Dear Xander: Lack of Attention Could Interrupt Flow of Treats

Xander the cat continues offering his feline point of view.

Dear Xander,

My human has been most cruel to me. At 5:35 am this morning I badly needed some petting. I did my best to get her attention but was tossed off the bed with not a single pat, stroke, or scratch behind the ears! Did I do something wrong?

Feeling Unloved

Dear Feeling Unloved (I didn’t think using initials was appropriate in this case):

Your mistake is thinking your human is ready to wake up because you are awake. I have found this not to be the case.

If you continue demanding attention before your human is awake, the treat flow is going to falter. If you are especially demanding, it could stop. I am 100% against interrupting the treat flow.

If you can, try to wait until your human is actually awake. It can be tricky to determine. Sometimes my human rolls over on her back but it doesn’t mean she is awake. Over time I have chosen to sleep in myself. Once her eyes are open for a few minutes, it is usually safe to approach and rub against her hand.

I hope it works for you.

Dear Xander

Why does my human scream at me when I scratch the furniture? I like it so much more than the scratching posts.

Claw Marks Are Beautiful

Dear CMAB:

Humans have very odd rules. This is one of them. Makes zero sense.

After a lot of observation, I think I have figured it out. Humans want their scent, not ours, on their furniture. They don’t care about the scratching posts.

You have to be yourself, I understand. Unfortunately, your human may not agree. Treats may be interrupted. I don’t like that but only you know how much scratching your furniture is worth to you. Is it worth less cat treats? How many less?

Choose wisely.

Dear Xander:

I live with an Alpha. He is usually pretty good but the other day he chased me off the cat tower. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, I promise.

He won’t tell me what I did. What should I do?

Relationship Trouble

Dear RT:

Sometimes I have chased Anya off the cat tree. To be honest, I’m not sure why it bothers me when she is up there sometimes and not others.

There is a balance to the household and sometimes it just feels wrong. Since I am the boss, sometimes it means I must try things to fix the balance. Occasionally I decide to take over the cat tree to see if it will help.

Sometimes Anya tries to calm me by assisting with my grooming. It can be relaxing when she licks my ears or the top of my head. You could try that.

Eventually, the balance returns to the house and I don’t have to dominate quite so much. If you are patient, your alpha will probably return to normal after a day or two.

That’s it for this week. If your feline has a question they would like Xander to answer, please put it in the comments.

May the treats flow.

If you liked this, check out a previous column of Xander’s advice: