Stuart is the Devil's Spawn!!!!!

I'm not sure what Stuart's life was like prior to living with us but sometimes I think he was raised with the devils children when it comes to feeding time!

When we first got him he would growl and hiss and attack you if you touched his food (of course he would do the same to the other two cats). I knew they would teach him manors about sharing the food and he has learned to share with them fantasically. He never growls or hisses, but I would never feed him with your own two hands.....you might not come back with any fingers!!!!!!!!!!

So tonight I gave Enzy some raw chicken and Stuart smelled the chicken on my finger and sunk his teeth right in me! I didn't give him any chicken because of that. I really don't know what to do about that! The other two cats are great about taking the food out of your fingers very nicely.....

Anyone have ideas? Does he just need more time to grow up? He's about 4 months now. I just don't know what to do and I don't like the idea of a child slipping him some food and him eating their hand off.

My cats dig in if I offer them chicken smelling hands too, and at 4 mos, you're not going to see a huge difference for a little while. Be fair, don't tempt him that badly, and don't handle his food any more than necessary. He'll learn and grow out of it (I'm talking to myself here a bit now as my 7 mo. old is also nuts when it comes to eating) but every cat's different so give him a chance. BTW, he wouldn't associate biting you with not getting the chicken, so it seems a bit unfair of you to have not given him some.

The good part is that you have a cat with a very high food drive and such a cat can be trained more easily. The basics are to give him food when he does something you want and deny him food when he doesn't. For the problem at hand, what I'd do is to hold his food up high where he can't get at it and just let him go through his whole routine and wait until he quiets down. Just stand there holding the food out of reach. At the first instant he quiets down, set the food down. Keep doing this until he learns to associate settling down with getting his food.

To take his food away without endangering body parts, pinch the scruff of his neck -- he should (at least momentarily) go limp and you can grab the food before he reacts.

PS - you need to teach him not to bite. Search the forums on the keyword "biting" and you should find plenty of threads with advice on how to do that.

Well, I'd be more concerned for Stuart than I would for any children, who are a lot bigger than him and who could hurt him far worse than he could ever hurt them. Unless you're absolutely sure a child has been educated in compassion and kindness, that is!

I guess I'd have to put Stuart's portion of chicken in a dish for him, and set the dish down QUICKLY.

And he looks so absolutely innocent!!!

Originally Posted by coaster

The good part is that you have a cat with a very high food drive and such a cat can be trained more easily. The basics are to give him food when he does something you want and deny him food when he doesn't. For the problem at hand, what I'd do is to hold his food up high where he can't get at it and just let him go through his whole routine and wait until he quiets down. Just stand there holding the food out of reach. At the first instant he quiets down, set the food down. Keep doing this until he learns to associate settling down with getting his food.

To take his food away without endangering body parts, pinch the scruff of his neck -- he should (at least momentarily) go limp and you can grab the food before he reacts.

PS - you need to teach him not to bite. Search the forums on the keyword "biting" and you should find plenty of threads with advice on how to do that.

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Thanks for the advice, I will have to work on this!