doodles wrote:
Our cats are far better conversationalists than the men in my life. They don't answer back, are perfect companions and don't eat the contents of the fridge in one sitting

Lucky you. I once came back to find that one of the cats had managed to get the fridge door open and was making inroads on the nice piece of cold chicken that had been meant for
my supper

.
It was possibly the same cat that a few years later dragged a rather nice (and dead, fortunately) trout in through the cat flap.Not exactly what one expects to come fown to, first thing on a Sunday morning.
I was so worried that said cat had snaffled someone's intended lunch, that I actially went round the neighbouring streets knocking on doors and asking whether any household might be minus a trout (and offering to pay for it). No-one had. Nor was the little SE London 'riverlet' 400m away particularly renowned for its trout. The mystery was never solved...