And as many of you know, there's nothing you can do to console Merry as he dislikes being physically handled. You bend down to stroke him and he runs away like you're about to beat the life out of him.
After a couple of months it was beginning to seriously do my nut in! Particularly as he always HAD to have the last word. You'd tell him to shut up and he'd meow. You'd say shh and he'd meow. You'd say MERRY in that deep you're in trouble unless you shut up tone and he'd wait a few seconds and then you'd hear an almost inaudible meow. LAST WORD LARRY!!!
It got to the point where I was seriously considering sending him back. After explaining to Robin how stressful I was finding the situation, we decided on a three prong approach to solving the problem:
- Totally ignore Merry's meowing. Do not respond in either a positive or negative fashion.
- Give both cats access to food 24/7 using a gravity biscuit feeder.
- Play with the cats at least once a day until they're tired out.
And guess what? So far it's worked. We saw an almost instant change in Merry, who has stopped moaning morning, noon and night. He is still a vocal cat, but only in as much as we'd expect him to be vocal i.e. moaning when we lock the cat flap at night and when we go to bed.
I do think food has a lot to do with it, and Merry has definitely put a little weight on, but I'd rather have a plump and happy cat than a slim and miserable one. And with the baby coming in five months time, I just want a cat that's not driving me insane.
