Eating Problem

[gorillaz]

Hi!

I stumbled across this site as I was searching for an answer for my problem.

I'll try to keep this brief, but I have always had trouble doing that and I am also dead tired, so bear with me.

Last month I adopted a cat named Lucky at a shelter I volunteered with. He is 5 years old, and at the time he was a very sad and shy cat. After a week he started opening up and coming out of his hiding more often, and after two weeks he started to become playful. After 3 weeks or so he became a very happy, cuddly, curious, and playful kitty. He still had some quirks, but I felt that we could easily work through them. However...

A couple of days ago I began to notice a really strange habit of his, and today I realized how bad it has gotten.

Once in a while, when I (or my girlfriend) would enter a room where he was, he would wait for us to follow him. When we approached him, he would turn and go to his food bowl, wait for us to stand there, then start eating. We thought it was cute, but didn't want it to develop into a major habit so rarely pet him when he did it.

Despite that, it has now gotten to the point where that's all he does when he sees us. Seriously. 95% of the time when he notices us, he will stand there, wait for us to even lift  a foot, then turn and head for the food bowl. I can't play with him anymore, because all he wants me to do is watch him eat. If I go to the loo, he will sit outside the door, and as soon as I open it and step forward, he will race to his bowl to eat.

Today I had the bedroom door (where he is) closed for a moment, and he started scratching on the other side. When he couldn't open the door, he started yowling. I wondered if there was something wrong, but as soon as I opened the door he looked at me and immediately wandered over to his food bowl.

Half of the time when I pick him up to cuddle him (which he always loved, even during the first week), he squirms after a short time so he can go to his bowl.

I have also seen him lift his head and look at me (to check, I suppose?) before going back to his bowl. A lot of times when I walk away now, he will stop eating and follow me. When I turn around and move towards him (to pet him or what not) he will once again go back to his blasted bowl.

We have absolutely no idea why he is doing this, or what we can do about it. He is being fed three times a day (with the same food he had in the shelter), around the same time, with the same amount. His bowl usually has a little bit of food left in it during each feeding time, so it doesn't seem like he's overeating.

If it helps, I noticed he did that at the shelter, though a lot of cats did that there so I'm not sure if that's related.

I just wish I knew what it was and how to fix it, so I can get my cuddly playful kitty back.

Does anyone have any suggestions? If you need more information (and hopefully that wasn't too much), I'll be happy to share!

Thank you, and have a lovely day!

-Gabriel

 

[jcat]

to TCS!

That's a strange one. You have to wonder whether this is due to the only real diversion he had at the shelter being eating, or if he's still trying to "eat his fill" after not getting food that really tasted good to him there. Maybe some other members will have some ideas.

One thing you could try is using his obsession with food to provide some fun and training. Clicker training works very well with food-driven cats. Our Mogli is totally obsessed with food (he was adopted from a shelter at nine months, had been there for three months, and was malnourished due to undiagnosed/untreated IBD). He really looks forward to his daily clicker training sessions and has learned commands such as sit, up, down, (come) here and touch. It gives him exercise and a lot of interaction with me. It might be just the type of thing that would appeal to Lucky.

There are a number of threads about it here at TCS: http://www.thecatsite.com/newsearch?search=clicker+training&type=35 YouTube has quite a few videos showing the basics and various tricks, and several books have been written about it. You can get clickers at some pet stores or from Amazon.

 

[gorillaz]

Hello, and thank you!

I have absolutely no idea. I just don't understand how he went from doing it once in a while, to doing it all the time. I've been doing everything the same (that I'm aware of), so I just don't know.

I'll try the clicker, especially for getting him to come. Is there any way I can also use it to help him not instantly go to his bowl when I'm near? Would it be like I click it when he chooses me over me watching? lol

There was something important I forgot to mention (sorry if there was an edit button for the original post, couldn't find one)...

There's actually another cat in the house, who belongs to a housemate. The cats have known about each other from the beginning, but they're separated by a divider right now to give them time to get used to each other. Lucky has three rooms (though he's mainly allowed to go into one larger one right now; trying to train him not to attack everything and jump everywhere) and the other cat has two (he rarely went into the other rooms so it's fine with him). They both have a long hallway with plenty of room to run.

They have met each other face to face once in awhile, but Lucky never went to his food bowl in any of those times. He would either hide (mainly at first) or just hurry away before coming back. After awhile he was just curious but cautious, and would have his tail up and rub against my legs afterwards...so he seemed fine. The other cat is 6 or 7 and is still using his bowl normally.

So for me, I don't even think it's that cat. I'm not an expert though, so I really have no clue.

I just thought I should mention that just in case.

 

[jcat]

Would it be like I click it when he chooses me over me watching? lol

You'd use the clicker and treat to reinforce the desired behavior.

I wonder whether Lucky has decided you have to protect him from the other cat while he eats? Does he eat when you're not standing there?

 

[gorillaz]

Ah okay, that sounds simple enough.

I wondered that too, but when I'm in another room I can hear him eating sometimes, and usually if I leave and come back after a little while I can see him eating.

Oddly enough, yesterday when he was again not playing, we decided to take his food bowl away to see what happened. He hovered over the spot for a while, but soon after we were able to play with him again. He even walked over and sat next to us.

I'll try it a few times again today, but if he keeps going back to his old self every time I will be very confused. Would that mean he's just eating for the sake of it?

 

[jcat]

He could be. Our cat would eat until he burst, and begs as soon as anybody walks in the kitchen. I've always thought of it as "shelter pet syndrome", because we've had dogs that did the same thing.

 

[gorillaz]

Apologies for the late reply.

So, after a few days of observation and experimenting, I have...absolutely no idea.

Some days he's perfectly normal, and some he's normal and then at one point he reverts, and one day he was on and off.

Yesterday I actually moved his bowl and litter into the hallway (and left my door open a crack) so he has a huge area to roam around and sleep in. It might have helped, since he's been getting a lot cozier lately.

Still, I have no clue what's going on. Maybe the hallway helped, or maybe he was just adjusting. He seems even more eager to explore the rest of the house, so I don't think he's scared anymore, if he ever was.

I'll update this again if he (hopefully never) reverts or if something worse pops up, but for now he seems all right. I don't mind if he does that bowl thing as long as it's only once in a while.

The only thing I'm curious about now is why he sometimes scratches up the carpet, when he also frequently uses the scratching posts.