Cat Constantly Meows For Food

[Espalia]

I've heard fellow forumites say they managed to get their cats to stop begging/meowing for food at feeding time. How did you do it?! My problem extends much farther than scheduled mealtimes - my cat is always meowing for food. No need to read the details unless you want to (below).

Here she is giving me the stink eye for not giving her what she wants (does she even know what she wants?!)

The deets: Cookie doesn't generally eat much and is incredibly picky about food - even treats. Sometimes I will have to smear a bit of something incredibly enticing, like tuna, on her mouth so that she has to taste it - and then once she does she realizes she wants it. She doesn't even finish her treats most of the time because she only wants the tiniest bit. Same with her wet food - I feed her like a 1/4 tablespoon because she will leave the rest in her bowl for the kittens to gobble up.

But, she has this infuriating habit of meowing and dashing for her food bowl every time we walk in the direction of her food. Which is any time we are moving in the general direction of our bedroom (where her food is). And then if we are in the bedroom she stands over her food bowl (with food already in it 98% of the time) and looks up at us and meows.

I know that our bad habits have probably contributed to this. For awhile we figured out that she was more willing to eat her food when we flicked water on it (turns out, she often just licks the water off and doesn't actually put food in her mouth). So we've all but stopped that. And for a time we tried putting her food up because the kittens would get into it. She would obviously meow for her food and usually when we put it down she would look at her bowl then look up at us and continue meowing. I've pretty much given up on that as her food is a high enough quality it's okay for them to snack on it. So now we leave the dry food down all the time, always filled.

All our cats are fed wet food 3x a day - as much as they will eat in that sitting and we are pretty good at adhering to a strict schedule. The food itself is not a problem, because she readily eats it when she actually wants to eat. I've bought food she doesn't like in the past and man...it isn't pretty.

And no, there isn't a sequestered place in the apartment that we can *only* walk to when we are feeding her. It's laid out sort of in a line, so any place is on the way to another place. Literally getting up from the couch two rooms over has her dashing beneath our feet towards her food bowl.

And don't worry - she isn't underfed. Somehow, through all this, she manages to eat enough to maintain a healthy 12 pounds. It's actually a little hard to feel her ribs.

 

[ArtNJ]

This can sometimes happen if the humans provide food at irregular times. Sounds like you are pretty regular with the 3x feedings, but perhaps you give a treat at irregular times, or worse, in response to meowing. Most cats, if you are regular and ignore unjustified hunger meowing, it goes away. Like you said, your cat is very much not wasting away, so you don't need to worry about it.

I know it is often recommended, but I've *never* bothered with picking up food after X minutes. What we do is we put down a standard amount 2-4x a day, and ignore standard meowing. What we respond to, and the reason we sometimes will feed more or less, is whether the bowl still has a good amount of food or is licked clean. We will feed 3x unless there is a lot of leftover food, and only feed 4x if they are doing food seeking behavior when the bowl has been licked clean. This works real well for us, and my feeling is that all canned cat foods have more than enough preservatives to be out for a few hours. Very rarely, we mistime a feeding and the food sits too long and gets too yucky for them to eat even though they are hungry, but generally we can simply stir it a little so that it releases some odor and they will eat it. My sense is that we very rarely get food seeking behavior unless the cats are legit really hungry. One of our cats is basically medically ideal weight (i.e. slim), and the other maybe 10% over that (i.e. completely normal). Maybe you could give this system a try?

 

[rubysmama]

First off, Cookie is absolutely beautiful. I just want to pick her up and cuddle her.

But onto her food issues, how old is Cookie? Has she always had this food obsession? She's obviously eating enough, if she's not losing weight. Maybe she just wants attention?

 

[Espalia]

rubysmama she is just the cutest isn't she?! Cookie is an enigma...she is 10 years old and has had very different feeding/living situations throughout her life. I adopted her when I was 13 and she lived with me and my parents until I went to college, then with just my parents for four years. Once I graduated she came to live with me on the east coast and has moved apartments three times.

My parents never cared much for her because she, as they put it, is highly "neurotic". In my childhood home she would meow to go outside and then come back to the door minutes later asking to come inside. In and out, in and out all day long.
I have no idea how often she was inside while I was away, but I know my parents probably rarely paid much attention to her because she sort of really goes at it when she's kneading with her claws. I believe this has led to some weird behavioral tendencies that she didn't used to have.

She was free-fed kibble for this portion of her life and then switched to meals when she came to live with me. It was an uphill battle getting her to eat canned food, but she seems to like it alright now. I started out free-feeding kibble in addition to wet food meals but eventually she started putting on a little too much weight so we changed to meals with a set amount of kibble. I can't remember when the food obsession started but it was likely when we started limiting the kibble, probably two years ago and steadily worsening.

We did have to leave her alone for a few weeks while we were getting married and she was switched back to being free-fed during this time because we couldn't ask our cat-sitters to come over 3x a day. She lost some weight so I guess now that's I'm thinking about it, she's been free-fed since we got back.

All that to say - I guess we have played it a little fast and loose with the feeding schedule/amounts in terms of kibble and I will try to run a tighter ship (harder with kittens who like her food more than theirs...). However, it could be an attention-seeking behavior as she had a similar one (meowing at the door) long ago. She used to be very amenable to cuddles and pets when I was younger but after college she is sensitive to being touched for too long and often acts like she's every so slightly 'agitated' all the time. Sometimes she will nip when I am petting her, but not hard and she gives me a look like she didn't mean too. If she climbs into my lap I have to hold impeccably still and pet her just a few times every couple minutes. If I shift a little she will leave. This makes it hard to give her attention as she often acts like she doesn't want it/makes it hard to give it. But you make en excellent point, I will try paying more attention to her in other parts of the house/more often and see if it helps.

 

[rubysmama]

It certainly could be wanting attention. Or simply "just being a cat".

The only other thing that ran into my mind when you mentioned her licking water off her food, is maybe she has a tooth bothering her.

 

[Espalia]

rubysmama I don't think it's a tooth problem because it's been going on for so long and she's been to the vet oh...at least 4 times in the last 2 years. They always comment on how good her teeth look for a cat her age. She's always turned her nose up at tasty food, even as a kitten so the behavior itself is not unusual. When she's actually eating she happily crunches the kibble and doesn't have a preference for wet food (which I would expect with a tooth problem). She also has a weird relationship with water. She likes to dip her paws in her water and lick it off.

It's more the mad dash that gets on our nerves. Every time we get up and move around she's already on the run to the bowl. I feel a little bad because she doesn't seem to get a moments peace if she's always getting up to follow us around and then I have no idea what she actually wants so I can't give it to her at other times to calm her down. Even if she's sitting in my lap and my husband goes to the kitchen (which is on the way to the bedroom), about 9/10 times she'll race to the bowl.

 

[danteshuman]

I would stick to a food schedule even adjusting it according to day lights saving times. Maybe set a special alarm tone on your phone for her feeding times so she learns to associate that?

My guys are not big meowers but they have me well trained. I respond often before they meow or at the slightest/softest meow. When Dante was a kitten/teen he went through a phase of screaming at me. When he screamed I touched his nose very softly & said sush... then ignored him. Soft meow? Rushed to do his bidding. You can teach your cat to modify her meows to a quieter meow by rewarding her softer meows.