Begging for people food

jaycee

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
926
Purraise
5
Location
Washington state
Oscar is 9 weeks old now. No matter what it is we are eating, he will beg for it and do anything to try and get some. Its like he goes into a frenzied state. Ice cream, bread, meat, cereal, etc. He has bitten me and my 8 year old once each (confusing our fingers with food). Is there any way to stop this behavior or do we just need to lock him up when we eat?
 

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,999
Purraise
10,648
Location
Sweden
try to feed him before you eat. It will not help in 100%, as kittens can eat verry much, and ask for more.
But it will surely help some.

Him begging human food isnt as bad as it sounds. It is good he likes food of different sorts. It may become very useful. Say if he gets sick and you must lure in him medicines with some yummy treat.
Or he gets allergic to his usual food, and you must try with different brand.
 

yosemite

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
23,313
Purraise
81
Location
Ingersoll, ON
I got a chuckle out of this. Bijou has his own small plate set at the table each evening. He will sit beside my husband's chair and patiently wait for hubby to cut up his serving of whatever meat we are having for dinner.
 

alleygirl

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
11,814
Purraise
24
Location
hiding in the bathtub
Riley does this. He will reach over the edge of the table and swipe things off your plate, or climb up the back of the chair and reach over your shoulder trying to get things off the plate


You might just try putting him in another room with a dish of wet food or some treat until he's a little older and you can teach him manners. He may be too young to try just yet.
 

zane's pal

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Oct 10, 2007
Messages
1,059
Purraise
1
Location
Charleston, WV
Originally Posted by Yosemite

I got a chuckle out of this. Bijou has his own small plate set at the table each evening. He will sit beside my husband's chair and patiently wait for hubby to cut up his serving of whatever meat we are having for dinner.
Zane does this, too. A bad habit, I know, but Father started him on it, and I can't bring myself to break him of it. "The Puss Plate" we called it.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

jaycee

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
926
Purraise
5
Location
Washington state
Thanks, I was surprised to hear about the cats getting their own servings at dinner. I have given him bits here and there but worried about giving him too much, fearing cat diahrrea!!

If I gave him enough to satisfy him even at all thats surely what would happen, I think? Or would he get used to the variety? I would really prefer to do it that way rather than lock him away, if its possible. Only giving him healthy food of course.

I had to give him a bath the other night, he was getting covered in too much stolen food dried into his fur! Luckily he didn't put up much of a fight.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

jaycee

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
926
Purraise
5
Location
Washington state
Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

Riley does this. He will reach over the edge of the table and swipe things off your plate, or climb up the back of the chair and reach over your shoulder trying to get things off the plate


You might just try putting him in another room with a dish of wet food or some treat until he's a little older and you can teach him manners. He may be too young to try just yet.
How do you go about teaching a cat manners (when hes old enough)? The old squirt gun thing never works for me.
 

alleygirl

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
11,814
Purraise
24
Location
hiding in the bathtub
Originally Posted by jaycee

How do you go about teaching a cat manners (when hes old enough)? The old squirt gun thing never works for me.
I don't know because mine don't seem to learn any
I think some cats are just naturally more polite than others.
 

ms.blackie

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Apr 7, 2006
Messages
246
Purraise
1
Location
Wadsworth, OH
I feed my cat just before I eat about 10 min. in advance.
She is not free fed. It does help some. Or if we are having something she would want, baked chicken or hamburg I just set some aside and
give it to her before I start to eat. Once their belly
is full they normally lay down and sleep just like a pig.
 

lyrajean

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 23, 2008
Messages
1,259
Purraise
120
Location
VT
I second the fed him before you eat. My cat free feeds dry but her dish of wet I put out in the eve before I eat. She still might beg if I've got something real interesting like a tuna sandwich or sushi.

If you are going to give in to his demand and give him samples when he begs you will never break him of the habit. Everything I give aya I put on the floor, so she knows it is not okay to eat off the coutner or tables. It seems to work. she will now carry treats down to teh floor to eat them.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

jaycee

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
926
Purraise
5
Location
Washington state
Originally Posted by Lyrajean

I second the fed him before you eat. My cat free feeds dry but her dish of wet I put out in the eve before I eat. She still might beg if I've got something real interesting like a tuna sandwich or sushi.

If you are going to give in to his demand and give him samples when he begs you will never break him of the habit. Everything I give aya I put on the floor, so she knows it is not okay to eat off the coutner or tables. It seems to work. she will now carry treats down to teh floor to eat them.
Oh, I didn't mean to give the impression I feed him off of the counters or table. The samples I give him are on his own plate on the floor.
 

yosemite

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
23,313
Purraise
81
Location
Ingersoll, ON
Originally Posted by jaycee

Oh, I didn't mean to give the impression I feed him off of the counters or table. The samples I give him are on his own plate on the floor.
Same here. Bijou sits on the floor beside hubby and politely waits for his portion. We don't give him huge amounts and only meat. He doesn't like any fish at all so usually it's just beef, pork or chicken.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

jaycee

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
926
Purraise
5
Location
Washington state
Originally Posted by Yosemite

Same here. Bijou sits on the floor beside hubby and politely waits for his portion. We don't give him huge amounts and only meat. He doesn't like any fish at all so usually it's just beef, pork or chicken.
I wish Oscar would wait politely
 

momofmany

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 15, 2003
Messages
16,249
Purraise
70
Location
There's no place like home
Originally Posted by Lyrajean

If you are going to give in to his demand and give him samples when he begs you will never break him of the habit.
I agree with this. If you want to break him of this habit, you can't give in to him. He's also incredibly young, and if you start to redirect him to his own food before your own meals, he'll learn over time. Stop giving him any human food for a while so that he doesn't expect any, and eventually if you want to give him some human food, do it before meals.

And squirt bottles don't work. It only teaches them what not to do, not what they should do. Redirecting them to the proper behavior (e.g. their own food bowls) works so much better over time.
 

goldenkitty45

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 29, 2005
Messages
19,900
Purraise
44
Location
SW Minnesota
I know its probably not a good thing, but when you have those cute little faces looking at you, its hard to resist giving them samples. It does cause behavior problems!

Jack is "food obsessed" and will eat just about anything you give him. And he doesn't care if you say no or not - if he can steal it, he will. The only things we are very careful about with people food are chocolate, onions, small bones, etc.

They are spoiled, but are healthy and not fat, so my guys will continue to get some people food.
 

arlyn

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 9, 2005
Messages
9,306
Purraise
50
Location
Needles, CA
I made the mistake of sharing with Spaz as a kitten.
Now she sits on the arm of my chair while I eat.
And she thinks that if I'm holding it in my fingers that it's destined for her, so she'll reach and grab, sometimes with claws.

I learned my lesson, I do not share people food with cats now (except Spaz), I never let them learn that the food I eat is the very same food I sometimes give as treats.
As a result, none of them pay any attention to me while I eat.
 

yosemite

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 26, 2001
Messages
23,313
Purraise
81
Location
Ingersoll, ON
Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I know its probably not a good thing, but when you have those cute little faces looking at you, its hard to resist giving them samples. It does cause behavior problems!

Jack is "food obsessed" and will eat just about anything you give him. And he doesn't care if you say no or not - if he can steal it, he will. The only things we are very careful about with people food are chocolate, onions, small bones, etc.

They are spoiled, but are healthy and not fat, so my guys will continue to get some people food.
I agree with GK on this one. I personally don't have a problem sharing with my cat. He's part of our family and much loved. If he wants some of what I'm eating, he can have it. We had a lovely black longhaired cat that absolutely loved spaghetti and meatballs. He would follow me around and be under my feet while I was trying to serve up dinner. I finally got the idea of chopping up some spaghetti with some sauce and meatballs for him, put it down where he normally ate and he was in heaven and left us alone while we ate. My little female Siamese was the same about curried chicken - she loved it, the spicier the better. I never had a problem giving them a bit. It wasn't like I was giving them spicy food every day. As for Bijou, I don't see any harm in him having about a tablespoon (that's about all it works out to when chopped up) of whatever meat we are having for dinner.
 

dragulescugirl

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
May 26, 2006
Messages
363
Purraise
13
Location
Chatsworth, CA
Ooooh! I'm guilty, guilty, guilty on this. The two older cats know not to jump on the table when we are sitting at it, but they will sit on the floor or another chair and do their baby meows. I'm sure the two new cats will pick up on it soon enough.

But as a few of you said earlier - they are so darn cute and look at you with those big eyes! How do you say no?!?!
 

cats4sky

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
985
Purraise
21
Location
north eastern PA
im guilty! me and BF always end up eating on the couch watching TV, which makes it very easy for the cats to investigate. Sabastian doesn't bother unless im having a yogurt snack, then he will sit next to me and when im done ill save a spoonful for him and feed it to him.

If we are eating any type of meat product, Nipper get up on the back of the couch so hes head level with us and will look and stare until we share.

Princess is 10 mos old and just started showing interest in human food. She's a little more aggressive then the other 2 cause she will come and try to steal a sample right off the plate, but she's so darn cute i cant yell! So far she likes sweet n sour chinese, hamburgers, and eggs, ill always share.
 
Top