Cat Spoiled When It Comes To Meals

[spookysmom234]

i started off free feeding my cat spooky and when I took him for his checkup, he had gained a lot of weight and they advised me to scale it back. I followed their directions, but now all he does is whine when he dosent see any food in the pan. I tried to keep a routine of feeding him one half a can first thing in the morning, then the other half just before noon, then a whole can before bedtime. His meowing though is relelentless and he’ll act rebellious, flipping over the bowl and scratching up the carpet until he wears us down enough to give him more when he’s not supposed to.
Any advice on how to discipline him so that this doesn’t happen? It’s very tiring and it’s driving my whole house crazy

 

[Hellenww]

Remove the dish when it's not meal time. With distraction maybe he'll learn that when the dish is gone no more food is coming. Luring him into another room and playing could get him to learn faster. If everyone in the house does you'll all be less worn out.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Does he always eat the whole serving that you give him all at once? Or, is he free feeding from it and then gets upset when it is gone? If he is eating it all at once, you could try to give him less in the bowl each time, and only adding a little bit at a time thereafter, but keeping it to the overall limits that have been established. The same approach might apply if he is free feeding it as well.

It sounds mean, but you could try mixing his current food with some that he doesn't like as well.

 

[rubysmama]

Are you sure you haven't scaled back his food too much. There should be a feeding guideline on the can label, or on the company website, that will say how much to feed for a cat with a normal weight, and one who needs to lose weight.

Also, sounds like when he was being free-fed he got kibble, but now he's getting canned food. Could you make give him a few kibbles as a treat between meals, as long, of course, that it wouldn't be too many calories.

 

[BlueJay]

Also keep in mind if you give him more food when he acts out, you are rewarding his behavior and he will continue to do it because he knows it is an effective way to get more food. Along with the other tips and being sure he is getting enough and it hasn't been too drastic a cut to his food, don't give in.

 

[TobiDaDog]

When my two start begging between meals, I don't feed them. I put down a fascinating auto toy like the Catty Whack or Cat's Meow. They often forget that they were 'hungry'. Cats, like humans, often eat out of boredom!

 

[spookysmom234]

Haven’t been on for awhile to read the rest of the responses, thank you for the advice! I have been using distractions with toys and it seems to be helping, so I hope it keeps up