Difficulty with cat not listening and constantly begging for food.

Dr0wsydruid

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Backstory and relevant things:
Bombay, 5 y/o, no medical issues (second and third opinion,) separation anxiety. Got her at 6mo, she's flown with me to the US and back from Canada three times now. Gabapentin for anxiety, was fine every time, settled into her new spaces very easily, has only developed a food obsession in the last six months. Very clingy with me.

My husband feeds her, and she harasses him STILL, even with the schedule, to the point where she will sit and yowl for hours, claw at his legs and chair to get his attention, and get into things on his desk (we think for attention.) We feed her:

630pm, half can
11pm, half can
4am, half can
8am, half can
11am, full can

If we don't adhere to that? She's a menace. She will sit and yowl for actual hours until her meows go hoarse. She was on 2 cans a day to lose weight, and was doing fine, but now, food is all she wants. If he hasn't fed her in the past two hours, she's up and following him and crying for food no matter what he does.

She has toys that she engages with, we have toys we play WITH her with, we don't do treats or anything food related with her, but it's all she wants. We have seen vets, and there's nothing wrong with her. Blood tests, parasite checks, urine tests, poop tests--she's healthy.

I'm writing this now because I was up all day with her howling for food again. I finally got her to chill around 5, laid down, and heard rustling--she's on my husbands desk, trying to pull things out of his drawers. I stand up, she jumps down and runs away because she knows she's not allowed up there. I lay down. Two minutes later, back up on the desk. I stand up, she runs away to where we keep her food. I get so mad at her because this has been weeks of her on that damn desk and knowing she shouldn't be on it that when she does it it makes my blood boil. She knows, sincerely--we've tried redirection, spray bottle, sound diversion, picking her up and moving her away, scolding gently, we've both snapped at her a few times now--and every time, she jumps down and runs to where her food is. Her reaction is enough to tell me she knows it's not okay that she's up there, she's doing this for attention--that she isn't short on at ALL--and when I lay back down for the third time, she does it again.

I put her in the bathroom and left her there. I know it's awful, and I dont want to have to restort to locking her up just to sleep, but I'm at the end of my rope. We thought it might be lack of her own space (we live in a large bedroom and ensuite setup) so we got her a huge tall cat tree to climb on. It's the tallest thing in this house. She won't use it for more than napping on. She would climb all over the bedside table, too--i would be trying to rest, husband would look away for two seconds, and she would wake me up by jumping onto it. We thought the tree would help, but I just gave up and cleared the whole table off and I dont bother stopping her anymore.

I love her, I won't give her up, but she's got food and behavior issues so bad that I don't sleep and my husband can't work effectively because of them. I should be waking up in half an hour from a 7 hour sleep--but instead, I'm likely to be awake until 2am when I pass out again because I haven't slept all day.

Please help us figure this out? I'm willing to do anything and spend any money on her--it can't be easy for her to have us upset at her like this either. I probably didn't write this very well because I'm tired and upset, so if you need clarification, lemme know. Thanks for reading!
 

Furballsmom

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Hi! Your feeding schedule/quantity that you listed above doesn't sound all that different from what my boy gets, and he also gets a little kibble. I can't tell, but if you give her something every couple hours she's ok? Can you obtain an automatic feeder?

Otherwise, have you tried different brands of food that maybe have higher protein? Are you weighing her to see where she's at? Can you block that desk top so she can't get up there?

Can you try drinking chamomile tea? It may help you :vibes: :purr:
 
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Dr0wsydruid

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Hi! Your feeding schedule/quantity that you listed above doesn't sound all that different from what my boy gets, and he also gets a little kibble. I can't tell, but if you give her something every couple hours she's ok? Can you obtain an automatic feeder?

Otherwise, have you tried different brands of food that maybe have higher protein? Are you weighing her to see where she's at? Can you block that desk top so she can't get up there?

Can you try drinking chamomile tea? It may help you :vibes: :purr:
An automatic feeder sounds smart!! The issue is even WITH this amount and schedule she'll start yowling about an hour before she's meant to be fed, and the only thing that stops her is early food.

I actually switched her from Iams to Fancy Feast two years ago because I left her with my dad so I could travel for personal stuff and he free-fed her dry kibble. She was 18lbs when I got back! We did a transition from dry to wet, and then Iams to FF. I'll look at a higher protein food for sure!
Her weight has come down to around 14lbs and she won't lose more, but its been steady and shes active again instead of how sedentary she was at 18lbs, so I consider it a win.

The desk being blocked off is something we can look at for sure! Thanks for the advice, it really helped just to get it out tbh.

I think I'll NEED chamomile if this keeps up! :lol:
 

maggie101

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I assume the cans are 3 oz so 9oz a day is alot. What brand do you feed him? Anything with fish most cats can get addicted to. My cat Maggie eats 4 meals split 5.5 oz can. Her portions are small then she will come back minutes later for more. Maybe he is also eating like a wild cat, many times a day. It is unusual for him to keep begging for food since adult cats sleep most of the time.
My cat Peaches does not always listen but since I started hissing at her she understands. Does not have to be loud. My tiny kitchen table is covered with stuff so they never get on there
Are any of your windows open? Cats love to look out the window especially since I have bird feeders
 

maggie101

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ff I started giving just one oz 4am to prevent her throwing up which has worked except now she is addicted to ff. I get up at 8
 
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