Social Eater?

misty8723

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Fairly recently, Cricket has become a social eater. Not that she won't eat on her own, but particularly in the evening, she wants company. I go to bed early so I can read or watch tv for awhile. At some point, she will come in and start meowing for me to come with her over to the other bedroom where her food dish is. Or when I come out of the bathroom, she's waiting for me and will lead me in there. I sit with her while she eats.

I noticed that this behavior only seemed to start after Swanie passed in early October. I'm assuming it has something to do with losing him, but I don't know.

Any ideas why she would suddenly decide she needed someone with her while she eats? I don't mind (unless I'm really really tired - but I go anyway). She's such a sweetie, and she was such a comfort to me when Swanie died, I'm happy to do this if it is a comfort to her. But I'm really curious why all of a sudden.
 

Maria Bayote

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Awws, sweet baby Cricket.
As what others said, she might be missing Swanie. Poor baby.

It just goes to show that animals also grieve, like humans. As we already know, animals also feel loneliness and sadness and all that stuff that we used to think were exclusively for humans only. They can "sense" something, too. An example is my Bourbon. She is typically a grumpy lady who refuses to speak to me at most times and wants to be left alone. I observe that every year around this time she goes extremely sweet and vocal (she is not vocal at all at most times of the year). Most probably she can sense that me and my husband are again scheduled for our annual vacation back to our home country and she will again be left behind for a month or so.
 
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misty8723

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Did Cricket and Swanie eat together? Maybe she just misses the company.
I think they sometimes ate together but not always. I guess I didn't pay close enough attention. I figured maybe he did keep her company, since it started after he passed away.
 
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misty8723

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It does sound like she misses Swanie and wants company. How old is Cricket? Were she and Swanie litter mates?

Here's a TCS article you might find interesting.
Do Cats Mourn? | TheCatSite
Cricket is about 5 years old? She was not litter mates with Swanie, he was older than she was (about 12 or 13 when we lost him way too soon!). They were friends.

I know cats mourn. I saw Swanie mourn when he very very close friend Cindy died. We got Cricket to hopefully be a friend for Swanie, since he was a very social boy, and they were good friends. When Cindy passed she did here in the house and we allowed Swanie to say goodbye to her. Swanie passed in the hospital, and I don't know if Cricket understands why we took him and he never came back.
 
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misty8723

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I agree with daftcat75 daftcat75 . If they ate together, she misses the company. Keep doing it for her as long as you can. Bless her heart.
FeebysOwner FeebysOwner , I will keep doing it as long as she wants me to. Even if I'm in bed and very very tired, I will get up and go sit with her. I love her so much. She also leads me down to the other bedroom sometimes to be petted on the jeans. I discovered she liked to lay on jeans so I have a couple old pair on the bed for her, or I will take off the pair I'm wearing and throw it down for her.
 

daftcat75

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I wonder if an Amazon Show would be an acceptable substitute if you were ever too tired to join her.
 

rubysmama

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I've read of other cats who only eat when their "parent" is nearby, but it's not a great habit, because there is always the possibility that the human might not be around when the cat is hungry. I don't recall if the previous threads ever found a solution that allowed the cat to eat on their own.

Cricket is lucky to have you. Your love for her is obvious. :hearthrob:
 

basschick

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HK never wanted me to keep him company when he ate till after jeep passed away. since that day (and it's been over seven years). he prefers to eat when one of us - my husband or i - am nearby. he now often wakes me up to watch him eat.
 
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misty8723

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HK never wanted me to keep him company when he ate till after jeep passed away. since that day (and it's been over seven years). he prefers to eat when one of us - my husband or i - am nearby. he now often wakes me up to watch him eat.
Sounds like Cricket. But she WILL eat on her own. It's usually even when she wants the company.
 

basschick

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Sounds like Cricket. But she WILL eat on her own. It's usually even when she wants the company.
same with HK. he eats when we're not in the room or even home, but prefers us to be there. just last night i went to sleep early, and at 11pm, he woke me, asking vigorously for a can of food, then eating it as i lay there, half asleep. he was so happy i was there.
 
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