Seems like ever since my cats heard me talking about “cattitude” in a previous post, they’ve been absolutely loaded with it. Mainly in the form of stealing. My cats steal everything—cellphones, paychecks, hairbands. (And occasionally, my sanity.)
I think all cats operate on the same basic principle: “Everything belongs to me.” This is why when you set an object down, even something silly for a cat to want, like your wallet, your cat wants it. Or at least wants to knock it onto the floor and give it a good investigation before deciding it’s not worth having. Meh, you can have this, it’s not very interesting anyway. Cattitude!
Sometimes, and this is most entertaining, the cats will even steal from each other. When I put food in their dish, Catillac and Harley will squeeze their heads into it at the same time, ears flattened to make more space, so they can stuff themselves simultaneously. Either that, or Harley will reach in with his paw to scoop food out while Catillac eats. But if you put something really desirable in there, such as tuna…different story.
They’ll start by cramming both their heads in the bowl, but then Harley will decide Catillac’s eating more than her share, draw his head back, stick his paw in, and yank the bowl away from her and start wolfing the tuna down. She’ll finish chewing, move to where he’s taken the dish, and stick her head in again, and he’ll yank it away again. That’s how they eat tuna, slowly migrating across the kitchen with their little green plastic dish. It’s ridiculous. But also stupendously cute. Cattitude vs. cattitude!
A couple posts ago, we asked you to send in photos of your cat displaying “cattitude”—thanks to everyone who sent pics! See a slideshow of our favorites here!
—Allison Ruffing
Watch the Harley and Catillac "tuna war" below!
