Laughter at Cat's Unimpressed Reaction to Breakfast Being 5 Minutes Late

A cat's reaction to feeding time running late has left the internet in stitches this week.

In a viral post on Reddit, a pet owner from Worcester, Massachusetts, who goes by the name BM, shared his cat's reaction to breakfast being late.

With more than 71,000 upvotes, the picture showing Oreo staring down at his owners expectantly has delighted the internet.

Usually served a feline-friendly breakfast around 5.30 a.m., Oreo looked less than impressed when it reached that time and he still hadn't been fed.

"I normally feed strays around my home, and Oreo showed up in summer of 2019," BM told Newsweek. "You could tell he was different as he really wanted to come in. He'd spend time in our porch all day. My wife would leave the screen porch door open so our indoor cats had a chance to interact with him."

Before long, the couple decided to take Oreo in and make him part of the family.

"The rest is history," said BM. "We took him to the vet and she thought he was around 6 to 9 months old at the time. She also said, being an outdoor cat, he may prefer to be an indoor/outdoor cat, but he has no interest in going outdoors."

The owner explained that, as he has to be up for work at 7 a.m., Oreo and the cats are usually fed at 5.30 a.m. However, on this day, the owner had stayed in bed a little later.

"If I don't get up in time, he starts headbutting me," said BM. "If that fails, he will jump on the night stand and start knocking things off like my chapstick, headphones etc. If that too fails, he jumps and walks all over my wife and me until I get up."

Cats Thrive on Routine

A study conducted by academics at Ohio State University funded by the National Institutes of Health, the medical research agency, investigated how stress affects cats.

Working with 32 cats, a dozen were healthy, and 20 had feline interstitial cystitis (FIC), a painful inflammatory bladder condition.

Researchers found that, when the cat's environment or daily routine changed, even the healthy cats got sick more than when they were in their usual routine.

Cats get used to a daily routine quickly. While they cannot tell the time like a human, their internal clock tells them when they can expect things like dinner time and when you might settle down for bed.

In comments on the viral Reddit post, others shared familiarity with the behavior and wrote that their cats do the same things.

"My cat does the exact same," read one reply. "She insists on being fed at 5.30 a.m. and if I'm not up she pokes me in the arm until I get up."

Another wrote: "My cat would lay on my face trying to smother me until I woke up."

"My cat stuffed his paws in my mouth when I was asleep," posted another Reddit user. "He knew I would wake up if he tried to choke me."

"I loved the viral reaction to this innocuous post," said BM. "It is funny that so many cat owners share a similar story. I always felt that cats don't get the same reaction as dogs do. Many people think cats are aloof and don't require a lot of interaction, but that's far from the truth."

Experts say that cats crave attention just as much as any other pet, but their way of showing it may be a little different. Dr. Christian Broadhurst, from nonprofit vet clinic Clay Humane in Orange Park, Florida, previously told Newsweek: "Cats don't really like hugs and kisses. They are inherently solitary creatures—they do want contact but on their own terms."

"Oreo loves us and follows us around like a puppy," BM added. "In fact, because he moved in just before the pandemic, and my wife's work became completely remote, he has always had someone at home. He feels sad when the house is empty. We have someone stay over at our house when we go on vacation, just so he has company. He's our baby!"

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.