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Cat insists on being spoon fed

post #1 of 16
3/5/10 at 6:57pm
Thread Starter 
For some reason my 6 month old kitten decided recently that he only wants to eat his wet food while I am spoon feeding him and he licks it off the spoon.

He used to eat it just fine out of the bowl until one day he turned his nose up at it so I offered it to him on a spoon. He's been demanding it from the spoon ever since and won't eat it out of a bowl. (No worries, he does get plenty of dry food to eat so kitty is not starving)

Anyone have any tips? I seriously can't keep spoon feeding him wet food forever.
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post #2 of 16
3/5/10 at 7:14pm
He has you well trained.
About the only thing I can think of is to not give in to him. I know it will be hard, and he will probably cry pitifully, but he will not starve to death as long as food is available. When he finally does eat without a spoon, praise him like he has done something miraculous.
I made the mistake of letting an 8 year old cat finish off what a bottle baby did not want, and for weeks he would bring me the bottle and beg for milk. It was adorable, but it got to be a pain in the butt. He was getting fat from all that baby milk. Did I mention it was adorable when he rolled on his back and held the bottle with his paws?
Good Luck, and stand your ground.
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post #3 of 16
3/5/10 at 7:22pm
Thread Starter 
Just hold out on him eh? Easier said than done. Since he's still a kitten he's just so darn cute when he looks at me with those adorable eyes. Yeah I was thinking the only way to break him would be to hold out too. I just wish there was an easier way that didn't involve a cute sad kitty face.
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post #4 of 16
3/5/10 at 7:49pm
I literally giggled when I read this. Yep, you're so totally wrapped! I love it! Unless you plan on feeding him the wet food off of the spoon for the rest of his life, then yes, just stop. He won't starve himself and will start eatting it from the bowl again once he figures out you're not going to give in. Good luck!
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post #5 of 16
3/6/10 at 5:34am
Do you wash the bowls frequently? If not, try washing the bowl and then letting him eat out of it. Resist the temptation to give in to spoon feed him, too. It's cute now, but may not be in a few months!
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post #6 of 16
3/6/10 at 5:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stephanietx View Post
Do you wash the bowls frequently? If not, try washing the bowl and then letting him eat out of it. Resist the temptation to give in to spoon feed him, too. It's cute now, but may not be in a few months!
I was thinking about that too. Cats are very particular and have extremely sensitive noses. If the dish isn't washed between every meal, that may be bothering him. Don't need soap, just scrub with a brush under scalding hot water.

Also, if you are using a bowl, try a shallower saucer, some cats don't like sticking their faces in bowls.

Of course it may just be he enjoys the bonding time with you. When you are sitting there feeding him, your attention is focused entirely on him!

I hand feed Tolly sometimes when he says he really really needs it, but he doesn't abuse the privilege.
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post #7 of 16
3/6/10 at 7:26am
When I first saw your post I laughed and thought that would be a hungry kitty in my house! I'm glad he's got plenty of other food. I agree, hold out and change the bowl. One of my cats only likes ceramics. I think it's because they don't have much of an odor like plastic or metal and I find it easier to get all washing residue off of them.
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post #8 of 16
3/6/10 at 10:07am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by stephanietx View Post
Do you wash the bowls frequently? If not, try washing the bowl and then letting him eat out of it. Resist the temptation to give in to spoon feed him, too. It's cute now, but may not be in a few months!
Yeah, the bowl gets washed with soap and water after every meal. Otherwise there's dried pieces of food that sticks and, well, that's just gross.

I will try holding out and if that doesn't seem to work I'll change the bowl.

Thanks for the tips!
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post #9 of 16
3/6/10 at 11:11am
A smart kitty has his owner wrapped around his paw doesn't he????

Try feeding the canned food on a shallow plate/saucer instead of a bowl.
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post #10 of 16
3/6/10 at 3:59pm
In my never-ending quest to become familiar with cats' needs and habits, at some point I read that bowls could be aggravating to their sensitive whiskers. So I feed my girl off of a small ceramic plate rather than out of a bowl. Now granted, I have never had to spoon feed her, but a new serving plate might be just the thing your little guy needs. And I agree that holding out can be difficult. Lately I have to hold out from about 5:00 to 7:00 every morning!!

Good luck!
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post #11 of 16
3/7/10 at 3:27pm
First: I'm laughing so hard that I haven't read everyone's helpful suggestions.
Second: take away the dry food - he'll soon decide the food in the bowl is just the cat's meow. (maybe someone else already told you that) Problem is, this could be me!!!

OKAY, I went back and read through the other posts. What I do for feeding the canned meat is that I use saucers. I have tons of them, and never use them, so now they are cat saucers - use one time, rinse off, then dishwasher. We have three inside cats, and four outside. I use saucers for all of them. I have enough saucer styles that each inside cat has a style assigned to him/her, and then another style is assigned to the outside cats. For the outside cat dishes, I soak in bleach first, then the dishwasher.
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post #12 of 16
3/7/10 at 11:22pm
I saw my sister-in-law today and brought with me several cans of food that Holland refuses to eat (I have learned that she doesn't like beef and she doesn't like the "pate" style... needs to be grilled or flaked, the picky eater... ). I told SIL I hoped Gracie (her cat) would like the food and she told me Gracie will eat ANYTHING, then of course gave me a hard time about my picky girl. I immediately thought about this thread and told SIL - "Well, at least I don't have to feed her off of a spoon."



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post #13 of 16
3/8/10 at 11:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mystik Spiral View Post
I told SIL I hoped Gracie (her cat) would like the food and she told me Gracie will eat ANYTHING, then of course gave me a hard time about my picky girl. I immediately thought about this thread and told SIL - "Well, at least I don't have to feed her off of a spoon."
That is too funny .

Tried giving wet food to him on a plate instead of a bowl (I don't have any cat saucers yet). His appetite seemed the same though. I have, however, been pulling up the dry food overnight and not giving it back until his canned food for breakfast is served. He wasn't really interested in the canned food in the morning until this morning, after I had been pulling up the dry food for a couple days now. When I gave it to him in his kitty bowl he practically ran me over and wolfed it down!

So that's what I'll be doing from now on is pulling up the dry food overnight and return it in the morning after his breakfast. I also have a kitty saucer on the shopping list. Thanks all!
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post #14 of 16
3/16/10 at 11:18am
Have you tried leaving the spoon in the wet food?
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post #15 of 16
3/16/10 at 11:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat Traufield View Post
Have you tried leaving the spoon in the wet food?
LOL! Yes actually I did end up doing this once after I was exasperated when spoon feeding him and stuck the spoon in his plate. Couple of sniffs then he was no longer interested.

I have been having some success with the kitty saucer and pulling up the dry food overnight. He's not crazy about it, but at least he's eating some wet food now without being spoon fed so I'm happy.
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post #16 of 16
3/19/10 at 1:46pm
Working at animal shelters we often noticed that some cats are "social eaters" - they only eat when someone is either nearby or even petting them. Could it be that your being nearby holding the spoon is more important than the spoon itself?
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