Ye of little faith

You know who you are! I'm surrounded by naysayers who tell me that Lily cannot learn to ring a bell for her food. Apparently, some people think that cats can't (or won't allow themselves to) be trained. Well, I'm out to prove those skeptics wrong! :-)

After careful analysis, I concluded that Lily didn't care for the jingle bells in the bag. So I stopped at Staples to look at alternative bells. Initially, I examined the red Easy Button, which retails for around $4.50. I considered asking the sales associate if a cat could operate it, but I wasn't sure she would know the answer to that question. Then I realized that I could push the button through the packaging. One test and I could tell that Lily would not be able to handle it. And I was pretty sure I couldn't handle hearing that guy's voice saying, "That was easy" when, in fact, cat training isn't easy at all.

So I opted for a desk bell, which cost only a little bit more. It's easy to ring and cheerful to hear, so I'm positive that it is going to make her training go much more smoothly. When she wants to eat, she should just tap the bell with her paw.

She hasn't quite started doing that yet. Right now, when I ring the bell, Lily hides and Tinsel comes running.

That's a start, right?