"I really doubt the cat will be thrilled to see them...not that a cat ever gets thrilled."
Oh, we've seen our three get pretty jazzed. Honest. Youngest of the bunch is the most demonstrative, 'natch. Whenever dinner is announced, he roars into the kitchen, dances back and forth on all four paws, purrs like a snow blower and 'talks' a blue streak.
They're fed in order of seniority so Rhys sometimes gets a bit impatient while awaiting his turn. When he does, he makes silly trilling sounds and repeatedly flops over on his side for attention. Looks as though he's trying to impress upon me that he's "near death from starvation." Which is a blatant lie but he tends towards the dramatic.
I suspect his slogan may be, "If it works, work it."
I'll agree that most cats need to be encouraged to be demonstrative, but it's certainly not impossible to achieve. You need to believe me when I say we've got a three ring circus going on over here. Silly as it sounds, they even know it's a good thing when we applaud for them. That really makes them show off.
Of course our dog likes applause too. Clapping makes her run in circles as fast as she can go. It's hilarious.
Different species show their emotions in different ways. Regardless, I think it's all a lot of fun to watch.
My two cats definately wouldn't qualify as doing that. The best I would qualify them as doing is "oh, cool", but not thrilled.
Of course the male couldn't show thrilled if he wanted to. Any sudden movement would cause him to knock himself out with his own belly fat.
Loved your post. LOL
We have a 1 1/2 year old Maine Coon kitten [he weighs 25 pounds]. He is completely my husband's cat. My husband bribes him ... and then wonders why he [the kitten] pesters him all the time. When the kitten sees my husband getting ready to go somewhere ... he [the kitten] will get on the bed and cry like a baby.On the other hand, I make the kitten bribe me. He was such a fussy feeder for a while that I put a black plastic tray on the foot of my bed ... and put the disposable plate on top of that. When it is supper time, the kitten gets on the bed. When I look at him a certain way, he "speaks" ... then I say, "are you hungry?" ... he speaks again. I then say, "well, sit on your tray" ... and I leave the room to get his food from the kitchen. When I come back he is always sitting on his tray waiting.
Just silly little games ... but we all get a kick out of them ... including the kitten who has evolved from a very, very shy kitty to one who communicates well with us and wants to please us. He gets a lot of praise and affection as reinforcement when he does something cute.
Y' have to like cats to get much out of them ... otherwise, they can be pretty cold creatures.