Hey all!
I'm hoping maybe you can give me some advice because this is driving me crazy.
I've got two cats both adopted at different stages and the youngest was found as a feral kitten. I got him at about 6months old and his biggest motivator is food. He scarfs it down 3x as fast as the older cat and seems to never be full even though I've bought him a slow feeder. I assume its because of his rough beginning in life. About 7-8months of living with us his attitude hasn't changed at all with food.
I can't free feed the cats as the older one is a gluttonious pig and will eat until he throws up. We actually had to put him on a diet and I have a feeling the same thing would happen to the younger cat just by how he behaved the few times I did fill their bowl to the brim because I wasn't going to be home for their dinner time. I bought an automated feeder so that it's a machine he can't meow at and it always goes at the EXACT time but our cats were too clever and figured out how to get inside and have an endless supply of food.
The problem I'm having is that even though we have scheduled feeding times and that I never put the food down until they are quiet, he will meow without stop for HOURS sometimes. And I don't mean a meow here or there its constant without barely any breaks and there have been plenty of occasions that he has lost his voice. Cooking dinner or cleaning the kitchen near dinner time is usually accompanied by desperate yowls in the background.
I've spoken to the vet about it and he seems to be a healthy cat, slightly on the skinny side but nothing drastic and they said that it's probably just because he is still growing. Outside of these times he is a perfectly healthy, active and playful young cat. The only recommendation I've had from the couple different vets I've gone to see is to change up his food and introduce some chicken necks a few times a week to keep it interesting. Right now they are on a Prescribtion diet from Hills Science Diets as they are having teeth issues.
Has anyone had anything similar and any tips on how to make it stop because it's driving me insane. This morning I ended up shutting him on the balcony as I woke up a little earlier than usual and he decided to start meowing for about 1.5hours. Everything I see online says to just ignore it and reward quiet behaviour but I've been doing that for the past 3 months and it's not really working. I even tried clicker training, which works with the older cat but I don't think the younger cat is even able to think when food is present he is a nervous wreck during these times.
Before that I just used to put the food down if he was meowing and that made the problem worse because he would just start meowing everytime someone went to the kitchen or opened the cupboard.
Any tips would be appreciated, thank you SO MUCH
I'm hoping maybe you can give me some advice because this is driving me crazy.
I've got two cats both adopted at different stages and the youngest was found as a feral kitten. I got him at about 6months old and his biggest motivator is food. He scarfs it down 3x as fast as the older cat and seems to never be full even though I've bought him a slow feeder. I assume its because of his rough beginning in life. About 7-8months of living with us his attitude hasn't changed at all with food.
I can't free feed the cats as the older one is a gluttonious pig and will eat until he throws up. We actually had to put him on a diet and I have a feeling the same thing would happen to the younger cat just by how he behaved the few times I did fill their bowl to the brim because I wasn't going to be home for their dinner time. I bought an automated feeder so that it's a machine he can't meow at and it always goes at the EXACT time but our cats were too clever and figured out how to get inside and have an endless supply of food.
The problem I'm having is that even though we have scheduled feeding times and that I never put the food down until they are quiet, he will meow without stop for HOURS sometimes. And I don't mean a meow here or there its constant without barely any breaks and there have been plenty of occasions that he has lost his voice. Cooking dinner or cleaning the kitchen near dinner time is usually accompanied by desperate yowls in the background.
I've spoken to the vet about it and he seems to be a healthy cat, slightly on the skinny side but nothing drastic and they said that it's probably just because he is still growing. Outside of these times he is a perfectly healthy, active and playful young cat. The only recommendation I've had from the couple different vets I've gone to see is to change up his food and introduce some chicken necks a few times a week to keep it interesting. Right now they are on a Prescribtion diet from Hills Science Diets as they are having teeth issues.
Has anyone had anything similar and any tips on how to make it stop because it's driving me insane. This morning I ended up shutting him on the balcony as I woke up a little earlier than usual and he decided to start meowing for about 1.5hours. Everything I see online says to just ignore it and reward quiet behaviour but I've been doing that for the past 3 months and it's not really working. I even tried clicker training, which works with the older cat but I don't think the younger cat is even able to think when food is present he is a nervous wreck during these times.
Before that I just used to put the food down if he was meowing and that made the problem worse because he would just start meowing everytime someone went to the kitchen or opened the cupboard.
Any tips would be appreciated, thank you SO MUCH