cat afraid of the sound of food going in her dish

[norma neary]

My cat Lilly fell off the counter on Friday while her food was being put in her dish.  She was in such a rush to eat,

that she lost her balance and sprained her paw.

Now the minute she hears the food going in the dish, she runs in terror from it.  I have to coax her back to

eat the food.  She eats once she calms down but not sure why she is so afraid of the sound of the food going

in the dish.

Could it be that she associates the sound with when she fell.

 

[Columbine]

It's absolutely the sound association. These things can happen in a split second and take quite a while to undo.

I'd probably go for desensitisation training with her. Find an extra yummy food or treat that she goes crazy for and start training. Have her bowl on one side of you, just within reach, and have Lily on the other side. Also have a good stock of the treat food and a little of her regular food.

To start with, just get her settled and relaxed. Then put a tiny amount (one kibble or a similarly sized amount of wet food) into her bowl with one hand. At the same time, give Lily a treat and tell her how clever she is. Repeat a few times, then put a little more food into the bowl as you treat and reward her. You can also gradually bring the bowl closer to you. In this way, you're recreating a strong positive association with the sound of food going into her bowl. Keep each session short and sweet - a couple of minutes at the most - and repeat several times a day. It shouldn't take long for Lily to forget her bad experience and see her food bowl as a good thing again

 

[norma neary]

Thank You so much