Cat who refuses to eat wet food without a side salad has people 'warning' owner
"Next thing you know he’ll be demanding oat milk in his latte."

Shaggy has to have his greens with his meal.
Cats have a reputation for being fickle little weirdos, and for good reason. Perhaps your Persian wakes you up every morning by affectionately chewing on your hair. Maybe your tabby has a pet almond that he carries around like a security blanket. Maybe your Maine Coon likes to sleep with his face buried in your shoe.
Since finickiness is an innate feline trait, it shouldn't surprise us to hear about a kitty's particular peculiarity, but it often does. because just when we think we've heard all of the strange things that cats do, someone shares a new one that makes us laugh, scratch our heads and say, "Huh?!"
For instance, meet Shaggy, the cat who won't eat his wet food unless it's accompanied by a side salad.
"Side salad" is not some cute nickname for a kitty treat, by the way—we're talking about a literal salad on an actual salad plate, human being-style.
Witness:
@the_shags2021 #blackcat #housepanthers #funnycat #spoiledcat #pickycat #catseating #healthyeating #becausecats #salads #catsareweird
Shaggy's owner, Dina Moeller, tells Upworthy that he started off life as a feral cat. Now here he is living the bougie life, full-on expecting a fancy, multi-course meal.
The good people of the internet, of course, have had a heyday in the comments, "warning" Moeller about this behavior.
"Actually cats shouldn’t eat sides of salad," wrote one person. "They should not because, long term the cat will end up expecting a candle lit table with a glass of wine and live smooth jazz. You need to be more careful."
"You shouldn’t feed your cats salads," wrote another. "If you do, they may end up becoming baddies and making gym girl/bro thirst trap videos on IG before moving on to becoming health gurus who are only licensed by YTube 😂."
"Don’t do this!! The cat will ingest iron from the leafy greens, become too strong, and take over your entire family (and then the world) 😔," cautioned another.
"Next thing you know he’ll be demanding oat milk in his latte," added another.
Many people joked about Shaggy requesting a wine list and cleansing his palette, while other cat owners chimed in to commiserate with their own kittys' quirks:
"My black cat prefers to drink hot water (not warm), which I have to leave for him on the side of the bathtub every morning. I have no idea how we got there either 😂," shared one person.
"My cat won't eat the dry food if she's not there to see it poured," shared another. "This is fun at 4:30am."
"I have to sit with Tiki while he is eating his wet food and the entire house must be silent. I sneezed during his dinner the other night and ruined his whole meal 😂," shared another.
Many people suggested that Shaggy might have "whisker fatigue" from using the bowl for his wet food and suggested putting it on a flat plate like the salad.
But as Moeller's showed in another video, the whiskers do not appear to be the issue, as Shaggy will go to the fridge and shove his entire face, whiskers and all, into the bag of salad.
@the_shags2021 #catsareweird #blackcats #funnycat #spoiledcat #healthyeating #becausecats #housepanthers ##catsarelife #whiskerfatigue #saladcat #catseating
But it's not just salad that Shaggy craves.
"He steals all my food," Moeller tells Upworthy. "Bagels out of the toaster, fights me for muffins or scones, tries to get cookies out of containers or wrappings! Nothing is safe from his appetite!"
While it's not great for cats to eat too much human food, Moeller has discussed Shaggy's habit with her vet and is cautious about what kind and how much people food he gets. There's only so much you can do with a cat's unique quirks, though—and Shaggy's got plenty of them.
"He’s kind of a cat’s cat and a bit of a punk," says Moeller. "Doesn’t listen. Nothing scares him when he’s determined to do something good, bad or unsafe. Eats the plants when he wants to annoy me or get my attention. He gives me a hard time when I work at my desk past 6:30pm."
Shaggy is quite the talker, too, having "conversations" with Moeller. "He likes to hide behind behind the shower curtain in the bathroom when I’m in there," Moeller adds. "When I call his name and wonder out loud where he is, he will burst out from under it as if to say, 'Here I am!'"
Here's to our cats and all their quirky quirks. You can follow Shaggy on Instagram and TikTok.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.