The Mewing, my god, The Mewing...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My cat, Tenzing, no wait… my cat Tenzing, is odd.

I could describe lots of little habits, tell many tales of furry crazyness.

But there is one habit that intrigues me. I’d like to find out if anybody else’s cat shares it and if anybody has figured out…why?

It has to do with my doing the washing up.

My cat suddenly becomes amazingly needy and whingy when I start to wash the dishes. She’s very affectionate usually and always has to be in the same square metre as me, though she isn’t always asking to be petted, just calmly following me around content to watch me.

However, the sound of the kitchen tap running brings her up onto the bench beside me (from which she has to be removed because she has broken many a glass and plate from that perch) and The Mewing begins. She is Siamese and has a particularly whiny, high pitched meow. Once back on the floor, she mews incessantly, purrs like a motor boat, and heaves her head and body against my legs. The noise almost sounds as though she is scared, or at least highly distressed. If it weren’t for the purring, that is.

This keeps up until I remove my washing up gloves and reach down to pet her, whereupon she shoves her head into my palms and quiets down, happy. The Mewing quelled, I return to the washing up.

‘Mreeeeeeeeeeeeeee-ow?’

'Wrooooowwooooowoooooeee - oooeow?

‘Marowowooooooooooooweeeeeeeeooooooooooooeeeeeeeeoooooar-ararrrr?’

And so on. If I wait too long between reach-downs she jumps back onto the bench and makes that trilling half-purr half-meow sound that puts my sympathy chip into overdrive. This forces me to remove my gloves and put her back on the floor, where I ‘may as well’ give her some attention.

This lasts until the washing up is finshed, then she’s back to her normal affectionate but undemanding self.

I can’t figure it out. First I thought she must have a thing for the smell left on my hands by the gloves. So I tried a few different brands, no change. No gloves at all, no change. The detergent maybe? Different brands, no change. No detergent, just hot water, no change.

Aha, says I. It must be the heat from the boiling water. She likes my extra warm hands! This time with detergent, but cold water. No change. No detergent, cold water, no change except it’s harder to get my dishes clean.

I’ve been switching combinations for several months now. I’ve tried every combination of gloves, detergent and water temperature I can think of, but it makes no difference.

She also doesn’t like it when I’m in the shower, and tries to get me to come out, but her efforts are nothing like the level of the washing-up related Mewing.

2

You’re paying attention to something that’s not her, and you’re not sitting so she can’t climb in your lap and demand attention that way.

Also, do you prepare her cat food in the kitchen? I know my HoneyCat has associated being in the kitchen with her getting fed, so even if we’re washing up and splashing water everywhere, she’ll come in and start yawping to get fed.

3

She’s probably just concerned with your welfare, you are putting your hands into that icky water stuff, after all.

4

She is Siamese, and wants to supervise. Or maybe she just wants to carry on a conversation. Talk to her while you do the washing up, tell her things like “This is the big skillet, I used it to cook the meat in”, and so on. She just wants to know what you’re doing, and to make sure you do a proper job of it. Siamese love to talk, and love to supervise.

Or maybe she’s telling you to get a dishwasher.

5

My mom’s cats would get especially chatty and attention-demanding when she was on the phone. The best we could figure out was that she was talking to “no one” so therefore she must be trying to talk with them, plus she was stuck in one general location (she still had a corded phone at the time) and thus was like a captive audience for pet-me time.

6

I second that.

7

My Siamese would do the “tub-walk” every time I took a bath in the old house - walking back and forth on the edge of the tub and yowling his loud Siamese yowl the entire time. I finally decided he was warning me about the dangers of sitting in water.

That is a beautiful cat!!

8

She is fed in the kitchen, but tends to associate me un-flipping her food bowl with her being about to be showered with food. (She flips her bowl upside down triumphantly after finishing her food. More oddness). So she really only goes food-nuts (a special kind of nuts) then.

It would seem odd to me if this was just because I wasn’t paying attention to her, since she is never anywhere near this insistent at any other time when she wants affection - even when I am totally occupied with something else.

I guess it could be to do with the water, given that she gets uncomfortable when I am in the shower.

.

:smiley: That’s what I’ll think every time now.

Maybe I should take her down to thelandlord and say ‘See, she thinks you should let me install a dishwasher’? and then huff off. I am sure this will convince him. Except it would also convince him I have a cat in violation of the lease…

I’m going to go with she’s trying to supervise and be involved for the moment, although I don’t know why she would pick this particular thing to be a a part of. I’ll try talking to her.

Thanks all! I still think it’s weird.

**
Snakescatlady** has he ever fallen in? Mine, despite her looks, is somewhat lacking in feline grace and dignity. It’s probably a good thing I don’t have a bath at the moment.

9

Your problem is in the removing the glove to pet the kitty. I pet the kitty with drippy wet hands getting her fur all mussed and spikey on the back of her head where it is impossible to clean. Then she takes a bath and I finish dishes in peace. Of course, don’t try this with alot of suds on your hands.