Ernie tries to eat my dinner

My cat gets very excited when I sit down to eat. She climbs on my lap and swats at my hand as I go to put food in my mouth. And she waits for crumbs to fall. She licks the plate. After a few minutes, she calms down and watches me eat. The behavior can be annoying at times, but I am patient. She is seven years old and I've had her since mid-March. Declawed by a previous owner before escaping or being thrown out of the house, she definitely had to eat whatever she could find, and friendly locals probably fed her. My friends took her in. And then she chose me. I do not feel the need to scare her away from me during meal times b/c I like her company, but does anyone have any suggestions? She is on Fancy Feast and Wellness.

my cat jack loves to be where ever food is.. we dont feed him people food but he has such a high interest for it for what ever reason.. you dont have to scare her away from the table completly just let her know her boundries.. this worked for jack.. when ever he would stick his paw out to try to get a peice of what ever we were eating we would gently push his paw away and say no very sternly.. alot of people say that you cant teach cats anything but indeed you can.. for instints my boyfriend has taught jack to play fetch.. lol.. he really brings the paper ball back and then sits down and waits for him to through it again.. lol.. but anyways, just keep pushing her paw away and saying no she will eventually get the point.. or the other thinng you can do i have a spray bottle with water in it.. and spray her when she tries to go for your food.. though she will most likely run.. good luck and let me know how it turns out..

sorry i just noticed that your cats name was ernie.. i was calling it a she in my response.. im guessing it s a boy.. lol.. sorry about that..

Ernie is a girl. Her full name is Ernestine, but that's a big name for a cat so I shortened it.

o so i was right.. lol.. love the name.. where did you get that from..??

Have you tried giving a wet food treat at the same time you are eating? If you give her her own, she may be less likely to steal. My Widget is newly adopted from a shelter where she had a food bowl competition (consistantly losing) and she started with that. I have been giving her really stinky wet food at the same time i eat. Seems to eliminate the issue. She's still interested, but she's getting it.