Okay, so my wife and I have a male cat, fixed, about 6 months old, that is giving us a lot of problems. He lives indoors only, with his sister, and we've had them since they were about 3 weeks old; we found them stray. His sister is fine, aside from being really hyper, and I think that's just because we haven't gotten her spayed yet, which should be happening this month sometime.
Luna (hereafter referred to as Fat), on the other hand, has issues with food. Serious issues. This cat gorges himself like a tick with blood, and seemingly has no bottom. And that in itself wouldn't be an issue if he didn't spend nearly every waking minute of his existence trying to get something to eat. We've had to try to control his portions because he was getting pretty chubby, but he eats EVERYTHING. His food. His sister's food. Tries to get our food. Pulls whole packages out of the trash, and cans; we can't leave trash in the can, even if there's not actually food in it. The basket we put their toys in? He eats that, too. Breaks off chunks and carries them off to munch on. Eats styrofoam if he gets to it in time, and he digs in if he gets ahold of it. He acts like he has trauma from starving before we found them, but we can't seem to mend it. We've tried just leaving food out instead of feeding on a schedule, but he eats everything there, on the spot, and then goes hunting again. I wouldn't even mind if he just foraged occasionally, but it's just about the only thing he does when he isn't sleeping, or indulging in his other problem: Fat is a biter.
He doesn't do it aggressively; it seems like a sign of affection, except for the fact that he now puts all of his jaw pressure into loving your fingers. Gets right up in your lap, purrs away, snuggles in, starts getting his pets in, and then chomp. Setting him down on the floor doesn't seem to help. Scolding him doesn't help. Thumping him on the head doesn't work. He actually anticipates that: he'll flinch preemptively now when he's gonna bite, so he knows we'll react negatively, but he does it anyway, and this is literally every time he's in my lap, or my wife's. I feel like it's an extension of the nursing problem he has with blankets and pillows, which we've been trying to fix by hiding all of that from him. But I don't know what to do, with the biting.
If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears, because this is getting frustrating, trying to discipline a cat that takes absolutely no hints. And I'll throw this out there, too: spray bottle will ward him off from things, but doesn't send a message at all. Five minutes later, he's back at it. Doesn't matter what it is.
Help. I love this fat, dumb cat, but he's driving me crazy.
Luna (hereafter referred to as Fat), on the other hand, has issues with food. Serious issues. This cat gorges himself like a tick with blood, and seemingly has no bottom. And that in itself wouldn't be an issue if he didn't spend nearly every waking minute of his existence trying to get something to eat. We've had to try to control his portions because he was getting pretty chubby, but he eats EVERYTHING. His food. His sister's food. Tries to get our food. Pulls whole packages out of the trash, and cans; we can't leave trash in the can, even if there's not actually food in it. The basket we put their toys in? He eats that, too. Breaks off chunks and carries them off to munch on. Eats styrofoam if he gets to it in time, and he digs in if he gets ahold of it. He acts like he has trauma from starving before we found them, but we can't seem to mend it. We've tried just leaving food out instead of feeding on a schedule, but he eats everything there, on the spot, and then goes hunting again. I wouldn't even mind if he just foraged occasionally, but it's just about the only thing he does when he isn't sleeping, or indulging in his other problem: Fat is a biter.
He doesn't do it aggressively; it seems like a sign of affection, except for the fact that he now puts all of his jaw pressure into loving your fingers. Gets right up in your lap, purrs away, snuggles in, starts getting his pets in, and then chomp. Setting him down on the floor doesn't seem to help. Scolding him doesn't help. Thumping him on the head doesn't work. He actually anticipates that: he'll flinch preemptively now when he's gonna bite, so he knows we'll react negatively, but he does it anyway, and this is literally every time he's in my lap, or my wife's. I feel like it's an extension of the nursing problem he has with blankets and pillows, which we've been trying to fix by hiding all of that from him. But I don't know what to do, with the biting.
If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears, because this is getting frustrating, trying to discipline a cat that takes absolutely no hints. And I'll throw this out there, too: spray bottle will ward him off from things, but doesn't send a message at all. Five minutes later, he's back at it. Doesn't matter what it is.
Help. I love this fat, dumb cat, but he's driving me crazy.
