Ruling the Roost

My husband was reading something about how cats have their owners trained. I don't think we think much about it on a day to day basis, but I do believe that to be true. I think they use the "helpless" ploy. They aren't demanding, they just stand by their food with this innocent look on their face that seems to say, "Oh my, what will I ever do? There is no food in my bowl." And we humans say out loud to them, "Oh my goodness, do you need food? Here, let me help you." The part we don't see is when our cats turn their backs and smirk.

Here is our cat's biggest manipulation. Somewhere along the line, he silently communicated to us that he needed water put out for him in our master bathroom. We had some plastic disposable drinking cups, so one day we filled one for him and set it next to the sink. Don't ask me how he communicated that to us, he just did. Oh wait, maybe it was the way he stood on the sink and stared at the water that was running down the drain. Anyway, his request was made, and we felt like such wonderful owners for thinking of our cat's needs. But then came the day that we forgot to fill his cup. From that day on, whenever we forget, he ever so casually will "whap" the cup with his paw, spilling it all over the counter. Once again, there is such a sweet innocent look on his face, that we assume he is just trying to communicate. What we don't recognize is the cat laughter each time he does it. We assumed he was purring. And so he has us trained. And just like any good trainer, he basically has told us where to go, but made us happy about the trip.