Cats are Not Allowed on the Dining Room Table
TweetAthena knows she’s not allowed on the dining room table. In our home, cats are not permitted on eating- or food-preparation surfaces.
I know where their paws have been.
We have a set of motion-activated compressed-air gizmos that discourage cats from being where cats oughtn’t to be.
But every once in awhile, someone forgets to turn on one of those gizmos, or the batteries run out, or the system otherwise malfunctions.
And Athena knows.
She always knows.
The other day I walked into the dining room and saw this:
Is there a problem?
She served up her very best “Is there something wrong, officer?” look.
At the time, I had only my camera in hand, and not the squirt bottle.
Which Athena knew. (I rarely have to use the squirt bottle; if I just show it to one of the cats, they know it means Stop Whatever Thing You Are Doing, Which is Against the Rules and I Know You Know That.)
So while I stood there taking pictures…
…Athena slowly sauntered…
…and trust me, it was a beautiful saunter…
…the long way around the table…
…and eventually jumped off.
And that, my friends, is catitude.
That’s why we love ’em.
I caught her doing this several times, until I finally replaced the gizmo on the table.
Recently, I posted a picture of Athena sitting where she oughtn’t and I asked readers to guess what was wrong with the picture. The winners would get a prize. At the time I wrote, “If there is more than one right answer, Athena and I will choose the best one.”
Several people guessed correctly. I chose Mark S’s response as the best one: “Not sure what is wrong with the picture. Looks like a wonderful photo to me. Unless you have a thing against cats on the dining table.” Yes, Mark, indeed I do have a thing against cats on the dining table.
But Athena disagreed, and since I did say that she could help choose the right answer, she thought that Susan S’s answer was correct: “What’s wrong is that a placemat belongs on the dining table, and a dish of yummy food belongs on the placemat, but there is NO dish of food on the placemat with the cat who is prettily waiting, perhaps patiently.” Of course, that’s the right answer from a cat’s perspective.
But wait! There’s more. It turns out, I inadvertently chose a picture that had it’s own hidden puzzle within — and several people pointed out that it looked like Athena has two tails in the photo. I couldn’t ignore those observant folks, so I am sending a third prize package to Robin W, who figured out that Athena is sitting on her tail: “Cute little Athena’s tail is going under her paws, while the end of her tail is on the other side of her body.”
Congratulations to all three winners! Your prizes are on the way.
And no, Athena, you are still not allowed on the table.
Do your pets always follow the rules? And do you ever let them get away with it?
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Yes indeed, that is the very definition of “catitude”! But with such a beautiful cat, you just can’t get angry. 🙂 Love the way they take advantage and are so smart about when and where to be naughty!
Athena knows that I can’t be angry, and works that to her advantage.
Sunbeam is always so cruel and goes where the katkid is not supposed to… it’s not her fault.
True. But there were other sunbeams in the house. I think this one was better because it was forbidden. 😉
Cats always have a way of pushing the boundaries! I guess they just have to let their humans know that they are in charge. MOL
That’s cats!
Love that catitude…and Athena sure has it.
She has so much, she could bottle it and sell it.
That is some excellent cattitude, Miss Athena. Bravo! 🙂
She majored in it in cat college.
Cats have no respect! At least dogs can look sorry sometimes.
That’s true. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cat look sorry. Unless maybe it’s sorry they’re caught.
Ma says I have “catitude’!! Okays, not really…she says I have ‘Terriertude’, which apparently is worse. I don’t believes that, butts that is what she says. I thinks Athena was just layin’ in the bestest sunpuddle she could find. I approve. Ma does not. She says she knows where my paws have been too….and my tongue. Wanna kiss??? ☺
Kisses,
Ruby ♥
We know “terriertude” here too. That would be Tucker.
Even our puppy, Ethel, will try and climb on the tables.
Woofs from Earl, Ethel and I at Earl’s World!
My childhood dog, Twinkle did that.
The mom gave up trying to keep us off the table. Now the only time we’re not allowed there is when the peeps are eating.
We have that rule too. Guess who tries to break it all the time?
Rules? I gave up on rules about 12 cats ago 🙂
I still try. I really do.
Wow! Who knew there was so much in that one picture and mes must say, there are certain tables things that we are not supposed to sit on and all Mommy has to do is give us “the LOOK” and wes immediately jumps down.
Athena, yous brave!
Kisses
Nellie
We know “the LOOK” very well here. Sometimes it works.
What a weird rule ! You’ve got the best catitude ever, Athena ! We try to respect that “rule” when our humans are eating, but it’s just because we’re very kind. Purrs
Ha! Love that saunter around the long way. Yep, catitude for sure and why we love them so much. They make the simplest thing so much more amusing.
What & where did you find a Gizmo shoots air out I need one.
I use something called PetSafe SSSCAT Spray Deterrent
. If you buy it through the link in this comment, I may get a small commission, but you can find it on many pet sites and some pet stores. Hope that helps.