- Joined
- Nov 7, 2017
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Hi everyone!
So I have this ongoing problem with my cat, Binx. Binx is a year and a half old and we are feeding him a diet of grain free dry cat food with a little wet food at night. We are feeding him just as much as the bag tells us too, and our vet says that he is perfectly healthy and we don't need to switch his food since he doesn't have an adverse reaction and he's at the right weight for a cat his size. He gets treats too, but not a ton and usually in an interactive toy. Unfortunately he's HIGHLY food motivated and is ALWAYS hungry (vet checked for parasites and he's clean). I'm fairly certain if we grazed him he'd be overweight in a month.
So my problem is that lately he's been getting up onto my kitchen counter. Originally it was because that's where we kept his wet food. So naturally, the solution was to move it. He got up on the counter several more times and after the fifth or sixth time we sprayed him with water since he wasn't responding to a stern voice. The counter is where our knives are and he likes to play with everything. Not to mention the stove top which he has access too and could turn on.
Just this past weekend it's really come to a head. He used to open up his food cupboard until we put his food in a plastic tub with a lock. Now he's climbing on the counters and opening the glass cupboard to get to his treats. We moved them to a higher, inaccessible cupboard, but of course he saw where we moved them and he got into the lower cupboard and chewed his way through a roll of paper towels. He's also scratched up the cupboard pretty bad so I'm probably going to be out of at least half my deposit for rent.
Now I'm baby proofing the house......I can't believe I'm baby proofing the house, but honestly I don't know what to do. I can't have him getting into the cleaning cupboard and hurting himself. We've also ordered double sided sticky paper for the counters. I'm not getting any good feedback from my family. Grandma is of a mind that you have to break bad habits by doing something negative in response, and Mom thinks that because we let him on the little table by the window that we are confusing him and reinforcing the habit. Binx doesn't like the stern voices but he likes getting sprayed and he loves water in general. I think we've just been turning it into a big game for him. Any help would be appreciated.
So I have this ongoing problem with my cat, Binx. Binx is a year and a half old and we are feeding him a diet of grain free dry cat food with a little wet food at night. We are feeding him just as much as the bag tells us too, and our vet says that he is perfectly healthy and we don't need to switch his food since he doesn't have an adverse reaction and he's at the right weight for a cat his size. He gets treats too, but not a ton and usually in an interactive toy. Unfortunately he's HIGHLY food motivated and is ALWAYS hungry (vet checked for parasites and he's clean). I'm fairly certain if we grazed him he'd be overweight in a month.
So my problem is that lately he's been getting up onto my kitchen counter. Originally it was because that's where we kept his wet food. So naturally, the solution was to move it. He got up on the counter several more times and after the fifth or sixth time we sprayed him with water since he wasn't responding to a stern voice. The counter is where our knives are and he likes to play with everything. Not to mention the stove top which he has access too and could turn on.
Just this past weekend it's really come to a head. He used to open up his food cupboard until we put his food in a plastic tub with a lock. Now he's climbing on the counters and opening the glass cupboard to get to his treats. We moved them to a higher, inaccessible cupboard, but of course he saw where we moved them and he got into the lower cupboard and chewed his way through a roll of paper towels. He's also scratched up the cupboard pretty bad so I'm probably going to be out of at least half my deposit for rent.
Now I'm baby proofing the house......I can't believe I'm baby proofing the house, but honestly I don't know what to do. I can't have him getting into the cleaning cupboard and hurting himself. We've also ordered double sided sticky paper for the counters. I'm not getting any good feedback from my family. Grandma is of a mind that you have to break bad habits by doing something negative in response, and Mom thinks that because we let him on the little table by the window that we are confusing him and reinforcing the habit. Binx doesn't like the stern voices but he likes getting sprayed and he loves water in general. I think we've just been turning it into a big game for him. Any help would be appreciated.
I certainly don't want to go against the advise of your vet but it's possible that the dry food isn't satisfying your cat's appetite the way wet food would. You might want to consider feeding more wet rather than dry? I feed my cats two servings of wet food a day with a serving of dry during the day while I'm at work. It will also help to add moisture to your cat's diet which is important because cats tend to have a low thirst drive.
Many pet owners need them. After a bottle baby that stole food out of the pan 
I was a very strict pet guardian with my boys. I never gave them people food and used penny cans if I saw them on the counters. So my boys never got into begging or stealing food. If I give them people food on very rare occasions it is on their plates on their food mat.
