Uh oh, food begging

[fhicat]

Last few days I noticed Jed started begging for food pretty frequently. I normally feed him 3 times a day - once when I wake up, once around 4-5pm when I come back, and once before bed at around 11. Recently though, I'd feed him at 5pm and he'll beg for food at 7. 

It's not bad enough that it's affecting my days, but I'm a softie and it's kinda hard to ignore him (I do though). I play with him at least three times a day just to make sure he isn't wanting to eat out of boredom.

Nothing has changed in his diet. He eats a mixture of commercial raw and EVO/Wellness/Natural Balance. I do throw him little tidbits from my own meal, I think that might be the reason, so I'll stop sharing my food from now, but what to do in the meantime?

 

[ritz]

Just. Say.  No.

Which is more than I do

Ritz has exhibited the same problem, well she always wants more food (she has issues steming from her abandonment at age 2 months).  But she is now jumping on the countertops looking for food which she has never done in the almost four years since I adopted her.  I never leave anything on the countertops that she is interested in (um, lettuce anyone?) so I don't care if she walks the plank, so to speak.  And perhaps she'll tired of the fruitless search.

I've  never given her people/my food, so she may sniff my cereal but she doesn't get any.  I would not give her any of your food, even the tibits.  Beginning of a bad habit.  Been there, still doing it, trying to decrease.

The weather is getting colder, and some cats are hard wired to build up their storage of fat--especially those who lived outdoors for any length of time.  (Ritz survived a 20" snow storm.)

Increased play is a good idea.  I try to ignore Ritz meows, I try not to react or say anything, I try simply not to give her to her pleading eyes.  I don't want her to sense judgment on my part; it's not her fault.

Of course if you notice Jed has lost weight even though he might be eating more, then a trip to the vet is necessary.

Good luck--and let me know if anything else you think of works.  It's most annoying to hear Ritz meow for an hour straight!

 

[jcat]

Welcome to the club! Mogli is the same way. We tell him, "It's not time yet", which he's come to know means he'll be fed at his regular time, not earlier. If he persists in begging or trying to steal food while we're eating, he gets picked up and locked in the living room. It hasn't stopped him 100%, but we've seen some progress. It's important to be consistent.

 

[fhicat]

So far he's been good about not persisting or stealing food, just giving me that pleading look. I'm really bad at not sharing my food, but I'll try harder not to give in to him. It's nice to have a eat anything cat though.

 

[ritz]

Yeah, Ritz will eat almost anything.
If I could pick up Ritz and lock her in a room, I'd try that. Instead, I go to my craft room (a large walk in closet), shut the door, and sew or work on a wreath. (What is wrong with this picture?)
Although last night after she threw up venison, I gave her some reconsituted Stella & Chewy's Freeze Dried Raw food (Turkey). She ate a few bites and wouldn't eat any more. She was holding out for the real deal, raw food (turkey thigh, coincidentally).

 

[fhicat]

If I could pick up Ritz and lock her in a room, I'd try that. Instead, I go to my craft room (a large walk in closet), shut the door, and sew or work on a wreath. (What is wrong with this picture?)
 

You need to get her to pay the utilities too! 

 Pretty soon SHE will be cooking for you!

 

[catspaw66]

If I could pick up Ritz and lock her in a room, I'd try that. Instead, I go to my craft room (a large walk in closet), shut the door, and sew or work on a wreath. (What is wrong with this picture?)
 

A cat on the other side of a closed door? Doesn't Ritz get Closed Door Syndrome?  You know the symptoms - meowing, scratching at door, toesies under the door, accusations in cat language.

 

[ritz]

LOL!
I gave her some fd treat to settle the acid in her stomach. I went out to get my mail, about three houses from where I live.
I started hearing her MEOWS two doors away.
*That* is her mode of operation.

 

[fhicat]

Bleh. He's still begging for food 2 hours after he just ate. He has two kinds of begging - one is where he sits on my recliner staring at me without moving his body other than his head, probably wondering if I have food on my desk. The other is when he follows me very closely, mrrr-ing and generally being in my way that I have to walk with my head facing the floor. This is when he is hungry and it's mealtime.

He's been doing the second one very frequently lately. Grr. I had to stop training sessions because otherwise he's going to get way too much food.

 

[lostgirl12]

I can sooo relate...mine walks around the room howling or else sits on the bed when I am on the computer and stares at me, only inches from my face. My cats are on a diet (which has worked), so he is constantly begging for food, all day and all night.