Harassing for Food

[Morgana’s Human]

We finally have some improvement! Been giving Morgana 85g per meal, a 25% overall increase to her daily intake. According to the can, she’s now eating the equivalent of 4.5kg “active” cat! I’ve also been feeding her alongside my meal times at home. While she still tries it, it’s not as constant - a couple of no’s and placing her down on the floor again is enough for her to at least not harass as much. Fingers crossed this will do the trick. Just managed to eat two slices of toast without Morgs trying to grab it away from me! Progress!

 

[Furballsmom]

This is a wonderful update!

 

[Morgana’s Human]

This is a wonderful update!

I’ve also just managed the dreaded cheesy pasta with meatballs (my autism safe meal, lol…) without incident too! I find feeding her at the same time as my meals are a much better way to handle it - it’s changing her schedule a little bit, but it does help! Hopefully she’s feeling more full now so she doesn’t feel the need to go after my food. It’s actually insane on how “varied” the feeding guides can be! I know they’re guidelines and all, I’m just astonished that in reality, Morgana needs feeding the equivalent of a cat that’s over 1KG in weight than her actual weight. It goes to show just how varied cats can be and how much they need due to activity level - despite being indoors, we all know Morgana is nuts! I may have to adjust again based on if she gains weight, but for now she’s very happy. Currently can hear her going ballistic with her ball toys downstairs!

 

[Furballsmom]

without incident too!

she’s very happy. Currently can hear her going ballistic with her ball toys downstairs!

Woohoo - you rock!

 

[Alldara]

That's awesome! And yes metabolism and energy levels change the guidelines so much.

 

[Kasper111]

Hey everyone! I was hoping to have a bit of advice regarding some behaviour for Morgana please!

Morgana is a 1-year old cat, who currently weighs 3.4kg. The vet thinks she’s perfect in terms of weight, she’s just… lean. Currently, we have a small rotation of cat food. Morgana doesn’t tolerate beef well and I need to have budget friendly options at the moment, but I do my best. Her food rotations are:
MACs - Her most common food. She can rotate through different flavours successfully.
Scrumbles Wet - Chicken in Jelly flavour only.
Blink! Gravy - all packets are fine with her.
Seriously Good Bistro - Fish (Very very rare, she has this once a week at most!)

In terms of daily intake, Morgana receives 3 meals a day (one before I go to work, one when I get home from work and one before I go to bed) of 70g each, so 210g overall daily. She also receives treats in puzzle feeders to keep her mind occupied! Morgana has been vet checked recently and she’s 100% clear in terms of illnesses, except for her FHV which presents in her eyes. Been clear since her last flare up a couple of weeks ago.

Sorry for the ramble! Just wanted to be transparent on how much she’s eating / when, it might better help. It’s mostly an issue regarding her constantly harassing and begging for food! Even if I feed her meal and sit down with mine, it won’t be long before I’m having to keep my bowl away from her and constantly placing her down on the floor. She also takes any opportunity to clean bowls and scavenge. She’s always been this way since kitten, and I’ve resorted to popping her into a carry case while I eat. Originally I’d lock her in my room upstairs but she’d be so desperate to come out she’d rip all the carpets up! Obviously this isn’t ideal and there are probably much better ways at handling this, but I’m unsure where to start. Morgana has never been given any food from my plate and never given any table scraps.

Just wanted some opinions! There’s been situations where she’s gotten her paws on stuff she really shouldn’t have (garlic bread and chocolate chip pancake incident springs to my mind…) where I’ve not been quick enough to stop her swiping and running. I just wanted to know if there’s a better way to train or distract her - or is it a case where I’m not feeding enough? She’s constantly bolting her food, lick mats don’t slow her down all that much either! She’s forever been this way. Any insight would be amazing - I’m very aware it’s not fair that I’m having to pop her in her carry case even for 20 minutes or so, but it’s mostly a her safety thing - especially if I have food that’s a definite no no!

Cute! My cat is also like that since i rescued him as a kitten. He'll rob the food right out of my eating spoon. He'll try to eat everything he can get his baby paw on!

But the healthy useful solution i did is - add water to his food. I add additional water to his dry or wet food and increased it until he'll he doesn't feel the food tasty. Then he'll stop asking for food. Anyway he'll come back after few hours but that is better than increasing his food which leads to obesity.


But just to make sure, check your vet if he have hyperthyroidism. It's not necessary he could have that but just suggest it to your vet.

Hope this helps!

 

[Morgana’s Human]

Thought I’d provide a quick update!

Morgs is gaining weight (she was checked again recently for her constipation issues) and now sits at 3.6kg. Still within healthy weight, so good job, Morgana! we are still struggling with harassing for my food but at this point it’s “you cheeky bugger, you have a half full bowl of your meal there, go away!” sort of harassing (usually when there’s fried chicken or meat about…)

Working on it! But she’s a lot slower eating now and her digestion struggles have began to improve. Hooray!

 

[Furballsmom]

You are so awesome -- this made my entire day. Thank you for a wonderful update !!

 

[Alldara]

Wonderful! Great job to you both.

 

[Morgana’s Human]

I spoke too soon! Little thief! Will keep working on it. Baring in mind she had a slow feeder and a treat puzzle to work on as I ate!

 

[Alldara]

I had a similar view during my breakfast this morning! Ghost really wanted a peice of egg.
How's she doing since I think you upped her cat food amount?

 

[Morgana’s Human]

I had a similar view during my breakfast this morning! Ghost really wanted a peice of egg.
How's she doing since I think you upped her cat food amount?

haha! i’m beginning to think morgana is just a food motivated, cheeky little whatsit! she’s gained weight since i upped her food and is eating slowly… it’s just what I have is better! maybe one day she’ll learn that i’m not going to give her any and i won’t have to put her down 20+ times away from my food… or maybe not

 

[Meowmee]

If I leave my food alone, Quinn will eat it off the plate. If it’s something he likes. my true food harasser though is Merlin and he is overweight. So I have the opposite problem. I finally got him to lose weight by not giving into his demands and feeding him less. He still has a ways to go. I’m also on a diet myself so I keep telling him we are getting thinner together lol.

 

[Morgana’s Human]

I’ve stumped her with this amazing snuffle mat ball thing I got from Pets at Home! she’s got no idea what to do with it! I opted for the ball as she loves to chase things around. She’s like “I can smell the treats, but no find..!”

 

[Alldara]

Nice!