Oh, they'll let you THINK they can be bribed, but in reality, they'll do whatever they want whenever they please - DESPITE any attempted bribery on their servant’s part.
Hu… er... Servant - "I'll give you an entire can of turn - opened - if you won't scratch the new sofa until after my party tonight. Ok?"
Cat - "Show me the tuna first."
Servant (holding a can of tuna in front of the cat) - "See, here's the can."
Cat - "Looks fake to me. Open it first." (cat begins to flex its claws)
Servant - "Wait! Wait!" (Opens the can and shows it to cat.) "See?"
Cat licks its paw nonchalantly for a few minutes, and then sniffs at the can. "Nope, doesn't smell like tuna. No deal."
Servant - "It really is tuna, I swear. Here, have a taste."
Cat casually tastes the top of the tuna, and then looks at the can skeptically. "Ok, the top MIGHT be tuna, but how do I know it's ALL tuna and there's not ground up dog food on the bottom?"
Servant empties can into a bowl and sets it in front of the cat. "See? It's all real tuna."
Cat sits and starts washing its face, completely ignoring the bowl.
Servant - "Hurry up, I've got thing to do!"
Cat finishes its face and begins washing its ears.
Servant - "FINE! You had your chance!" (starts to pick up bowl).
Cat holds a paw in front of him and stares at it while flexing its claws.
At this point the phone rings. The servant rolls his eyes and goes to answer it. When he returns a few moments later, the cat is still sitting there, bating itself. However, the bowl of tuna is completely empty.
Cat glances at the bowl and shrugs - "Sorry, no tuna, no deal." With that, it struts off to find a warm sunny spot.
Jane S 