Cat obsessed with stealing people food

sheeshshe · Oct 8, 2012

My 1y old male cat Pretzel has always wanted to eat any food in sight. he is terrible!!! he waits for food to drop (we have 3 young kids), he waits for someone to leave the table momentarily, he waits for leftovers on the counter, and the list goes on. Any time I open the fridge, he is there! He steals melons, green beans, peas, and anything else. He just basically eats anything. He was sick from drinking paint water, and he lost a lot of weight. He stopped eating. I got some help from people on this forum and got him back up to snuff again. He still isn't back to his normal weight yet, but he is eating and drinking and using the litterbox again. Only thing is, he seems to be WORSE about eating people food and anything else that crosses his path. I saw him eat fuzz yesterday. He has started vomiting again and is sneezing every now and again.

How do I keep him away from food? I mean, we've been trying to keep all food away and locked up, tried locking him up at meals etc. I have 3 young kids, they drop stuff and we don't know it, he finds it etc. He somehow finds stuff the moment we walk away for a second! The other day I came home from a birthday party with meatballs in BBQ sauce. My husband sat them down to tend to a kid, within 30 seconds Pretzel was up there eating them. I feel like it is a lost cause. He is never going to completely heal and get better if he doesn't stop being so darn naughty! His stomach just can not handle any of this right now. I got him some more wet food in hopes that it would give him something else to eat that would maybe distract him from people food, but he just vomited that too.

His behavior is normal, he is just puking up everything

Just not sure how to get him to stop eating everything that crosses his path.

jennyr · Oct 8, 2012

How long is it since he had a vet check? It may be there is an underlying medical problem. Have you tried feeding him little and often? I have a cat who will vomit if she eats to much and too fast, which she tends to do. I give her small amounts when I feed the otehrs, and then a little later giver her more. That way she keeps it down. I haven't any other advice, I hope you find the answer. But he is not being 'naughty' - the concept does not exist for a cat. He will do whatever he wants to do, unless the action has bad results for him that he can recognise immediately.

sheeshshe · Oct 8, 2012

his last vet check was about 6 weeks ago. I took him in bc he wasnt eating after the paint water incident. All his #'s were normal except for elevated white blood count. Long story short, the vet didn't think the paint was the problem and he had an obstruction, which he didn't. He just had an ulcer or raw insides from the paint water. Not sure if the #'s would be different now or not. He was eating wet food a couple of weeks ago, but we ran out. He started eating random stuff last week, he sneezes about it too, weird. But since then anything except for dry food, he pukes it up

txcatmom · Oct 8, 2012

This may not be the case with you, but when I had a cat who was overly interested in people food I came to realize I simply wasn't feeding him enough cat food. I reread the labels and adjusted the amount I was offering. Now they all have a normal interest in people food, but nothing we can't control.

sheeshshe · Oct 8, 2012

He has food available to him at all times. But, I thought maybe it wasn't interesting enough so I added the wet food back in. But he vomited that up

cococat · Oct 10, 2012

I have the same issue with my cat. I keep a close eye on all food at all times, unless I do it will be snatched and inhaled. She even steals food from huge full grown dogs.

sheeshshe · Oct 14, 2012

He is really bad. I am going to have to get a cage for him until he is healed up

he stopped napping and all he does all day is prowl for food and things dropped

he vomits every time he eats something people

sevenwonders · Oct 14, 2012

jennyranson said:
...he is not being 'naughty' - the concept does not exist for a cat. He will do whatever he wants to do, unless the action has bad results for him that he can recognise immediately.

I agree...

Cats are predators, and he is just doing what comes naturally to him.

You will have to be more diligent about not leaving food items where he can get to them,

and you might have to put him in a different room during meals.

mani · Oct 14, 2012

sheeshshe said:
He is really bad. I am going to have to get a cage for him until he is healed up he stopped napping and all he does all day is prowl for food and things dropped he vomits every time he eats something people

This is not natural. He needs a GOOD vet as there is something going on here. I have no scientific basis to back it up, but I'm sure drinking paint water could easily have really damaged him, and the fact that he drank it in the first place indicates some kind of issue. A cat behaviouralist may also be in order. Do you have access to a pet naturopath? It may be that you need to keep him in one room and totally monitor his food, and an animal natural therapist may be the way to go with that.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Willowy · Oct 14, 2012

So he JUST started eating random stuff? That can be a sign of anemia. You might want to run another blood panel. If he did have (or currently has) an ulcer, he may have lost too much blood

.

p3 and the king · Oct 14, 2012

The thing about him eating people food, that could explain his disinterest in his own food and him still not putting on weight is that people food is often seasoned with things that can be toxic to cats. Onions, garlic, paprika, etc. Tomatoes (the seeds mostly) are also not good for cats. The list goes on. These things can cause anemia, liver problems, tummy problems, etc which could be contributing to a lot of his symptoms. Plus, human foods are "seasoned" to give them a stronger flavor. Cat foods often are not. So the flavor is even better than tuna for them. Strong and delicious. Though these things are bad for them, they taste good to them. Cats don't know they shouldn't eat them.

jiskefet · Oct 15, 2012

I would think it quite logical he is hungry if he keeps vomiting. He is not getting any sustenance that way, so he must be ravenous.

I'd put him in a dog cage and offer him cooked chicken (no bones). As much as he likes, but in very small portions. See if he keeps it down, then feed him again in an hour or so.

In the mean time, find all the information you can get about feeding raw.

He may be craving certain nutrients that are not sufficiently provided in commercial foods and he may be overreacting to preservatives in commercial foods.

And do find a good vet and have him checked over really thoroughly.

I would also consider the possibility of a tape worm. this would also be consistent with hunger, weight loss and possibly with vomiting..

sheeshshe · Oct 15, 2012

He always had a liking to people food. He's always been a food stealer. However after the paint water incident, after he started feeling better and acting himself when we got it under control, he went NUTS. He is constantly prowling the place for stuff. He is finding stuff I don't even know is there. I could assume I picked up all the food, but he seems to always find something the kids dropped and is hiding under something somewhere. there is no way I can keep everything 100% food free. I have young kids, it isn't possible. we try and keep him in the bathroom locked up, but he breaks free when the kids open the door. I can do my best keeping track of it all, but I have 3 kids. I can't monitor the cat every moment, I try, but there are times when he escapes and gets into stuff. I think a cage is the best bet for now... I'm hoping I can acquire one today.

He has always eaten stuff he shouldn't. He has always been that way, hence the paint water

He will eat nearly anything.

Now, I don't doubt the fact that he could be anemic. He did lose blood. When he had the original blood panel they said it was fine. I don't doubt that he could be deficient now.

He does eat his cat food. We had a good couple of days where I had him in the bathroom and he didn't sneak out much and I was able to get him back in promptly, he didn't eat any people food those two days and he stopped vomiting. That is a good idea about feeding him cooked chicken. Let me get him a cage and hopefully I can get this under control.

My husband now hates the cat, wants him gone, and is in the mindset of, "if he pukes again, I'm going to get a gun and shoot him". which is making me MAD. he is being completely heartless and it is just ticking me off. He is our kitty! I'm not going to just give up on him. My kids are in love with him. My 3 year old will tote him around all the time and tell him that he is his best friend and that he loves him. No way. The cat is staying!

jiskefet · Oct 15, 2012

I know, some cats are mad for any kind of food,especially the things they are not allowed. My strays and ferals are like that. I think it has something to do with having known hunger as a kitten.

p3 and the king · Oct 15, 2012

sheeshshe said:
He always had a liking to people food. He's always been a food stealer. However after the paint water incident, after he started feeling better and acting himself when we got it under control, he went NUTS. He is constantly prowling the place for stuff. He is finding stuff I don't even know is there. I could assume I picked up all the food, but he seems to always find something the kids dropped and is hiding under something somewhere. there is no way I can keep everything 100% food free. I have young kids, it isn't possible. we try and keep him in the bathroom locked up, but he breaks free when the kids open the door. I can do my best keeping track of it all, but I have 3 kids. I can't monitor the cat every moment, I try, but there are times when he escapes and gets into stuff. I think a cage is the best bet for now... I'm hoping I can acquire one today.

He has always eaten stuff he shouldn't. He has always been that way, hence the paint water He will eat nearly anything.

Now, I don't doubt the fact that he could be anemic. He did lose blood. When he had the original blood panel they said it was fine. I don't doubt that he could be deficient now.

He does eat his cat food. We had a good couple of days where I had him in the bathroom and he didn't sneak out much and I was able to get him back in promptly, he didn't eat any people food those two days and he stopped vomiting. That is a good idea about feeding him cooked chicken. Let me get him a cage and hopefully I can get this under control.

My husband now hates the cat, wants him gone, and is in the mindset of, "if he pukes again, I'm going to get a gun and shoot him". which is making me MAD. he is being completely heartless and it is just ticking me off. He is our kitty! I'm not going to just give up on him. My kids are in love with him. My 3 year old will tote him around all the time and tell him that he is his best friend and that he loves him. No way. The cat is staying!

Anemia isn't the only thing that can go wrong with people food. It can damage their livers, hearts, stomach, pancreas, etc. You need to make sure he doesn't ingest the things mentioned and look up the other stuff. Grapes and berries are also VERY bad for them.

And cats puke. Sometimes there is no reason for it. You need to explain that to your husband.

sheeshshe · Oct 15, 2012

they let him out after I left earlier and he found tacos somewhere, the kids must have dropped some. UGH! I am getting him a cage tomorrow.

Cat obsessed with stealing people food

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