My cat likes to eat it.
It's around enough he's developed a taste for it?
Years ago - our vet told us to give it to the cats to get rid of furballs. He had us put it on their front paws - where they would have to lick it off - and thus ingest it.
All of our cats have seemed to like the taste of it except for one. Our old Siamese used to walk (rather deliberately) into the dining room where she would then wipe the vaseline off on the rug.
As for MJ requesting that a jar be brought to his room...yeech!
Ever cat I ever knew loved Vaseline! Actually, it's good for them; it prevents hairballs! If you look at the list of ingredients in anti-hairball medications for cats, they contain mostly petroleum jelly. So maybe you should let kitty have as much as he wants! :-)