My cat is a bigger freak than your cat, Part I

(what I'm afraid is going to be the first in a series (a long series) of posts about my cat)

If you know my cat, you know that he eats some really strange things--at least things that are strange for a cat. Ok, some are just strange for any sentient being. These things include, but are not limited to: apples, broccoli, chick peas, cantaloupe, lentils, Doritos (all flavors), yogurt, applesauce (a favorite), green beans (canned only), peas, pop ice (but not usually Popsicles), bread, Rice Chex, dryer sheets (we only use liquid fabric softener now after a near death experience with these), mandarin oranges (see photographic evidence), cheese doodles, ice cream, soap (ok, he just licks that), Pup-Peroni, potato chips, cooked carrots, and some types of poppadoms. Again, this is not by any means an exhaustive list. And somehow, he has an uncanny ability to know when anyone in the house is eating or is about to eat any of these things (except soap, dryer sheets, or Pup-Peroni--we humans don't eat those).



Among the list of things he does not eat or eats only under great duress: fresh meat and my husband's odd dried Chinese seafood products.

So tonight, I feed the cat and am trying to find something for me to eat. I can hear Thrasher crunching his kibbles in the background. I look in the fridge. I find the plastic container with part of a can of chick peas. Still more crunching in the background. As I am opening the plastic container, I hear the cat start running toward me in mid-crunch. The little beast actually left his cat food and followed me around the house until I gave him some chick peas. And you don't even want to know what would have happened if I had opened a container of yogurt. This is what I have to live with. On a daily basis. Why me?