The time has come to broach the uncomfortable subject of Banjo’s diet. Our male cat feeds almost exclusively on raw beef mince, preferably the cheapest, pot-luck sort with excess fat removed. The meat must come from a certain butcher’s shop and it is a complete mystery to us how he can distinguish it from meat of similar quality bought elsewhere. Perhaps the secret lies in the mincing machine, perhaps not.
Banjo eats in the evening and early in the morning when he is prepared to ingest food he refuses at other times. He knows that at 5am there is no chance of fresh meat. After I have been to the butcher’s, I present him with a little of the older meat he has previously refused alongside some of the fresh meat and he usually eats both. Sherpa regularly prefers older meat to what has been recently minced.
Occasionally both cats enjoy a small piece of liver or a slice of chicken breast that has been for quick sale. They crunch small amounts of desiccated cat food and search for a saucer that contains milk, but this must not contain too much lactic acid. Conventional advice to cat owners is to provide a saucer full of water. Neither of our cats, to the best of my knowledge, has ever been remotely interested in drinking water.
People seeing Banjo are often surprised by his size. ‘He looks like a small dog,’ they say, scolding me. Banjo is a neutered male, a gib, and it is recognised that removal of testes can result in obesity. Activity and metabolism may be reduced, we are told, and a neutered male may eat more because of altered feeding behaviour. Normally a placid and contented animal, our gib can become annoyed when hungry and pouncing on Sherpa is the way his frustration finds expression.
I have learned not to leave cat food outside the back door having discovered that feline trespassers, on finding this bounty, return in hope day after day mewing piteously. On a couple of occasions I surprised Banjo as he stood on the top step outside the door eating processed cat food, all of which he really dislikes. He was defending his territory.
Sometimes I place food in front of both cats and a couple of minutes later find them looking at it while it is still untouched. When I stroke their heads they start to eat. I have sometimes wondered if Banjo, in particular, asks for food when what he really wants is attention and reassurance that he is still loved.
When I am serving food to visitors I can be sure that both cats will appear and expect to be fed. They find usurpers occupying their favourite seats so there is no question of compounding their discomfiture by ignoring them.
I used to believe that animals ate because of a simple biological instinct. Cats have taught me that I was wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment