn’t a fat cat, it sounded like a circus elephant in the hall. (well, you probably know what I mean)
She wasn’t fussy about her treats, but when I would open a can of tuna, she knew, and was right there to get a little of it. That was a favorite. As far as her wet food, she would not eat the beef, only the salmon, which I fed her twice a day, and I always kept dry food in her dish, next to her water dish, under the butcher block table in the kitchen.
Every morning she enjoyed being combed or brushed, and she too was like an alarm clock, at 6:30a.m.
At night she would cuddle next to my face in bed, for about 5 minutes, then jump to the chair right next to my bed, where her fuzzy blanket was to sleep (before the crazies started).
I was lucky to enjoy her company for 17 years. Still miss her. Your stories of Ivy, always bring smiles, thanks for sharing with us.
Sounds like she had a wonderful life, and you happily enjoyed it with her.
I haven’t had a cat in a very long time but I recall that they are in charge! Ivy obviously rules in your home, as well. LOL She provides fun and entertainment, as well. Enjoy her. Have a terrific Wednesday!
Well, then it’s time to get a cat!
Brenda, I’ve had cats all my life, and yes, they can be fussy eaters. I once had a Vet tell me that when you get a cat only buy one brand of food and only one flavor and that way the cat doesn’t know that there are any other flavors of food or treats. Therefore, the cat usually doesn’t become a fussy eater waiting for another flavor.
Sounds like good advice, but I’ve already ruined Ivy by catering to her every food need.
Brenda, I smiled the whole time reading about Ivy’s shenanigans! Never had a cat but our daughter and our dog Kaia were just as picky with food. We wouldn’t trade them for anything though. It I will be warm here until Monday and I hope we can get most of the outside word finished before the cold sets in. Have a great day.
Well you don’t want to go through life never having experienced a cat companion, do you? I would consider that a must!
We have a cat my daughter started to foster when her owner had heart problems. So of course it was a foster fail. Nora is her name. A delicate tiny little girl. Probably doesn’t weigh more than five pounds. She too is a night owl. And in the day time if I’m looking for her I can find her under the daybed in the living room where it is all dark!
Nora is one lucky little girl. If Ivy fell on Nora it would probably kill her.
Dear Brenda, Ivy is a joy to read about…reminds me of my Chloe, very finiky, very private, but when she wants to cuddle, there’s no stopping her…yep she wakes me up around 6:30am I think to check that I’m alive and ready to fill her food bowl….and then go onto her daily brushing on the bench outside…no matter how cold it’s getting…and then she hops on the deck railing to check out the neighborhood and wait for the hummingbirds…..her favorite treat is Katsuobushi, or bonito flakes, stinky, but kindof crispy….you get them at either a Japanese food store or Amazon has it…..our little furry friends are amazing. Have a great day!!
I hadn’t thought about them checking to see if we are still alive. That’s probably true since we’re still when we sleep.