… and there are four of them with me right now: two are under my permanent guardianship: a huge ( 16 pounds) distinguished “tux”, Rascal, and a slightly less huge (11 pounds) “furball” (Maine Coon) Shark. They are both fatsos, while the visiting two, a very affectionate calico, Missy (8 pounds) and a tiny (barely 4 pounds), 17 years old black cat lady, Fifs, are respectively slim and skinny. They are also more finicky eaters than my cats.
(photos to be uploaded)
Why were they unhappy tonight? Oh, well, it was entirely my fault: when I finally decided to stop procrastinating for a while and got seriously into that “sorting thing”, I forgot everything else.
I forgot to go to the grocery store, and, when supper time arrived, I found some chicken breast in the freezer, green and red lentils in the cupboard, some veggies in the veggie bin and fresh herbs growing on my terrace. So I made a quick chicken-lentil-vegetable soup for myself within less than 20 minutes…. but could not find any canned cat food at home to feed the cats.
Found dry cat food and youghurt, which they are supposed to eat. Put it into their food bowls. They looked at the dry food, water, yoghurt… then back at me….and none of them touched anything. They just sat there in front of their bowls, allfour of them, all four pair of eyes following - expectedly – my every move. And then the skin-and-bones old cat lady gave a loud whine of sheer desperation!
I can’t take that much pressure, so I started looking for canned fish…. but found only a jar of Swedish herring in sour creme with red caviar. Hesitated a moment - after all it is my all time favorite – but decided to offer it to the cats. They did not appreciate the tiniest bit, but continued to demonstratively sit in front of their bowls, looking at me now with a definitive air of not only disappointment but a definitive disapproval. It almost made me run to the store, no matter how late, so guilty they made me feel.
But by then my soup was ready, and when I put some into my own bowl, the cats surrounded me sniffing the chicken. So, of course, a pushover that I am, I ate a lentil-veggie soup with fresh herbs for supper and the cats ate chicken breast!
Now all five of us seem somewhat satisfied, but I am definitively going to buy more canned cat food and even some cans of tuna, just in case, early tomorrow morning, just after a visit to the local farmers’ market, where I can usually find at least ten different varieties of organic heirloom tomatoes (expensive, $3.50 a pound, but worth it), other fresh organic veggies, straight from the gardens, unpastuerized honey, homemade soap etc. Farmers’ Market here is only on Tuesdays and Saturdays, very early in the morning, and i can’t miss it – so cats will have to wait for their breakfast a bit, if they still refuse dry food – but at least i won’t be around to feel their disapproval.
