Best Solutions For Kitty Frequently Under Foot In Kitchen

rawlins02

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My Lexi is constantly rubbing against things in the house. She's very happy all the time. I've been on a bit of travel lately, and she's even more active in this regard in past couple of days. When hungry she's always rubbing against me as I try to prepare a meal. I'm an expert in the kitty shuffle, and have only stepped on a paw once in 3+ years. But now meal prep is becoming nearly impossible. Taking too much time. I really don't like to spray her with water or yell at her. She's gotten the GIT... SHOO !!! a few times the past couple days. I obviously don't want to make her fear me. Just now I put her in a bedroom which has her little box. I think this is the best option. Thoughts?
 
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rawlins02

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Hi!
Hmmm, she seems to be working pretty darn hard to get meals. Are you feeding her a high protein lower carb canned food?
When you have a chance, take a look at this
https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
also there's this one;CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat
Yes. Our vet pointed me to that document some time ago. Vet has endorsed the low carb, canned wet food diet that I feed. Lexi is a long, big cat, weighs 10 lbs and gets about 250 kcals a day. Most importantly her weight has been stable for some time. She is fed 3x each day, and if more than about 3 hours have passed since a meal, she'll beg for food. I adopted her from a shelter at age 1.5 years, and understand she was picked up as a stray at age 4 months. Food insecurity may be an issue from her early days on the streets.

After I let her out of her bedroom, she jumped right into my lap to nap as I ate my dinner :-)
 
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Furballsmom

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Awww, that's wonderful!
Sounds like you have a good vet.
What's getting my attention here is that she's becoming more so at each meal.

Would there be any freeze dried treats she can have? Minnows, bonito flakes, boar etc
Only Natural Pet, (store and cat treat brand), orijen, primal...
Either at the 3 hour and 30 minute mark and/or when you put her in her room while you prep her meal.

Can you feed her in different locations, just for variety?

Other than adding some treats and feeding her in different locations, I think you're on the right track by removing her to her room, it eases your stress and keeps her out of trouble :)
 
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rawlins02

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Awww, that's wonderful!
Sounds like you have a good vet.
What's getting my attention here is that she's becoming more so at each meal.

Would there be any freeze dried treats she can have? Minnows, bonito flakes, boar etc
Only Natural Pet, (store and cat treat brand), orijen, primal...
Either at the 3 hour and 30 minute mark and/or when you put her in her room while you prep her meal.

Can you feed her in different locations, just for variety?

Other than adding some treats and feeding her in different locations, I think you're on the right track by removing her to her room, it eases your stress and keeps her out of trouble :)
Yes I often give her treats between meals. Greenies Dental Treats. She had gingivitis when I adopted her, which has disappeared after a teeth cleaning at vet and with my brushing her teeth daily.

I do not feed her in different locations. I'm aware of the conditioning that occurs when we feed in our kitchens. I suppose I can keep the food and feed her upstairs.

Putting her in her room will be a good solution. With feedings at 7am, 2pm, and 8pm, she is anticipating food and hungry while I make my lunch and dinner. Perhaps I can figure out a way to only prep my meals after she has had hers.
 
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rawlins02

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Going so so. Definitely need to be diligent in putting her upstairs locked in a room if I need to move about the kitchen. Lightly stepped on a paw the other day. Need to stagger our meals as I mentioned above. I must look to eat after her belly is full. Just can't be in the kitchen with her if she's looking for a meal. Her weight is not dropping, yet she always seems famished. I feed her about 250 kcals a day at 10.8 lbs. Can't have a fat kitty!

The other challenge is that she is very social, strongly bonded, vocal and demanding. We do supervised walks. But today it's raining. I opened the door. She stuck her head out, shook it, ran back in, and started pleading. For what I do not know :-) "Please make it stop raining?" There she goes again. Meow! Better go tell her it's OK .... LOL
 

Furballsmom

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Thanks so much for the update! Yeah, my boy does the same thing when it's raining, or snowing - it's totally my fault LOL

Have you tried food puzzles?
Food Puzzles for Cats

Maybe some freeze dried treats? Minnows, bonito flakes, boar etc
Only Natural Pet, (store and cat treat brand), orijen, primal...
 

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I think the bedroom while cooking is a really good idea. Not just to keep her from being stepped on, but to prevent spilling hot water, oil, soup, whatever on her. Grease burns are painful and hard to treat.

Getting her used to be in the bedroom while cooking is occurring is a good idea. It means when you have guests who help with the cooking, I'm thinking holidays and little parties, kitty won't feel left out. Once the cooking is done she could join everyone.

I'm rather appalled by the people who want open concept and have small children or animals. Most people I know received a burn or a scald from a kitchen accident as a child. Best to keep everyone safe. When kids are older they can learn to cook.
 

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A couple weeks back someone posted about the make-them-work-for-it bowls. The idea is that it stretches things about a bit, and they finish it when they are hungry. I'm afraid I don't remember the name, but it struck me as such a clever idea that might help a lot of folks and their cats.

Edit: they call them "slow feeder" bowls. Something like this:

 
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rawlins02

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Thanks so much for the update! Yeah, my boy does the same thing when it's raining, or snowing - it's totally my fault LOL

Have you tried food puzzles?
Food Puzzles for Cats

Maybe some freeze dried treats? Minnows, bonito flakes, boar etc
Only Natural Pet, (store and cat treat brand), orijen, primal...
Never used a food puzzle. Will try. For much of this year I was putting her food in muffin tin sections. But I'd rather use ceramic or glass unless I can be 100% certain that liking tin is OK long term.

I give her Greenies dental treats. But she always seems hungry. She's been borderline overweight, although the last time at vet they said she's just about right at 10.7 lbs for her long frame.
 
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rawlins02

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I think the bedroom while cooking is a really good idea. Not just to keep her from being stepped on, but to prevent spilling hot water, oil, soup, whatever on her. Grease burns are painful and hard to treat.

Getting her used to be in the bedroom while cooking is occurring is a good idea. It means when you have guests who help with the cooking, I'm thinking holidays and little parties, kitty won't feel left out. Once the cooking is done she could join everyone.

I'm rather appalled by the people who want open concept and have small children or animals. Most people I know received a burn or a scald from a kitchen accident as a child. Best to keep everyone safe. When kids are older they can learn to cook.
Yea, bedroom is the way to go. I actually rarely use stove top. Even rare to use grease. So no worries there. Cooking for one has some drawbacks.... crock pots and microwaves are great!
 
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rawlins02

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A couple weeks back someone posted about the make-them-work-for-it bowls. The idea is that it stretches things about a bit, and they finish it when they are hungry. I'm afraid I don't remember the name, but it struck me as such a clever idea that might help a lot of folks and their cats.

Edit: they call them "slow feeder" bowls. Something like this:

Yes I've considered these and will check them out. Assume ceramic or glass are best. Non-porous material from what I recall.
 

Furballsmom

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I don't know if anyone mentioned it, but there are freeze dried treats that could help, Only Natural Pet has dried minnows, bonito flakes are sold by a couple different companies or you can get them from Asian markets...
 
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rawlins02

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Looks like the issue is situational. Lexi never disturbs me for food during the night. She can go 12 hours without a meal at night, but during the day likes to beg.

The past few nights I've been working in an upstairs office where I've placed a cat bed. It's now about 1.5 hours past dinner time, and she's sleeping soundly. And if we do an evening walk around the yard, she immediately runs to the kitchen and starts begging, particularly if I try to make dinner. I've conditioned her that she gets rewarded when coming back inside with me. Still need to check with vet that there's no medical issue. But looking like that she's just an opportunist who knows a sucker when she sees one.
 
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rawlins02

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Update:

I took her to the vet about 3 weeks ago. Suspicions confirmed. Lexi has actually gained half a pound in past month. Vet said she may be a bit bored. This despite the fact the her environment is rich. Lots of windows, and I play with her often. But I am working more than usual lately. She said that cats really should work for their food. I mentioned that I'd already ordered a puzzle (Trixie Pet Products Poker Box Activity for Cats) and that I'd been getting her to walk around the house looking for a few pieces of dry kibble every evening. She said my instincts were spot on. Now, Lexi has already figured out all the puzzle drawers. Not much work there LOL! Vet added that I should start putting her in the bathroom at feeding time and only let her out once food is on plate and down on the floor. I'm doing that. Also to spread out on a large plate so that Lexi can't hoover it up so fast. I'm also now hiding kibble in far away places around the house. Need to buy a few more puzzles so that she has to work hard for a bit of food. I've got a very smart kitty and must be clever to keep her very happy, but not fat and happy! I'll add that right after lunch she went racing around bouncing off of the walls like a 3 year old on caffeine! Hilarious!
 

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Treats - the slimming way. We use Dr. Esley's chicken kibble as a treat. Total of 6 pieces in a given day. You could use one piece for the reward for coming in at night. SG comes in the bedroom and naps before going out (to the living room) to wait to come back in with her treat right before lights out.

Proportion can be confusing when you look at a piece of kibble and think 'that's not much', but one piece of kibble to a kit is as big as an raisin oatmeal cookie to us.
 

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If she's willing to actually look for her food you can hide kibble all over the house. I thought that would be a good way to teach the dogs to track. I thought the dogs loved cat kibble. It took months to find all the kibble I'd hidden.
 

kissthisangel

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We try to keep ours out of the kitchen, but there's one sliding door and one swing door into there. Mojo is well on her way to learning to open the swing handle door. She also talks to us whilst we're doing anything in there. Charlie is thinner than Mojo and can squeeze into the kitchen through the sliding door if it isn't closed completely. unfortunately I have stepped on Mojo's paw and tail many more times than you have stepped on your cat, it does not put her off settling directly behind us when we prepare food (cat or people), cook or clean in there. Of course she loves to jump up on my newly cleaned surface, getting her paws wet too. It's not just you. If you don't want to shout at your cat or chase them away then shutting them out and double checking they are shut out is your best option.
 
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