Scavenge-Brain

[Ms. Freya]

This isn't a problem, just something I'm curous about.

Cotton's been with us for 2.5 years now. He's settled in and come out of his shell - he's come a long way from the depressed lump of cat I first met. One thing that I find odd is that, despite being the most laid back cat ever, sometimes when you give him a treat, you can literally see something switch in his eyes and he gets into what we call "Scavenge mode." He grabs his treat, inhales it and starts looking around for more. He's steal things from freya and look around for food, kind of frenzied for a few minutes, then suddenly stop and curl back up into his normal state.

Now he did come out of a feral colony, is this just a strange instincive kick-back to living feral and do you think it will eventually stop altogether?

I'm curious if anyone else has seen this before.

[farleyv]

It sounds like instinct to me. He is getting enough food otherwise? Actually, my son used to do the same thing!

[Momofmany]

I personally think that some cats are simply more treat inspired than others. The cats in my house that are the most demanding for treats are those that were bottle fed orphans. All of my cats were born feral, and the one least interested in treats is the one that I started to socialize at 18 months old.

[Auntie Crazy]

Originally Posted by farleyv

...Actually, my son used to do the same thing!

Darn, now I have to clean my keyboard again!

- - - - - -

All mine are ex-ferals as well. Spencer is very much like this. Still growls while he's eating, scarfs the food down faster than you'd think possible (even when his meal is one large piece of meat to everyone else's smaller pieces, he still finishes first) and always trying to "help" the other cats finish theirs.

Hopefully, in time, this behavior will fade...

[Ms. Freya]

Originally Posted by farleyv

Actually, my son used to do the same thing!

That's a hilarious mental image!

Originally Posted by farleyv

He is getting enough food otherwise?

Yup - He gets his dry in the morning and his wet at night and is definitely not underweight.

He is very treat-inspired...if I'm a bit late with 'evening treat' (aka his thyroid pills in a treat) he comes to get me. Interestingly, he also has a pretty high prey drive once he gets going. He's a great hunter and his focus when he wants something is creepy. I guess that focus just occasionally gets locked on food.