That crazy cat

Griffin has a tendency to try to jet out my apartment door when I return home. His favorite times to do this are when it's late at night or when my hands are full. He goes through spurts when he is worse about this and insists on getting into the hallway. Once he does, he's a bit unsure of what to do but generally bounds down the hall, turning around every once in a while and doing his best to avoid getting caught. (I'm thankful I haven't yet run into a neighbor while I'm chasing him down the hall.)

Early this week, I came home after stopping at the grocery store. I had a couple bags of food and mail in my hands, so Griffin decided it was the perfect chance to push past me and into the hallway. I let the door close behind me and set down my bags right inside my door (as I usually do), then turned and opened the door to collect him from the hallway. Except this time, when I opened the door, he turned right around and ran back into the apartment. It was very out of character. I'm not sure if he saw somebody or frightened himself in that two seconds he was alone in the hall, but I thought that might have done the trick for good.

No such luck, as he jumped out the door a day or two later.

However, he might have learned his lesson last night. I was heading to a friend's place to watch a movie. When I moved toward the door to leave, Griffin ran to the door and sat facing the doorknob side, knowing he was ready to sprint out. I nudged him out of the way, and he satisfied himself with peeking out the hinge side of the door as I opened it and slipped into the hall.

As I closed the door,  I heard a loud, painful shriek. I opened it to see Griffin running off into the apartment, stopping to lick his paw. He must have had his paw under the door or near the hinges as it shut. I made sure he was OK before heading out, but since then he has kept his distance from the door.

Picky eaters
A few months ago, Griffin began playing with his food – and his habits continue today. When I first put the food dishes down (with a small bit of wet food on top), he eats out of the bowl. After that, he mostly refuses to eat from the bowls. Instead, he tips the food dish with his paw until a portion spills onto the floor. Then, he eats the dry food off the floor. (Loki doesn't appear to care where the food is. He'll eat it out of the bowl, off the floor, or wherever.)

This leaves the carpet by their food littered with bits of cat food all the time. I also noticed tonight that both cats were eating while lying on the floor. They didn't even bother to sit up a little bit while eating off the floor. This is a new definition of lazy and might be a contributing factor to the vet's concern that they both "need to lose a few pounds."