Food aggression towards us

[Timbercat]

So my ~12 year old female cat, Athena, has always been pretty aggressive with human food. Ever since I adopted her when she was about 3, she’s kinda helped herself if you step out of the room. But as soon as you came back in and yellled at her, she’d take off and leave the food.
Back in January, we had a terrifying incident where she had diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) caused by a steroid shot she was given for an ear infection. She didn’t eat for 3 days and was within hours of death by the time we took her to the emergency vet (I want to add that we HAD taken her to the regular vet after 2 days, but he gave her some insulin and sent us on our way).

She was in the hospital for about a full week, and on a special diet with a glucose monitor fir a week or so after she returned.

After about 2 weeks her appetite came back and oh. My. Goodness. You would not BELIEVE the food agression!!!!

I’m talking like she gets in your face and refuses to leave the table while you’re eating, and tries to steal food off our 3 year olds plate while she’s eating, even while I’m yelling at her (the cat) from 2 feet away. She just flat out ignores me and proceeds to pig out off our plates. If you get up to grab a condiment out of the fridge; you can kiss your meal goodbye. There have been multiple times where I’m downright screaming at her and running towards her and she just defiantly keeps munching off my plate until I reach her and put her down.

and 90% of the time I put her on the floor she IMMEDIATELY jumps right back on the table and walks right back over to the plate she was helping herself to.

We have three cats (Athena is the oldest and doesn’t get along with the other two). They always have fresh water (in a fountain) and plenty of food. Athena likes the food.

what’s the deal? Am I going to have to lock her in the spare bedroom every time anyone eats from now on? It’s not fair to my toddler to have to compete with a cat bully for every single meal.

 

[Katdog]

Sorry I don’t have any useful input, but that was very well written- made me chuckle as it’s very relatable- I’ve had to grab human food from my cats mouth bc I left a plate or kitchen counter unattended a bit too long. My cat is also very food driven, this May very much happen to me in the future- curious to see everyone’s response.

 

[di and bob]

She is starving or feels like she is anyway. I would recommend giving her a low calorie, low-carb snack right before eating like shredded thin-sliced deli turkey you get in those packages to keep her busy. the instinct to survive is very strong and I think the only way to solve this is through diversion. You might get some grain-free weight management hard (if you are worried about weight gain) to free feed and see if that helps.

 

[Kflowers]

Totally agree with Di, but I would add it will do no harm for Athena to be in a room away from the dining room. You can give her the snack in there since cats can eat very fast. This may pass, there may be some adjustments to be made to her insulin, or it may not pass. But being shut in the other room for meals isn't a terrible thing. It will be less stressful if the other cats is put in with her. I know they aren't close, but if they are with her, she will know you aren't feeding them and not her.

You'll need to keep an eye on your child when you give her snacks outside of meal time. Athena will know and be there to help.

If you said separation was impossible and I missed it, I apologize.

 

[Antonio65]

Sounds like my own situation with my little Freya .
She steals food from our dishes, forks and spoons, hands and nearly mouths. Feeding her a full meal right before our meals does not work. Isolating her in another room when we're eating is really unfair, I just couldn't.
In these last few days I found out that keeping her busy with a dish of green salad while we're eating our meal partly fixes the issue. It seems that filling her stomach with plants kind of slows her down and she gets less aggressive towards our food

 

[LTS3]

So my ~12 year old female cat, Athena, has always been pretty aggressive with human food. Ever since I adopted her when she was about 3, she’s kinda helped herself if you step out of the room. But as soon as you came back in and yellled at her, she’d take off and leave the food.

Do you know her past history? Former strays or those from hoarding / bad situations often are food insecure and can be very food aggressive and eat anything they can. It may take years, if ever, for such cats to learn that food will always be available and they don't need to eat everything in sight.

How much food do you feed daily? Is it dry or canned? Cats who don't get enough calories daily are constantly hangry and will search for any food they can eat and they can get pretty aggressive. The general suggestion is 20 to 25 calories per pound of body weight daily and some cats may need more or less than that.

Is your cat recovered from the DKA now? Is the cat still considered diabetic from the one steroid shot and needs treatment of insulin and / or diet?

 

[vince]

It's probably my fault, but mine swarm me when I eat, even while I'm cooking. I just have to keep pushing them away the best I can. It doesn't even matter whether they will eat it or not--if I'm eating it, they want it.

 

[Antonio65]

It's probably my fault, but mine swarm me when I eat, even while I'm cooking. I just have to keep pushing them away the best I can. It doesn't even matter whether they will eat it or not--if I'm eating it, they want it.

Same here

 

[Kflowers]

I think it's extremely dangerous to let a cat run over the stove or around the kitchen floor when you are moving pots of boiling/or hot food. Perhaps you're more co-ordinated than I am, but tripping when carrying a pot of boiling anything, is one of my nightmares.

Yes, I did have a cat run across the stove and walk through a large frying pan that had been heated to put food in to cook. He screamed and freaked out. I held him as the burn medicine soaked into his paws and the pain eased. After that I locked the cats out of the kitchen when I cooked. Somehow, it seemed kinder.

The cat recovered. He blamed the stove, I think, at least, I think that is why he pissed down the burner the next chance he got.

 

[vince]

No, they don't run across the stove, and I'm fastidious about letting them up on the counters, but it's an effort and I have to repeatedly tell them "down," which they grudgingly obey. However, as soon as I turn my back, there they are up on the counter again.

 

[danteshuman]

This isn’t healthy but can you give them some special wet food or a healthier snack like rotisserie chicken (unflavored) when you eat dinner?

Short of giving her a healthy diabetic approved snack every time you eat the only thing I can think of is licking her in a room. You can try putting her in a room every time she steals from a plate or locking her up before every meal.