The Hungry Cat That Has TikTok Reeling

It's 3 a.m. and, like most people, you're dead asleep in bed. You're so comfortable that it takes you a few seconds to feel that hot, moist gust of wind against your face. There's an odd smell to it too, a rotten smell that recalls day-old seafood baking in the summer sun. Something fuzzy brushes against your face, something warm and: breathing. You can feel something shift across the covers, getting directly next to you, and even though you're asleep you can feel eyes piercing through the darkness to stare unblinking at you. What sort of horrible monster has invaded the sanctity of your bedroom? It's your pet cat who, with a loud and demanding meow, is wondering when you're going to fill up the food bowl with Fancy Feast.

Cats are a double-edged sword in the world of pets. One moment they're cuddling up on your lap, the next they're circling around your plate like a hungry vulture. While pet care websites such as Cat Time advise giving your cat plenty of attention in an effort to make them less food-obsessed, and some Redditors suggest hitting the cat with water from a spray bottle, there's something profoundly funny about seeing cats go to the extremes to get their favorite foods, be it wet store-bought food or leftovers. It's why Garfield remains so popular. For TikTok users, they had a chance to see just how nuts a certain cat can get when presented with nothing but raw chicken.

TikTok user "ysnxs.exe" has a cat that, for lack of a better word, is "excitable" during dinner. So excitable, in fact, that the user must fence his cat in during feeding time. "Ysnxs.exe's" video is more than enough proof as to why: Kenji, a Bengal cat, can be seen literally whip himself around a corner and into the food bowl with enough force to send the bowl flying. Kenji races away, only to then launch himself into the food dish holder once again, before quickly eating the scattered chunks of raw chicken. Commenters were thrilled by Kenji's stunt-like performance.

"It's acting like the food is still alive," said user R Sin Lee.

"That food ain't going NOWHERE omgghdsjbsbxx," blurted user Jayda.

"The first time I've genuinely been scared of a cat," wrote user JustSaucedo.

"Ysnxs.exe" explains that they fence Kenji in because, in Kenji's excited state, he steals food from the other cat. Bengal cats like Kenji can be aggressive, according to Authentic Bengal Cat, since those types of cats can become "incredibly territorial." It may be that Kenji, while not vicious toward his owner or sibling cat, is just very protective of what he sees as "his dinner" and gets excited to try and keep anyone else from getting it.

For as wild as cats can be, they're still our fuzzy little pals. Even Bobby Flay is a cat fan!