I don't know whether my issue falls in the Behavior category, feel free to move if necessary, but here it is.
I started two previous threads on the issue, but they didn't go far.
My two kitties are always looking and prowling for food, and this behavior is accentuated during our own meals, when particularly Freya keeps sniffing, touching and trying to steal our food. Everytime, everyday. We have to eat while protecting our stuff in our dishes, pots, glasses, bottles, and so on, but we only have two hands each, and she's definitely quicker than we are. We can't go on eating this way!
When we aren't eating they are still on patrol in the house for food all the same, and sometimes they get in trouble, or even eat something (if left unattended) that they shouldn't.
Pushing Freya away, or putting her down, hissing, blowing, shouting at her, banging our hands on the table and every other means of dissuasion don't always work, and when they work they are short lived, or they end up with an insulted cat that refuses to stay with us later, when our meals are over and we're watching the TV or doing else. On one of the last occasions, Freya was offended for at least three days.
I asked the vet several times, but the answer has always been... silence, they don't even reply, they simply skirt the issue, like I had never said anything. Looking on the internet only returns a "bored cat" issue.
Someone questioned that I am feeding them too little food, but this is definitely not the case, since the young one, Freya (5 months old), is steadily growing (I weigh her every week, and she's regularly gaining weight), and the older one (19 months old) has taken over 300 grams of weight in the last 2 months, so this is definitely not real hunger.
It is just that they can't stop looking for food.
Lately my tolerance has gone close to zero, also due to external factors, and sometimes I overreact when they get too insistent and annoying, and this does not help because I feel the relationship between me and them might be affected.
I'm at my wit's end, and I am afraid of many years like this...
I have had two cats for 17 years, not a single problem like this with them, and I also fostered a few kittens, but this is really unseen before in my house.
Any advice?
I started two previous threads on the issue, but they didn't go far.
My two kitties are always looking and prowling for food, and this behavior is accentuated during our own meals, when particularly Freya keeps sniffing, touching and trying to steal our food. Everytime, everyday. We have to eat while protecting our stuff in our dishes, pots, glasses, bottles, and so on, but we only have two hands each, and she's definitely quicker than we are. We can't go on eating this way!
When we aren't eating they are still on patrol in the house for food all the same, and sometimes they get in trouble, or even eat something (if left unattended) that they shouldn't.
Pushing Freya away, or putting her down, hissing, blowing, shouting at her, banging our hands on the table and every other means of dissuasion don't always work, and when they work they are short lived, or they end up with an insulted cat that refuses to stay with us later, when our meals are over and we're watching the TV or doing else. On one of the last occasions, Freya was offended for at least three days.
I asked the vet several times, but the answer has always been... silence, they don't even reply, they simply skirt the issue, like I had never said anything. Looking on the internet only returns a "bored cat" issue.
Someone questioned that I am feeding them too little food, but this is definitely not the case, since the young one, Freya (5 months old), is steadily growing (I weigh her every week, and she's regularly gaining weight), and the older one (19 months old) has taken over 300 grams of weight in the last 2 months, so this is definitely not real hunger.
It is just that they can't stop looking for food.
Lately my tolerance has gone close to zero, also due to external factors, and sometimes I overreact when they get too insistent and annoying, and this does not help because I feel the relationship between me and them might be affected.
I'm at my wit's end, and I am afraid of many years like this...
I have had two cats for 17 years, not a single problem like this with them, and I also fostered a few kittens, but this is really unseen before in my house.
Any advice?
Needless to say, we saw the instances of counter surfing increase after that and we've had to get a SSSCAT spray to stop that behaviour.
