Taking Advantage of the Cat’s Jealousy

Our friends have two cats named Shemp and Loki. Shemp is a spry little calico cat just barely past one years old. Loki is a cute little grey kitten who bares a striking resemblance to our own Harry. Whenever we go to our friends’ house, my wife cuddles with Shemp and Loki. It’s obscene and likely constitutes cat-dultery, but what our cats don’t know won’t hurt them, right?
Well, the last time we were over there, we messed around with their Polaroid camera. Our friend took a picture of us with my wife holding up Loki. My wife decided to put the photo on the end table near the couch. It’s funny because in the photo it looks like my wife is holding up Harry. A much thinner, younger version of Harry, but all grey cats are the same, right? I thought the photo might even confuse Harry into thinking he was in the photo.
Nope.
Harry knows there was cat-dultery afoot.
The thing about cats is they’re pretty passive aggressive. Harry won’t come out and say the picture of Loki hurts him, but he’s made his opinion known. He goes out of his way to knock the photo over. I will put it right side up only to see it face down a few hours later. It turns out cats get jealous. The sight of my wife holding up Loki must drive Harry into a rage. “Who is this jerk!?!?”
I thought it was mean to display the photo, but it sends our own passive aggressive message to Harry: be good when the baby comes (or else). I used to worry about how Harry would react when the baby came. When I first got him, he hissed, scratched, and bit when he was unhappy. He’s calmed down a lot since then, but he still had his moments. With the arrival of the photo, he’s been an absolute angel. At this rate, we’ll make it through the baby’s toddler years without any major cat-related incidents.
And all it took was a little cat-dultery.
