The worst scrounging kittens

Hello all

Benson is 15 weeks now and Jinxy is a whole 14 weeks..

Since we got them though they have been the worse begger/scroungers..

Benson not so bad but Jinxy litrally sits on the PLATE.. the minute she smells food , any food (preferbly bread to her) she is on ur lap meowing and tryin to lick the plate..

She gets free fed dried food all day long and get 2 pouches of meat a day..
Our previouse cats/kittens have never begged apart from toffee who only begged for crisps..

We tell her off and put her on the floor when she begs really badly.. some times out the room..

Are all cats.kittens.. like thats..

Jess x

Not all cats are like this. I had one kitty that my mother found in the drive through of the fast food place she worked at.

He was tiny and he was desperate for human foods. The vet thought he had lived on the rotten french fries and burger waste for so long that he thought that was the only way he would get food. For a year we put him in a separate room when we ate, with his cat food and water. We would not let him near us while we were eating. When we were done and the leftovers put away we would let him out and give him attention.

He is 18 years old now and hasn't begged for human food in about 16 years.

I think time and consistency will help your babies!

Thanks , i got there ages wrong lol ,

Jinxy is 3 months
Benson is 3 months and one week..

When did they get so big?

Jess x

Cats do vary in their aggressiveness about begging. Most are pretty polite to the humans, but I've got a little foster kitten now -- about 4 months old, that is very assertive. I just put her in the bedroom when I eat. She is fine for the hour or so she's there.

She always seems really confused about why I'm doing that to her, though. She doesn't seem to get it at all. I hope she calms down.

Feed them some wet food when your ready to sit down to your meal and they won't want any of yours.

If need be, put them in another room when eating and they will learn you don't beg.

Ours knows they get fed after we do...sometimes its before because we are running late. They may do a little begging, but they know that the chair is the limit...they are not allowed on the table.

I kinda disagree with feeding them when you sit down. We also have a dog, and she KNOWS the pack leaders eat first. Maybe the cats have learned from her to be more patient in waiting

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I kinda disagree with feeding them when you sit down

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Any reason why?. Their eating when i'm eating so everyones happy at the same time.

I go by the dog pack principal. The pack leaders eat first, the others eat 2nd.

Keno knows this and the cats have caught on that they are fed after; and all usually get a little sample of what we are eating.

Only if we are running late or have to leave at supper time are they fed first - this is not a frequent thing.

Some cats, even if they eat first may still come back to the table for samples.

Originally Posted by Rosiemac

Any reason why?. Their eating when i'm eating so everyones happy at the same time.

Click to expand...

we have a regular routine, usually they eat their evening meal when we have ours, but if we're running late they still get theirs at the same time (7pm). They don't beg because they know that I won't budge from the schedule and they aren't interested in our food because they've had their own .

Besides, in my house no amount of pack psychology will convince Bella she's not queen

My 3 have all gone through phases of trying to land face first in my dinner in their attempts to snatch some. Radar in particular used to be very naughty at reaching out with a paw and trying to aim your cutlery towards his own mouth, very funny but very naughty

Now they are quite well behaved and we can usually eat with them in the room.

Here's how we did it.
First attempt to take food - a stern NO and gentle push away/put down on the floor.
Second attempt to take food - a stern NO and they find themself on the other side of a shut door.
In addition don't ever give them any of your food, and don't ever give them leftovers from your fork or plate, even if you have a nice bit of meat that you know won't cause them any harm to eat. Your dinner and your plates have to remain completely out of bounds without exception or they will be confused about what is allowed.

My 3 boys are exceptionally greedy creatures, but this has worked nicely and we now eat in peace, even if they are waiting for their own dinner. They don't expect to get anything while we are eating, and know that they will be shut out of the room if they try. Occasionally one will pop his head up to see what is on the plate, but they don't get close and a NO will remind them that they are not allowed and must go and amuse themselves for a while!

ETA: This doesn't stop them making mournful hungry faces at us while we are eating, but they do know not to try to help themselves.

Gus, our 9 month old kitty, is like that still. When we first got him at 8 weeks he would hang from our plates, take a flying leap from the back of the couch landing in our bowl of popcorn, etc. He at least stopped trying to steal food from our plates, but he's still a little crazy about it. He gets fed about a half hour after we wake up in the morning, and about a half hour before we go to bed. Each meal he literally scarfs down in under a minute, making all sorts of snorting noises in the process. After he eats he'll frequently go around quickly licking at any spots on the floor, then run around the house looking to see if the other cats left any food. [We have to feed him separately, obviously, and we always pick up the other cats food before we let him out.] He'll eat any scrap of food left unattended, including raw vegetables. I just assume he was probably a stray kitten having to scrounge for food and has hung on to that.

Flower is REALLY bad about begging, but I think she picked up the idea from the pup. Sense I have been working on Comet's begging problem Flower has gotten alot better too. I have just been ignoring the both of them and telling them no. When i am done eating and they have been good and not begging I put some in there food bowls. They are starting to ceatch on that being annoying and begging gets nothing and doing there own thing and waiting gets a treat!

OHHH Epona you are one CRUEL mommy! Not giving them samples...you'll have to send those boys to me so I can spoil them

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

OHHH Epona you are one CRUEL mommy! Not giving them samples...you'll have to send those boys to me so I can spoil them

Click to expand...

Jacob used to think that our food was there for the taking, it took us a while to train him out of regular 'hit and run' attacks on our meals! Many's the time I've removed stolen food from his mouth, determined that he would gain no reward from his thieving ways It did work, but I think even the slightest backsliding on the issue by giving him our food as treats would give him ideas, he really is the greediest cat! He's well behaved now though most of the time, and will sit beside me while I eat, making begging eyes and little harrumphing noises