Okay, we've all heard how our cats come running at the sound of the can opener, expecting maybe a treat for food.

Well, I don't have an electric can opener. (Haven't for decades.) So imagine my surprise last night when I go into the kitchen to start making dinner. I choose a can of refried beans from the pantry, retrieve the hand operated can opener, and proceed to go to it. Just as the opener punctures the can, I hear the sound it makes as air rushes into the vacuum.

Problem is, so does the cat. Next thing I know, I turn around to see two kitty eyes looking forlornly at me, wondering if and when he can get some of the contents of said can. Just goes to show how sharp cat ears can be when it comes to food. Using a mechanical hand operated can opener doesn't mean the cat won't know when dinner is being served!

And if you think that's something, he also has the habit of showing up whenever I pop the plastic lid off a container of yogurt. He hears the plastic from the other end of the house! The cat insists on licking the foil cover, and cleaning out the container when I'm done. As a matter of fact, he knows when I'm scraping the bottom of the yogurt container, and he paws me to 'remind' me that the rest is for him! I have to leave a bit around the rim, so he can clean it off. I chuckle, but not too loudly, when I see his head buried in the yogurt container, to get as much of this good stuff as possible.

Cats.

Copyright © Brian Armstrong
January 6, 2000