My aristo friend Miss Lou with a choice of food
As a fully pedigree British shorthair, I am something of an etiquette influencer among polite cats. Strays and ordinary pets may not follow me: but aristocratic cat or cats of undeniable superiority take note of what I write.
When it comes to the feeding bowl, etiquette for the upper class cat is clear. We only eat straight from the bowl if we are very hungry or in some kind of hurry.
Good manners requires us to take items of food, put them down on the floor near the bowl, and then (and only then) eat them. This, of course, is a leisurely way to browse our food, showing that we do not lose our manners even when the food is particularly delicious.
Polite eating
Lesser cats have argued that this is a waste of food. These are the cats, often former strays, who are fixated on eating as much as possible in as short a time as possible. Some of these cats even lick the bowl clean when the food is gone.
Cats of high birth, like me, scorn such behaviour. It makes us cringe. Not only does it show poor impulse control, it also kowtows to humans. Humans like to see us eating up all the food. And pleasing humans should be resisted.
I never eat up all my food. I always leave just a little bit for Mr Manners. It keeps humans on their toes and makes them wonder if it is time to buy me a more expensive cat food.
And carefully taking small pieces of food out of the bowl and on to the kitchen floor is another way of reminding humans of their proper place. I also always leave small items of food on the floor. I never eat all of them.
My human has to clear this up. It reminds her of her lowly status in my household.
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