hungry hungry kitty

[sleepybadger]

Our cat is like a goldfish when it comes to eating. On a normal day, he gets a can of wet food in the morning (somewhere in the 6 - 7am range usually) and another can in the evening (usually in the 5 - 6pm range). He also has a bowl of hard food that Zen keeps filled all the time. He occasionally gets treats as well. He's a huge kitty. To tell us he's hungry, he cries at us, bats at this scratching post thing he has, and bolts into the kitchen if you even sort of move that direction. He is apparently hungry ALL. THE. TIME. 20 minutes after he gets his morning wet food, he's crying and batting at his scratching post. Any time we leave the house and come back he does it. If we fed him as often as he begged for it, he'd be the world's first 200lb house cat. Is everyone's cat like this? My best friend's sister is a vet, and following her recommendation, she feeds her cat 1/2 cup of hard food twice a day and that's *it*. She doesn't get treats or soft food. And while her cat does get huffy about being fed when it's close to mealtime, she doesn't seem to beg all day. She's also like 1/3 the size of our cat. I've never lived with cats before. Maybe this is just how they are?

Comments

[meathiel]

I haven't had a cat for some years now but yes, it's how they are. Even if you've just fed them they behave as if they are the poor starved kitty ... ;-)

[sleepybadger.livejournal.com]

My parents had a dog who was like this. Part of it was that they had spoiled him, but when you were eating he would sit at your feet and look at you like he hadn't eaten in years. He was the same way about pets and snuggles, he was always acting like he was starved for attention.

I was feeling bad for the cat because I thought maybe we weren't giving him enough attention. I invited him to come sit between us, I petted him and rubbed his ears, and 2 minutes after he got off the couch I walked past him and he hissed and swatted at me. He's kind of an asshole.

[qwentoozla]

My cat is like this too! She's always asking for more food! She doesn't need more food, she's a fat kitty...

[sleepybadger.livejournal.com]

I should take a pic of ours. I see other people's cats and I'm shocked at how tiny they are compared to ours. But really it's not that their cats are tiny, it's that our cat is HUGE.

[yesididit2.livejournal.com]

i know nothing of cats.

but puppy would happily eat himself to death if i let him. he absolutely has to be portion controlled. i have to measure his kibble exactly or he gains weight. and with him being 11 and having arthritis in his shoulders, extra weight means more pain and less mobility. he totally tries to get more food out of me. tries to get dinner early. he begs and steals and counter surfs. molly has to be fed in her crate to keep puppy from eating her food after he gobbles his down in seconds. but puppy was picked up as a starving stray roaming the streets. i think a part of his brain will always be stuck in starving mode.

[sleepybadger.livejournal.com]

The dog my parents had would beg constantly. One time my brother made a sandwich and left it on the tv tray while he went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. When he came back, the sandwich was gone and the dog was looking guilty :) When I was a kid, the dog my parents had growing up stole my (fortunately for him) white chocolate bunny while I was in the bathroom. He always had the guiltiest look when he did something like that. My mom said sometimes she'd come home and he'd be sitting by the door looking guilty and she'd have no idea what he did, and she couldn't decide if she should say 'don't do it again!' or what. :) Our cat won't eat people food,he just cries and cries for more of his soft food.

[yesididit2.livejournal.com]

puppy only gets the guilty look if i've yelled at him.

the cat has learned that crying equals more food. unlearning that wont be easy. you'll have to ignore him, and it'll get worse before it gets better (extinction burst).

[sleepybadger.livejournal.com]

We already ignore him 90% of the time when he's crying for more food (unless it's actually time for him to eat). Zen actually has started spritzing him with water to get him to quiet down before he actually feeds him. But still the begging goes on. I can't imagine how much it would cost us to feed him as much as he'd like us to feed him. Especially since he's really just begging for the soft food, since he already has as much hard food as he can eat! Dang cat.