Yon eunuch yowls with hunger, yet his belly is fat and his whiskers flecked with kibble!?

Not-so-fun-fact! Some cats kept in the medieval and early modern period were intentionally not fed, with the thinking that hunger would make them better mousers (generally it does not; good mousers kill and eat mice out of hunting instinct/fun)

Much-more-fun-fact! The English Exeter Cathedral did feed its resident mouser, who was officially recorded as receiving one silver penny per week (one presumes in kibble-equivalent) for their duties. o7