Bong! By George, they've got it!

They probably think they've trained you phoenix ?

Well done phoenix! I have a small cow bell and I have always trained my cats to come when I ring it. I started doing it to get them in at night as we used to live with a wood at the end of the garden, full of fixes and badgers.

Think Doodle may have a point!

Noooo! They were expecting their food the minute I walked through the door, I have trained them to wait

That'll be interesting when the clocks change, Phoenix.

One of my cats jumps onto my lap every evening at 11pm. How can they tell the time??

I only have to head towards the kitchen and I hear the dreaded plop. It's the cat jumping down from whichever windowsill she's chosen as her sun bed so she can hassle me for tuna/pouch/biscuits.

How can they eat so much yet stay so fit?

Our beagle and mog were always fed at 6 when the news started....but when the clocks went back they demanded food with menaces at 5! Since then we feed at 5 in the winter and 6 in the summer. We reckon it’s their body clock rather than the bongs ?

I was talking to someone recently, and her dogs used to hear the music from Eastenders / Coronation Street, and know that it was time to be fed.

The real trouble starts when we put the clocks back! As there is no way you can explain anything as idiotic as "summer time" to any household pet.

Pheonix, I'm glad to hear your method worked, I've used it successfully too.

The Coronation Street music seems to affect a lot of dogs, must be something to do with the pitch.

I only need to go into the kitchen and one of mine appears behind me looking up at the cupboard - even if it's not time for a meal. If I ignore her and go back to my desk she sits on the dresser behind me than launches herself onto the top of the desk, over the keyboard and behind the monitor - she then sits there slyly grabbing my hand on the mouse with her claws. If I'm in here on this pc she lays on the desk over the mouse and won't let me touch it.

She certainly knows which buttons to press - literally!!

Mia used to start hanging round me at 10pm, because that was when she got her treats, when I brew up. If I don`t respond immediately, she`ll prowl for a bit, then curl up on the settee arm, appearing to be fast asleep, but as soon as I utter the words "I`ll make a drink now", she`s off the settee like a bullet from a gun!