::: spoiler Transcription A Bluesky post from "Slippy", @damnslippy.slippy.me, with a profile picture of a woman with short, purple hair holding a knife: Sincerely delighted to discover, 45 minutes into this nearly-wordless three-hour documentary about French monks who take vows of silence, that among the reasons they \*can\* talk is "to make sure the monastery cats know when it's mealtime by making little kitty-calling noises at them." :::
My cat can distinguish the sound of the cat food bag from the sound of any other packaging in my kitchen. I just have to touch it ...
Imagine if the roles were reversed. Every day you're forced to the brink of starvation, practically three paws already in the grave. Then, and only then, does your caretaker finally announce your salvation for yet another day by opening the bag.
If the cat couldn't differentiate the bag by sound, they'd have long starved - either they'd have expended too much energy by walking to the kitchen when no food was coming, or they wouldn't have reached the bowl in time to fend off their untimely demise.
The life of a house cat is a daily struggle against fate itself.
i've been feeding my dog chicken thighs after her last hungerstrike. She recognizes the difference in between my knifework on sausage/veggies and chicken.
My cats tell me when it's dinner time, not the other way around :)
My dogs have learned that the sound of a knife on the cutting board means there's a chance food of some kind might make it to the floor, so they come running.