Max has changed the way he asks for food. He used to meow a lot and rub up against my legs. I don’t know what brought on the change, but now all he does is sit and stare… sit and stare…
Ha! Max is trying to hypnotize me into giving him more food. It doesn’t work. I don’t want him to be unhealthy. If it were up to him, he’d eat every time he went into the kitchen. And it wouldn’t be a nibble. He always eats like his last meal was two days ago. Poor Max. He has no self-regulation in regard to food.
He may be able to stare, but Max doesn’t do The Slow Blink. Every cat I’ve had extended contact with was able to learn that slow blinking is a way of smiling at me. Max doesn’t do it. I’m a little puzzled. I’ll continue to work with him. He’s only two and a half. Maybe the skill will come with age, just like The Stare has.
People are also known to do The Stare when they’re hungry, but it’s usually aimed at The Fridge. Max is probably just bored. He needs a hobby – like knitting or crossword puzzles.
Maybe Max is just going thru the terrible twos…he wants to do the blink thing, but his obstinate stage will not allow it, so he stares.
…and I’m just thinking there may be more of Max than there was in his rub-against-my-legs days. Riley has grown exponentially (I think a Japanese horror movie may have used him as a model once, in fact), and he is less likely to rub the ankles when hungry than to meow or just plain lay down in front of the refrigerator. No, wait – that’s for when he wants an ice cube for his indoor kitty ice hockey games. (Not kidding there.) But he doesn’t do the figure 8’s around the feet for food any more – maybe it’s a maturity thing? (Though what mature cat pees on your bed clothes if you forget and leave the bedroom door open once you’re up for the day? But I digress…)
Jack used to stare at us. All the time. Only his eyes weren’t saying “FEED ME.” They were saying something that was mean and would have gotten his mouth washed out with soap if he could have said it out loud.
Ollie, on the other hand, also stares at us. His eyes aren’t saying anything mean, they’re saying, “Mmmm, you would probably taste really good if you were sauteed in butter and garlic.”