Aggressive Eater

My new kitten bit my friend today who was trying to feed her and drew blood. She growls at anyone who touches her while she eats...Shes acting like a dog! How do I stil her from doing this because I cant smack her cuz shes so small, and I dont like slapping my cats, so what do I do?! I dont want her to bite anyone else!

Anyone???

This is a huge problem because I just fed her and I used the tv remote to go close to her bowl to see what she would do and she growled really low and attacked it...I dont want that to happen again...so I picked her up by the scruff and said "NO!" a few times, because after picking her up she continued to growl.

I have a lot of foster kittens do this in the beginning, but every last one of them outgrew it. When you feed her start by staying close while she is eating after a week or so pet her while she is eating, within a couple of weeks of desensitization she will be fine with her food.

If she is food aggressive, then fix her food before you put her bowl down first. Keep your hands at a distance, and don't bug her until after she walks away from the bowl. Don't leave food down all the time, feed her on scheduled times, keep to the schedule. If you are hesitant to have her in the same room when you are fixing the food, then toss a few treats for her into another room, close that door, fix her food and put it on the floor and then open the door to let her out.

I have two kittens that growl all the time while they are eating. One is just food aggressive, the other (older) turned out to have an abscessed tooth that was pulled.

Also please be patient with answers on the board. We are getting so big that no one can keep up with all the posts. Most of us try and check in as much as possible, but this is a busy time of year for us as well.

ok I will try to be patient lol ad thanks pet nurse im gonna try that

If you do try petnurse's suggestion, depending on the kitten, you could be bit and scratched, so beware. I would suggest you take a long yardstick, put a stuffed glove on the end of it, and secure that down. Use that as your "fake hand" while the kitten is eating. This way when the kitten strikes out, you don't get injured. It keeps you in the same room with the kitten while he is eating, but it keeps you at a distance so you don't feel like a threat. Just keep stroking the kitten while he is eating with this fake hand if that is what you feel you need to do.

Well i have already tried petting her while eating but she doesnt attack me while petting her, she only growls...its if I put my hand close to her food that she attacks.

She's getting a lot better, she rarely growls when I pet her anymore, now she only growls if anything actually touches her food, and not as much as before.

Why not just let her alone when she's eating? If she doesn't want to be petted then, pet her later. What's the big deal? A lot of animals take their food seriously and act this way, it's not abnormal or anything, but we can respect it, and hope she'll relax as she gets older.

Usually the do out grow this. I think often is just that the kitten is used to having her litter mates competing for food because often there are all being fed all at the same time, and from the same bowl. I agree just leave her alone when she eats. I would'nt want someone trying to pat me when I'm eating!

I dont want her to bite someone other than me when they try to pet her while shes eating. I dont want her to be the least bit aggressive. Like someone mentioned above...If she gets lost and ends up in the SPCA, and they ntoice that she is aggresive, you never know what could happen if they think shes vicious. I dont think im unreasonable for not wanting her to be agressive.

Originally Posted by xpiercedgoddess

I dont think im unreasonable for not wanting her to be agressive.

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I agree.