Exasperated!

My cats have special dietary needs, and an unbreakable habit of sampling from one another's bowls. My vet recommended a premium catfood that's healthy for all three of them. This means, though, that they have to eat the same thing every day, twice a day. To stave off boredom, they each get a dollop of canned Friskies on top of their kibble.

The can in rotation right now is a new flavor for them -- Gourmet Grill. All three of them hate it. Hate. It. Even Joey, my sweet ol' fatcat who never misses a meal. He sniffs it sadly, walks away, and then comes back hours later to nibble at it unenthusiastically. Charlotte takes a mouthful from her bowl, disdains it, and then pushes Rey away from his bowl, hoping he has something better. He moves to Charlotte's bowl and tries unsuccessfully to bury it in the linoleum tile. This is the only Friskies flavor they respond to negatively.

My cats are different ages and, since they were all shelter rescues, had different kittenhoods. With their diverse backgrounds, they couldn't all have exactly the same taste, so I figured that they couldn't ALL hate it on the basis of taste alone, and so there must be something wrong with the can. I popped open a new can of Gourmet Grill and guess what. They still hate it.

I believe they are communicating with one another. I suspect Charlotte is the ringleader, because she's the most particular, and has convinced the others to support her in her quest to banish Gourmet Grill. Or perhaps it's Rey, who, out of boredom, thinks it would be fun to mess with The Biped. I know Joey is innocent. He's neither clever nor crafty, and way too sweet.

As we work through this Gourmet Grill crisis, I am reminded again that they outnumber me, and clearly believe they allow me to live here.