Summary

The article humorously details the pre-treat time ritual of Zakuani, a cat who meticulously prepares for his 9pm Greenies Hairball Control treats by engaging in a series of persuasive tactics aimed at his owner.

Abstract

The owner of Zakuani, a large cat with a penchant for Greenies Hairball Control treats, describes the amusing and persistent behavior her pet exhibits in anticipation of his 9pm treat time. Despite the cat's awareness of the scheduled treat times, he begins his nightly routine around 8pm, employing various strategies such as staring, positioning, and vocal cues to coax his owner into giving him the treats earlier. The owner captures Zakuani's antics through a series of photographs and captions that illustrate his relentless pursuit of the Greenies, highlighting the cat's cleverness and the owner's amusement and slight exasperation. The article concludes with a gentle nudge to the reader to consider subscribing to Medium to support the writer and other authors on the platform.

Opinions

The author expresses a love-hate relationship with Greenies treats, appreciating their effectiveness in administering medication to her cat but also lamenting their appeal to Zakuani, which leads to his persistent begging.
Zakuani's owner finds humor in the cat's elaborate and consistent routine to secure his treats, suggesting that the cat's behavior is both endearing and manipulative.
The author implies that Zakuani's size and grooming habits necessitate a larger dosage of treats, which contributes to the cat's eagerness and the owner's challenge in managing his expectations.
There is a hint of pride in the way the author documents Zakuani's tactics, indicating a deep bond and understanding between the pet and the owner.
The author does not seem to mind the begging, as it is accompanied by affection and entertainment, and even uses it as a segue to encourage readership and support for her writing on Medium.

How My Cat Spends The Hour Before ‘Treat Time’

By ‘treat time’ I mean time for his Greenies Hairball Control

Human, what is wrong with this picture? EMPTY PLATE! — photo by Katemiya (author)

Oh Greenies, I love/hate you. I love that you make things like Hairball Control and Pill Pockets that get my cat to take things he likely wouldn’t. I hate that you make them so delicious to my cat. It’s like a child begging to access their Halloween candy stash, but daily. Doesn’t help that Zakuani is a 3+ foot big fluff who overgrooms himself and the dosage for his size is 30 of them! He gets two rounds of them, one at 3pm and the other at 9pm. It’s that night round that is the worst. Usually the begging starts around 8pm. It’s a bad day for me if he starts earlier.

NOTE: Greenies has given me nothing for mentioning their stuff. Zak would not let me reject anything from them if I had.

Here’s Zakuani Cat’s approximate nightly treat obsession schedule:

7:59pm — Is it time for yums?

8:03pm — They are right there, human.

If I just stare to my right long enough — photo by Katemiya (author)

8:11pm — Just look where my eyes are looking!

8:18pm — Maybe if I look there from this side of her.

Now they are to my left, human — photo by Katemiya (author)

8:27pm — Cry at ceiling to see if kitty friend upstairs has any yums to share. I bet their humans give yums whenever they ask.

8:35pm — If I look at her really cute, she’ll look at me and then I can nudge my head towards where the yums are. Surely then she’ll catch on!

How could human resist this face? Gimme yums please. — photo by Katemiya (author)

8:38pm — Ooh, I will rub up against her at the standing desk. Marking her as mine should convince her to thank me by giving me yums.

8:41pm — Maybe if I push my plate around, I’ll find some from before hiding from me! Better lift it with my nose too. They do taste better off the floor.

8:43pm — Why is human starving me??? I know I can eat the dry food yums in my room but not as yummy!

If I sit in front of where the yums are, I won’t miss out. Also make sad face — photo by Katemiya (author)

8:49pm — I better sit right by the plate again to make sure I don’t miss yum time!

8:52pm — Cry at human with sad puppy cat face. Stare at where the yums are. Isn’t it time yet? Did you forget? I’m so hungry!

8:59pm — HUMAN HAS PICKED UP THE YUMS! Time to run to plate! Wait, better look behind to make sure she is coming this way with them and it’s not some trick! SHE IS COMING TOWARD THE PLATE! HURRY UP AND GIVE ME THE YUMS!

Once it falls off me, I will spend five minutes looking for more she dropped — photo by Katemiya (author)

9:06pm — Now that I ate my yums, human can brush me now!

You know you can’t resist that feline face! Especially since he isn’t nagging you for hairball control treats daily:

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