Reminds me of our cat. His bowl is half-filled with his food, and he'll sniff it and complain that it's not fresh. I mean, it's been sitting in that bowl for a half-day. What could I be thinking? So, I pick it up, shake it, and set it down. He watches me doing that, so he knows I just picked it up and didn't actually *add* any food, so he complains some more.

But, if I pick it up, move it around, hide it from him, shake it a bit, and then put it in front of him, he's satisfied. Sometimes. And only if I'm petting him. And other times he only pretends to eat (which is fitting, because I only pretended to give him new food in the first place).