Overbearing Feline Supervisor

He's just being a cat.

They are very curious.

You need to get used to it already!

Mine supervise me when I am cleaning....or using...MY TOILET! You are being let off lightly.

Welcome.

Is the cat being bossy? Or is he just watching?

Well I definitely detect an air of superiority, and he sometimes helps out by scratching at the box while I work at removing his waste.

Thanks for the welcome!
Yeah... he definitely is a cat.
He also likes to supervise the work I do on the toilet.
I don't know about getting off lightly.
Does your cat insist on having the bathroom sink filled up in order to drink water from it?
Mine does.

Good lord no....I have a special glass for the feline overlords kept eternally filled beside the bathroom sink.

Feh. Stale water. When my late, lamented Miranda wanted water from the sink, she would vocalize until I came running and turned on the faucet for her. Your cats are wusses. Willing to drink stale water.

Wusses?! They're delinquents!

OK. Wussy delinquents.

I bought a fountain for Mikey. Constantly running water. He drank the water when I first put it in. Then he ignored it. The water has to be fresh.

we had a cat named Max who watched us enough to know that if he pushed on the shiny metal thing, water would come out of the other shiny metal thing.
He got very good at juuuussst turning it on.

Joe(never tried to shut the damned thing off)Nation

I think many of the problems in our relationship might boil down to some conflicting desires he is trying to reconcile.
For instance:

stinky always starts to lick me first.

then if I'm not paying attention to the signs, I get eaten...

I suppose he wants to make sure I still taste good.

Yeah, I gotta watch for that tail flicker with Munkin.

Matt, welcome!

That cat behaviour seems normal. If you just do as you're told, every time, and pay attention, you shouldn't have too many problems!

Very psychoanalytic. And also possible, as long as we keep it to feelings..........only I think some cats do actually think. No doubt non-human animals feel, that's clear. However, if cats have actual ideas, what would be frontal lobe activity in a human, I don't know.

I once had a dog named, Tex, of course. He was the smartest dog I've ever known. He would sneak out the door at every possible opportunity (and he was very good at finding these opportunities because I was diligent in not giving them to him). Then he would jump into the swimming pool and swim around in the middle, where he thought I wouldn't be able to come and get him.

One day, I surprised him. He did his evil deed when I had just come home. I was wearing all cotton that day and had little to loose. So I dropped my purse on the floor and kicked off my shoes and jumped into the pool, dragging him out by his collar.

But it didn't cure him of course, he knew I wouldn't do it most of the time.

Maybe this isn't a good example. But it still seems to be possible evidence that should be considered on the question.

Welcome, Matt. I am an old a2ker who doesn't post much anymore, but I love to see nice newcomers to our group.

I have to keep a few secrets about cats from my Jack Russell terrier mix in order to keep her innocent belief that, someday, she will catch the cat who visits our next door neighbor. Said cat, Tulip, a lovely little tuxedo cat, will saunter along our six foot tall backyard wall.

Tulip discovered, almost immediately, that Sally will never be able to jump to the top of the wall. Having the same genetic makeup enjoyed by most cats, she is overbearing, supervisory and superior to every other animal in the universe....as long as she has an audience. She soon started to bathe when she was halfway along the wall, luxuriating in long, leisurely baths knowing that Sally, poor, sweet little Sally, would try her best to jump to the top of the wall, always failing but always trying her best, bless her valiant little heart.

At least Sally has a purpose in life. Catching Tulip has become something of a sport--a game that she understands will never go her way, but also understanding that Tulip has become a friend, irritating, but fun.

The backyard wouldn't be the same without Tulip.

Infrequent poster, indeed! Good to see you back.

I love your backyard. I miss it, actually. Nice to see you here Diane. I'm back too. Bernie even shows himself from time to time.

As I live a breathe (more or less). It's Diane!! Thanks for the Sally/Tulip report. Maybe Sally misses Dante.

Thanks for the welcome!!!

This reminds me of when I was looking into leash training for Munkin.
I read this guide and it was describing how to acclimate the cat to the leash.
Something like:

About half way through the guide I began to seriously consider whether a cat may have actually written the guide.