Kitten Won't Let Me Eat!

[Azeew]

I adopted a 2 month kitten 3 days ago. It's my first time with cats, so I'm kinda having some problems

I ALWAYS eat in my room, in front of my PC. That's in a really big "table", where the kitten is used to hanging around and sleeping on. He's 90% of the time inside my room by the way. And, of course, eating has been a huge problem. He meows like crazy, jumps on the table, tries to grab the food. I literally couldn't take a bite on my food cause I had to say no and put him down multiple times until I gave up and eat downstairs. I never fed him human food, and don't think I ever will.

The easiest and obvious fix would be to eat in my dining room normally, but I really don't wanna do that. Is there anything I can do? Is it possible to "teach" him not to jump on the table specifically when I'm eating or maybe to just look at the food and stay chill?

Any tips and experiences would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[duckpond]

Can you give him his dinner at the same time? maybe if he is eating he wont bug you?

Otherwise its most likely just going to take time. at 2 months he is a baby, he will want and need a lot of attention, and a lot of food as he gets older he will chill out. Mine, grown cats, will come by and look at my plate, want to see what im eating, sometimes, but then they just walk away. only other option i can think of is to shut the door while you are eating? Kittens, especially only kittens take a lot of time and attention from their humans, after they get a year, two years old they are normally not as needy. Enjoy these baby kitten days, you may not think so now, but you will miss them someday

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! About teaching him, consistency is key, but here in this case, I'm wondering if he's getting enough kitten food. As mentioned by duckpond , feed him as much as he will eat. Hopefully that helps bring his interest level in your food down...

 

[susanm9006]

At his age he really isn’t ready to learn much and doesn’t get the concept of people food vs cat food. It’s there, it smells good so he goes for it. Assuming that he isn’t pestering because he is hungry, just stick him in the bathroom until you are finished eating.

 

[danteshuman]

At 2 months I just hold them with one hand and eat my food with the other. Release them after a few minutes... repeat 20 times. I vote giving them food away from you while you eat. Or eating at the dining room table & feeding them on the ground. At that age they are furry wiggle worms. If there is no pay off they will eventually stop. If you let him nibble, he will try to steal from your plate for life.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I had a girl kitten leap into my lap and swipe a burger off my plate. It was way more funny now than it was then.

She "got it" after a few days, she learned swiping food wasn't a nice thing but that has never stopped her from crouching, squinty-eyed, far enough from us to make a verbal correction unfair but close enough to be an annoyance.
Now, she blends in. We feed her "people food" but she (and the others) have learned that hand outs don't happen until we're done.
Cats are smart. She'll learn. =)

 

[catlover73]

Your kitten is much younger than mine was when I trained him to stop stealing food. I agree about keeping him in a different room when you are eating but with his own food. He may very well be pestering you because he is hungry at that age. I had to do this to teach an older kitten to stop stealing food off my plate. Be prepared though he may protest loudly at first. Another thing you could try first is playing with him before you eat and feeding him on the other end of the room while you are eating. The playtime and feeding on the other end of the room were part of how I trained my baby. Other wise you may have to keep him out of the room while you are eating. I had to put my cat in the bathroom at first to eat. Then I transitioned it to where if he tried to steal my food he got short time outs. He did learn that he was not allowed to have people food. My current cats are trained that any people food they are allowed to have a taste of is placed on a plate for them on the floor.

 

[Azeew]

Actually, I was told to always keep his food bow full at this age. So for sure he's not hungry hehe.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions, I'll try them all!

 

[neely]

I'd like to wish you a warm welcome to TCS! It's been awhile since we had a kitten in the house but the last time we did we kept him confined in our bedroom and master bath for awhile and fed him there as well. When he finally got the run of the house and jumped on the table at dinnertime I decided to go back to feeding him in our bedroom and closing the door. He didn't seem to mind and we were able to eat dinner in peace. Note: he only did this at dinner. I guess he didn't like what we ate for breakfast or lunch, lol. Eventually he stopped jumping on the table and we didn't need to confine him at dinnertime anymore.

 

[duckpond]

Actually, I was told to always keep his food bow full at this age. So for sure he's not hungry hehe.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions, I'll try them all!

Do you feed wet? i always keep out dry, but feed wet too. If you do not feed wet food already you may want to try. Pick up a few cans, then when its your dinner time open a can of wet for him. he may get so excited about it he leaves you alone?

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to The Cat Site! And congrats on being a first time cat "parent".

Here's a few TCS articles that may helpful:
First-time Cat Owner's Guide
Bringing Home A New Cat - The Complete Guide
Care Of Cats - The Responsible Way
The Essentials Of Kitten Nutrition