You've heard of ennui, but have you met felennui?
this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2025
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The fourth is catnip. Always the 'nip.
Once my mom asked me to clear out a planter box that had become overgrown because she wanted to plant tomatoes. I pulled up this 3ft tall stalk plant with little purplish flowers, and as soon as I shoved it in the trash bag, the cat came running from the other side of the house and dove face first in the bag. After a minute or so, it was backing out of the bag with the stalk between his teeth dragging it out of the bag and once it was out of the bag started nibbling on it and rolling around on the plant. Looked up what the plant was and apparently I had just pulled up his catnip grow operation. When he came down, he was mad at me for a few days.
They prefer to have the water away from food bowls, is a sanitary instinct for predators
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For my little Chloe, it's deli meat. I don't know how she does it, but she always knows. I could go to the kitchen 10 times, and she wouldn't react, but if I quietly make a sandwich and bring it to the living room to eat while watching TV, she's right there, purring for her share. You can't sneak it past her, she always knows.
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That fourth thing is hunger. It only comes when the cat is fed on a schedule, as opposed to free-fed with multiple piles of food out all day. Feed in a schedule and you'll suddenly see (healthy, right-weight) interested felines licking empty bowls.
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For me this 4th thing is “tub”. It’s when my cat asks me to fill the bathtub with a small puddle of water so he can stand on the dry side and drink from the puddle. He’s 18 years old but he can still climb in and out of the tub and I think that’s pretty cool.
It looks like a human looking into the fridge full of food but finding nothing to eat
I find bigger bowels where their whiskers dont touch rim as much is a big favorite for my cats. Their water bowel is frankly huge. Food trays kinda flat but gotta put it on the floor for one picky boi.
Autocorrect changed the meaning of this initially. "Bowels" and rims, oh my.
My cat is the messiest eater you've ever seen. I tried a lickmat with him but he just sprays it everywhere. Bloody carnage.
Oh. So I guess the feeling I am feeling right now is "feline."
I have unlocked the fourth one! It is attention, they want just you to notice them.
Treats:
I have the only cat in the world who could take or leave Churu.
you are not alone! i ended up mixing them in with wet food just to get rid of them. (the churus, not the cats)
Mine too. Sniffed it and wandered off. Tried 2 flavours.
Dreamies work though
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The fourth thing is milk.
My cat is a very bad eater (doesn't hate his food, just doesn't eat enough). The other day he was s c r e a m i n g at me while I ate a piece of cheddar cheese*. I bit off the tiniest corner (like 2-3 mm wide, seriously tiny) and gave it him. Never seen him go so wild at a piece of food. I fear I have created a cheese monster and will never know another moment of peace while eating cheese.
*Low-lactose cheese is okay as an infrequent treat. It's the lactose in milk that's bad for cats.
Or maybe just a bowl that doesn't hurt their whiskers?
I can strongly recommend a fountain. My current cat isn't fond of drinking from a bowl, but I found a fountain that I just swap the water every morning on. Comes with different kinds of heads. Somedays he wants a steady flow, other days he wants to nip at water out of the air. Always have a second bowl on the opposite corner of the kitchen just incase he's been picky, food dish is over in the living room by my computer.
Split water and food bowls by a good amount of space. Opposite sides of the room, or different rooms altogether. And more than 1 water bowl. Apparently these tricks are useful.
Yeah I only learned a couple of years ago that cats hate having their water anywhere near food. Moving bowls into different rooms made a huge difference to their water consumption.
My mom was a florist with a greenhouse attached to the house. Cats loved roaming the greenhouse to find mice of course, but by far their favorite was all the glasses of water my mom used to cut flowers with, we joked that one particular tuxedo cat had a refined palette and would only sip on rose water.
When those cats were thirsty, they didn't check the water by the dog food or one in their cat tree for a sip, they'd go right to the table and counter top and sniff around at every glass they could find till something seemed just right for them.
Me and my sisters pretty much had to go around the house collecting glasses every day we got home from school cause my mother couldn't be bothered to clean up after herself.
There is also a trick I used to do - fill the food bowl with water (wetfood only). The cat plucked it out of the water and then drank the water. They take in most of their water from drinking blood / when eating. Also important to feed them internal organs - chicken hearts, livers, etc.
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<< the taste of the laser dot's blood that one time in a dream when I caught it >>
Your mind will be blown once you learn about 'different flavours'. I wish I could ask my cat which he prefers.
Couldn't you have multiple flavors out to eat in order and see which one they eat first?
I don't have a pet but I think I'd do that. Food is mostly fuel for pets so they'll eat what's available unless there's a problem. These things are manufactured to be appealing to your kitties. If they won't eat it you won't buy it.
a cats favorite flavor is whatever they feel like it is at any particular moment
And/or whatever you’ve just given up on and thrown away
I could present him with multiple options at once, but since he only gets wet food, this would involve a lot of waste.
There's also the added problem of changing taste. Depending on my mood, I prefer different food on different days. Until proven otherwise, I just assume the same for him, which is why I would ideally have everything in stock and he could choose every day.
Maybe I should get more cats, give them multiple options and see who goes for what. Ideally, everything gets eaten and I learn more about their preferences.
Maybe you can try to associate the food with a label? So that the cats can point at a label or color or whatever the association with a flavor is, to show you what it wants in the Moment?
I do this, and it’s still only like a 60% chance it’ll appeal to my cat in the moment. I just let it sit until she either eats it or it’s been 6+ hours (she’ll generally eat it within 1-2 hours, though). I use wet food pouches, and only put a little in the dish at a time, so it’s not a huge waste, but it’s annoying when she chooses a flavor and still doesn’t want it.
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What Whisker likes today might not be appealing to him tomorrow, and he will ask for it in 2 months when you thought he didn't like it. Don't get me started on which brands he favors depending on which direction the wind blows. That being said, I got mine to eat his wet food by mixing pumpkin purée for human babies with it. It worked for almost an entire week.
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I finally figured out mine doesn't have a favorite and he rotates through multiple flavors. Variety is the spice of life and all that. I mostly have it figured out now and only have to give away about a bag a month. Took nearly $200 of food research to get here though I hope he knows how much I care
Deep in thought. "Is this what my life has become? I used to be a legendary hunter."
This can actually be a large part of it. Cats are obligate hunters so they can be pretty regimented in wanting a 'hunt' to spur their appetite.
A play session may be that fourth thing.
"My ancestors could take down water buffalo. Look what I've let myself become. I could probably only take down a Zebra now."