Mrs. Murphy and Lopito lived in a 3-story house with so many windows and soft furnishings to choose from, they were seldom seen together on the same floor. The two black cats shared upholstered seating, windowsills, litter boxes, daily bowls of kibble, and a single female owner on separate timetables, but dining together in the kitchen every evening was a sure thing. They were united in their fondness for wet food.
But if 5-year-old Lopito had to share a craving with his housemate, he wanted a head start. Accordingly every evening found him laying on the kitchen counter in a luxurious sprawl to monitor meal prep while keeping tabs on Mrs. Murphy. As a retired counter surfer in her fourteenth year, she was content to ribbon around human legs.
And he’s off!
Lifting dinner bowls toward the feeding station along the opposite wall was Lopito’s cue to close the gap ahead of the sedate Mrs. Murphy. She always took her time, yet Lopito seemed to enjoy making a show of it. While Mrs. Murphy closed in on her bowl, he gulped wet food as if there was prize money involved. It was a miracle the food stayed down.
Mrs. Murphy would manage to put a dent in her dinner before Lopito pushed his head into her bowl, nudging repeatedly until she gave up. Because Mrs. Murphy seemed content with her quarter share, Lopito’s bumptious binging was tolerated.
That is until the day he oozed over the edge of the kitchen counter, dropping on top of poor Mrs. Murphy. A loud, piercing yowl ended with a well-deserved swat. In solidarity with the undercat, Lopito was banned from the counter at dinnertime.
Easier said than done
But keeping the single-minded Lopito off a generously-sized countertop was impossible. Plan B was to close the seldom used kitchen door before dinner to keep the cats out and reopen it only after dinner bowls were served. The plan worked until Lopito gave up his regular late afternoon sunbath on the 3rd floor to hang out in the shady kitchen hours before dinner.
Plan C added an additional serving of wet food along with their breakfast kibble in the hope of diluting feline cravings. The strategy succeeded only in gifting Lopito with more opportunities to literally get the drop on poor Mrs. Murphy.
Moving target
My solution was to treat the wet food serving as a moveable feast. In deference to Mrs. Murphy’s age, I prepped their dinner in different rooms on the first floor, changing up the serving location to stay ahead of Lopito mischief. He was so preoccupied with anticipating my moves, he forgot about Mrs. Murphy. Exactly what I wanted for her.
Photo of Mrs. Murphy (long-haired) and Lopito (bottom right) provided by the owner.
