My cat acts strangely....

I am still new here, but I had hopes perhaps someone here would be able to answer my question.


My fat дебел has been acting oddly these last months. He has always been lazy and fond of eating, but now he makes an attempt to steal my food every time I open the refrigerator. I have often to pick him up and carry him about as I eat whatever I was fetching. I feed him enough, so why does he act in this way?

If you carry him while you are eating he knows now that he can get to your food...

No, he never does get any. He merely makes the attempt. That is why I find it odd. I make sure about which arm I place the cat and which the food!

ok sorry I can be of no help...

I am sure someone here knows!

It could be that he just likes the attention of being carried. So when you open the fridge door, he knows that he will get attention and that he will be carried.

My Lucy tries to crawl into the fridge everytime I open the door. She doesn't get any food, nor does she get any attention other than "Lucy, move". But she's there. I think she wants behind the fridge to get something from underneath and figures she can just go through the fridge.

Ah, now I understand. He does it merely for the attention, and isn't really trying to get the food after all. He tries to jump into the fridge, and I have to pick him up. That makes good sense.

Originally Posted by Polyglot

Ah, now I understand. He does it merely for the attention, and isn't really trying to get the food after all. He tries to jump into the fridge, and I have to pick him up. That makes good sense.

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I'm sure he would go after the food if he could. But the attention is still good enough to keep him coming back.

If you want him to back off when you're eating you're going to have to make it clear to him that it's not acceptable for him to try and get your food. Cats are opportunists and most of them will grab every opportunity for getting food. If you pick him up and carry him around when you eat it's all just a game to him. My new kitten tried to eat my food when I got him - he'd take it out of my mouth if he could - but I made it clear to him that wasn't allowed by giving him a gentle push on the nose (not hard - just like his mother would) and saying "No". To start with I had to do this constantly (I could hardly get any food in for saying "No" all the time!) but it worked and now he doesn't bother me at all.

Animals are 'programmed' for survival above all else, and their main focus is usually on food, eating, hunting, etc., and if there's any opportunity to eat, they'll usually take it. You're tantalizing him with your snack and it's really not a nice thing to do (though I'm sure you didn't mean it!) under the circumstances. If you let them, cats will bother you all day long for food if they think there's a chance to get some (and drive you crazy in the process), so make his feeding times clear, keep tempting food away from him when possible, and resist the urge to start snacking him all the time, plaintive as he might be, or you'll never hear the end of it.

I think he's just living up to his name, of course!

I lived with a cat once named Schmaltz and he did too, although he wasn't into people food at all except bread crusts. Zissou tries to get my food all the time and sometimes does, although now she's trained to only come for a tiny piece when I call her and put it on the floor. She waits patiently sometimes, although if you leave the room she'll eat right off your plate.
She only does it to me, and she's getting better. I just move her when she's annoying me about food. It isn't cause they're hungry-- it's cause you're eating it so it must be better.

I've also seen a cat who will only drink water out of people's glasses they've already dranken from, never his own bowl.

Ah, thank you.

I am not really bothered to stop it, as he never actually gets any food. I was merely curious as to the reason behind it, and I believe you have answered that more than satisfactorily.