Hi,
i am cat sitting my sisters 15 yr old cat. i was given permission to feed her a small amount of canned cat food each day (along with the dry food which is always available)
i was also warned that this cat, Mickey, is quite demanding and that if she has the expectation that she will get canned food, she will drive you up a wall begging for it if it is not forthcoming.
i really should have listened to my sister!!(she prefered that i not feed her canned at all) i thought i could "fake the cat out" by petting her anytime she cried for food, and that eventually she would give up, thinking i am too stupid to understand.
i gave Mickey the canned cat food in the morning, hoping she would associate it with morning activities and not beg for the rest of the day.
this actually worked out well, UNTIL i got sick, and my hours got all messed up and turned around, and so did the cat feeding routine.
Mickey is now crying constantly for canned food! i decided that i would make her go a day without it (she also went off the dry, which my sister would kill me for if she knew!) This was to force her to eat the dry and then get her back on a schedule.
my sister said, Mickey is a very bossy cat, if she doesn't get what she wants, forget it- At home, Mickey would try to run out the door, if she was feeling slighted in some way (didn't happen often, but there was a definate pattern to it)
wouldn't you know it, i am going out on my back porch and Mickey darts out the door!! (she never did this before, and she has been here almost 2 mos i think) i live on the 3rd floor so this is bad, very bad!!!
SORRY SO LONG! my question- what should i do??? i have a bunch of cans of cat food left, but maybe i should just stop feeding them to her??? i can't risk losing her off the porch!! forget what my sister would do, i'd kill myself if that happened!
should i feed her the canned only very sporadically? or go back to the routine i had ?? or no canned food at all?
Mickey lived with another cat who needed the canned food and so that is the only reason Mickey had it in the first place. (truthfully i do not know why Mickey can't just have canned food and that is all, but it is not my cat, so i don't get to say) it takes awhile of going without, but eventually she gets the idea that she is not getting it any more and she settles down.
i WISH my cat would eat canned food (you are gonna think this is weird, but i love the smell of it!) and i'd like my cat to eat half canned and half dry- but my cat doesn't like canned food (unless there is a lot of liquid) strange cat, don't you think? i never knew a cat that didn't like the canned stuff before!
well, i don't know what to do! in the meantime, if i am going out on the porch for any reason i am gonna be sure Mickey is closed up in a different room, for safety sake.
What have i done??
i am cat sitting my sisters 15 yr old cat. i was given permission to feed her a small amount of canned cat food each day (along with the dry food which is always available)
i was also warned that this cat, Mickey, is quite demanding and that if she has the expectation that she will get canned food, she will drive you up a wall begging for it if it is not forthcoming.
i really should have listened to my sister!!(she prefered that i not feed her canned at all) i thought i could "fake the cat out" by petting her anytime she cried for food, and that eventually she would give up, thinking i am too stupid to understand.
i gave Mickey the canned cat food in the morning, hoping she would associate it with morning activities and not beg for the rest of the day.
this actually worked out well, UNTIL i got sick, and my hours got all messed up and turned around, and so did the cat feeding routine.
Mickey is now crying constantly for canned food! i decided that i would make her go a day without it (she also went off the dry, which my sister would kill me for if she knew!) This was to force her to eat the dry and then get her back on a schedule.
my sister said, Mickey is a very bossy cat, if she doesn't get what she wants, forget it- At home, Mickey would try to run out the door, if she was feeling slighted in some way (didn't happen often, but there was a definate pattern to it)
wouldn't you know it, i am going out on my back porch and Mickey darts out the door!! (she never did this before, and she has been here almost 2 mos i think) i live on the 3rd floor so this is bad, very bad!!!
SORRY SO LONG! my question- what should i do??? i have a bunch of cans of cat food left, but maybe i should just stop feeding them to her??? i can't risk losing her off the porch!! forget what my sister would do, i'd kill myself if that happened!
should i feed her the canned only very sporadically? or go back to the routine i had ?? or no canned food at all?
Mickey lived with another cat who needed the canned food and so that is the only reason Mickey had it in the first place. (truthfully i do not know why Mickey can't just have canned food and that is all, but it is not my cat, so i don't get to say) it takes awhile of going without, but eventually she gets the idea that she is not getting it any more and she settles down.
i WISH my cat would eat canned food (you are gonna think this is weird, but i love the smell of it!) and i'd like my cat to eat half canned and half dry- but my cat doesn't like canned food (unless there is a lot of liquid) strange cat, don't you think? i never knew a cat that didn't like the canned stuff before!
well, i don't know what to do! in the meantime, if i am going out on the porch for any reason i am gonna be sure Mickey is closed up in a different room, for safety sake.
What have i done??
