I've told mine that he gets one stupid shrink comment (e.g. "I can see that you're sad," "if you did know the answer to my question, what would it be?") per week.

He's getting better--makes more empathetic noises and fewer inane comments (though maybe that was more about this paper than about my feedback; unclear). And he's at least learned to precede his super-shrinky statements with an admission that he's about to say something corny (e.g. "I realize this is going to sound shrink-like, but did that interaction with that patient remind you at all of your dynamic with your parents?"), which somehow ameliorates my annoyance.

Also I'm sorry about your cat, luc