The scientific method in action

[crowdog66]

When I got home I told George about Mina's interest in my fat-free vanilla yogurt, and he suggested a little experiment.

The question was: Is Mina reacting to the yogurt base, or to the vanilla flavor? Fortunately I have a bottle of sugar-free Starbucks vanilla flavoring, so I poured a little into a spoon, wet my fingertip with it, and came into the living room to present it to Mina, who was lounging on the couch beside George.

SPROINNNNNNNGGGG! She was instantly and totally at attention, and very eager to lick the flavoring off my finger. It looks like it's the vanilla, not the yogurt, that gets her going.

Next up: Does Emmie react as well? We called them both into the kitchen, and I presented them with the open bottle of Starbucks flavoring, held equidistant between them. Emmie sniffed at the body of the bottle and almost immediately lost interest. Mina homed right in on the opening and started to lick it before I pulled it up and away.

Does anyone else have a cat that reacts to vanilla...?

(After the experiment we gave Emmie and Mina some Pounce cat treats as a reward for being such wonderful contestants. It looks like my morning bowl of yogurt and granola will be taken in feline company in the future, with a smear of yogurt shared as a gesture of fellowship and good faith.)

Comments

[eastpath.livejournal.com]

LOL that's funny (after having a dinner involved with two vulture cats waiting for any tiny piece of random chicken to fall their way)

[colin-p.livejournal.com]

My mother had a cat that really liked yogurt. We never investigated further than that but my mother always bought vanilla flavoured, so who knows?

She also had a cat who really liked canned corn - more than cat treats as I recall.