Odd reaction to treats.

[brian77]

My cat is now seven months old. I got her at approximately 8 weeks and when I got all her stuff toys,litter box etc I bought some treats. I noticed when I have her some she would growl so I stopped giving them to her.I forgot I had them and recently found them. I decided to try again after a play session this morning same result except this time she gave my hand a soft swat like hey give me another. I don't want to reinforce this behavior but would also like to give her a treat to reinforce good behavior. Should I stop giving her treats or try another brand? Anybody else ever come across this?

 

[catsnip404]

Hi Brian,

That IS odd!  I have never heard of such a thing!

Is she eating them directly from your hand?  Or do you put them on the floor?

Do you feed her dry food?  If so, and if you are feeding the treats by hand, try feeding her a piece of dry food by hand and see what she does.

Can you pat her while she's eating her regular food?  Or does she growl?

 

[brian77]

She has no problem with me petting her while she's eating. The first time I gave them to her I dropped one on the floor She ate it and growled.I gave her one recently and she did not. I thought it was a one time thing being it was months ago. Tried again and that's when she growled again. I think I'll try anorher brand.

 

[brian77]

I might add she's pretty weird.

 

[catsnip404]

Nah, not weird -- she just has "extra personality".  XD

And if you try dropping a piece of her regular food for her, does she growl when she eats it?

You said you've had her since eight weeks -- where did she come from?

I wonder if she just REALLY loves those treats and is growling at any unseen potential competitors, like, "MMMMM.....THIS delectable morsel is MINE!!  AND YA'LL BETTER STAY THE HELL AWAY!!"

One of my girls just LOVES sauerkraut.  Her name is Julia, after Julia Childs, because she begs in the kitchen worse than any dog I've ever had, regardless of what I'm cooking.  She had been raised by a feral mama until she was about eight weeks old, and I'm guessing her mama had introduced her to people food.

I don't typically feed people food to them, but on this occasion where I was making sauerkraut, and she was all underfoot begging while I was at the stove (a safety issue for both of us really), I took a small pinch of it, let it cool and set it down on the floor for her, figuring she'd get one whiff of it and run away.  Problem solved, right?

HELL no!!  She was an absolute FIEND over it!  I was utterly shocked!  And when Nadya, who she even curls up with, came near to see what she was eating, she hunkered over it protectively and growled while even still chewing!  Julia is very mild-mannered and this was actually the first time I heard her growl EVER.  Typically, they can eat wet food off the same plate with no issues.  No problem with treats either.  But sauerkraut is a different ballgame altogether...

So maybe with your girl, she just really loves those treats, and as long as she doesn't show any aggression towards you, I think it's just kind of a cute quirk!  XD  That's just my thought on it, but maybe others might have other ideas.

Btw, if you are tempted to see if she likes sauerkraut too, give her only a small pinch.  Too much can upset her tummy and store-bought sauerkraut is loaded with sodium.