Every night before bed my cat either waits at the bathroom for me or runs into the bathroom at full speed for before bed bathroom time. If I’m up too late he tries to get me to go to bed to keep his routine.
Today he wasn’t there so I just went without him.
After I came out he sat at the door staring at me meowing. My wife convinced me to give him fake bathroom time, so I went to the bathroom and sat down and pet him for a minute or two then left.
Except when I left he just sat at the door, clearly knowing it wasn’t real bathroom time. He’s being yelling and howling since and refuses to come to bed now that I’ve broken our ritual.
Our cats and their rituals are insane. They have to eat separate food because my older cab needs special food. So I feed the baby cat in her own room. Heaven forbid I forget to close the door behind me, she will not eat and will follow me round the house shrieking until I close the door behind her.