Table scraps / begging?

SueAndHerZoo

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Hi there.
I've always been a dog person but since I've been working at the cat shelter for a year I became a failed foster to a sick kitten I nursed back to health. I know the rules and training involved regarding dogs and table scraps, but I don't know anything about that when it comes to cats. Obviously I don't want her jumping on kitchen counters to go after food and don't want her pawing at my plate when I'm on the couch eating dinner, so I assume the best thing to do would be never to let her taste anything, never lick my bowls, and I guess push her off when she persists getting in my face when I'm eating? On a related note, are there safe and unsafe foods that I can share with her when I'm in the kitchen preparing or would that only encourage bad habits?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Sue
 

Kieka

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If you never feed your cat off your plate, they tend to just ignore human food. If you have fed them off your plate, my experience is they tend to just be curious about the things you have shared. If you accidentally share (or they steal) just be consistent after that point with stern no's.

As to keeping them off the table, consistency. My cats are allowed on the computer desk but no other tables or counters. The computer desk has a cat bed on one side so they can lay and watch us if we are playing games or watching something. The computer desk is allowed because of time spent at it and them wanting to be near. Kitchen counters and tables we eat at are a hard no. They get shooed off immediately and told they are bad kitties. In my house its telling them to get down and gesturing off the table as you walk up, use loud and harsh tones. If they get down before I get there, they get a pat and a good boy/girl before ignoring for a few minutes. If I have to manually take them off, it is a very harsh bad boy/girl and they are unceremoniously lifted off the table and on to the ground with no other attention, then ignored for a few minutes. Ignoring being a cats biggest form of punishment. The first year, it is fairly frequent, but it gets better. Now at ages 7 to 5 years old we only have to say no and take someone off maybe once every 6 to 9 months. We also have cat trees near the table and the computer desk is in the kitchen, so they do have the ability to see what is happening on the table without being on it. It does help to have high points near where you dont want them so they can be at level with everyone and see what is happening.

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LTS3

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Here's the ASPCA list of foods to NOT feed:

People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets

Raw meat and bones are on the list but many people who feed raw diets to their pets will disagree.

Plain cooked meat is fine as an occasional treat. Put it in a bowl or plate so the cat doesn't get used to eating off fingers. That can lead to begging at the table. Some cats will eat plain cooked veggies like broccoli or beans but veggies are useless in a cat's diet. Canned tuna or other fish packed in water can be given as occasional treats.

Make sure the trash can has a secure lid or is in a place where the cat can't get to it. Food waste is appealing to pets and many will try to get to it. A child safety latch on the lid may be helpful. Keep food off the counters. Use child safety latches on cabinet doors if you have a really determined cat who can open them.

Some people have to resort to putting the cat in the bedroom or bathroom so they can cook and eat without a cat getting into everything.

If you feed your cat enough food, the cat won't start looking for food on your counters and trash can to eat. It's suggested to feed 20 to 25 calories per pound of body weight daily.

These TCS articles are helpful:

 

zoes

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I have fed my cats scraps off my plates and I sincerely regret it now, they mill about constantly when I'm eating, and jump on the table a dozen times before giving up.

I do give them raw meat when I'm cooking it, or cooked meat that isn't heavily seasoned, which I am fine with. She hangs out with me in the kitchen anyway so I don't mind giving her snacks while I'm cooking.

A lot depends on how food motivated your cat is. Two out of my three cats don't come to the kitchen for cooking snacks, though they might eat it if I bring it to them. My third cat, though, will chew her way into packaging and garbage cans, just to get any the stryfoam tray that meat comes in, so I have to be careful with that. Any meat or animal-product scraps go in the freezer and about once a year, in the winter, I empty it into the compost bin so it won't stink up the garbage cans.

I try to get meat products from the butcher with minimal packaging anyway, but more so because those sytrofoam trays are like a magnet for her and I'm afraid she'll swallow some of it. She won't break into the cupboard for it, but if I tie off a trash bag, I have to leave it in the closed closet until I'm ready to bring it outside, even if it's just a few minutes. But this behaviour came before the cooking scraps I give her - in fact that's how I figured out that she really wanted to eat raw meat.
 
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SueAndHerZoo

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Thanks - I have been putting her in her room while we eat so she won't even get tempted, but if that's not always convenient or feasible I will try to be stern as I push her away. I'm so bad at being stern with animals! :rolleyes:
Sue
 

daftcat75

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Can you feed her when you eat? Or does she skip her own food to see what you're eating?

I'm sure you know this. Cats are stubborn especially about food. And not very teachable. They'll learn lots of things if it might get them food like if you leave oil splatter on the stovetop, drips on the trivets, or dirty dishes in the sink. But they will conveniently ignore all those lessons that they don't find useful like staying off counters and tables and not begging. Also cats cannot be disciplined like dogs. They won't make a connection between the discipline and the behavior. They'll just think you're being randomly mean to them.

I find it's often easier to learn from the cat rather than trying to teach the cat. My Krista liked to clean the dishes if I left any in the sink or she'd lick up any messes I made on the stove. After ten years of trying to teach her to stay off counters and tables, I finally gave in and learned to clean up after I cook and never leave a dish in the sink. She'd still go up on the stove top, but there was nothing there for her. As for meals, I often ate at my desk and simply constructed a barrier between her approach and my food.
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If she breached the barrier, I would gently push her off the desk. That's about as stern as I got with her in those final lenient years with her. If I caught her on the stove, I'd calmly and gently push her off. Sometimes she'd jump down on her own when she saw me approaching. She was just going back up there some other time. Dogs learn their lessons. Cats constantly test them. There was no sense in poisoning our relationship over it.

I never fed her anything off my plate. But I would occasionally prepare her some sashimi out of whatever meat I was making her raw food from. Sometimes turkey. Sometimes rabbit. I would put it on a special plate and often in a special place aside from her usual food. I loved spoiling her and keeping things interesting for her. 😻 But it was also different enough from her regular routine that she never expected it or begged for it.
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I always fed her raw meat on a table or a counter because she was a bit of a food flinger. I felt it was easier and safer to clean bits of raw meat off the coffee maker than search for it on the floor or beneath/behind an appliance. It was so much easier to wipe down my counters than to teach her to stay off them.

There was a brief period of time (a few months maybe) where I would let her lick the scrambled egg bowl after I poured the egg into the pan. For years after she would come running into the kitchen any time she heard the tink tink tink of the fork against the bowl when scrambling eggs. Cats have long memories when it comes to food. 🤦‍♂️😹
 
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SueAndHerZoo

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Good reminder - cats train us more than we can train them, so choose your battles and accept the things you cannot change. One of my dogs knows the sound of me scraping the bottom of my bowl and regardless of how quiet I try to be, he hears it. Gotta love these critters. :)
Sue
 

Juniper_Junebug

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I feed my cat table scraps and have been wondering if I've created a monster. But I live alone and, as strange as this sounds, it feels impolite to eat by myself and not share anything. 🤪 When I cook something with garlic or a sauce she can't have, I confess that I will cook a tiny piece of meat separately for her. But I never feed her on the counter table (which is also my dining table), even though I do let her up there (just not on my placemat).

Life is short and it makes me happy to give my little boo something nice.
 

Kat0121

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I share meals with the girls often. I eat chicken a few times a week and I just roast it. Usually a couple of bone in thighs. The girls adore chicken. Especially Lilith. I do not use any seasoning on the chicken while it cooks. After it's done, I pull some of the meat off and allow it to cool a bit. This gets cut into small pieces that I feed them by hand. Sophie will have some but eventually wander off to do whatever. Lilith will sit beside me and eat until I stop giving her some. If I want any sauce or seasoning on mine, I will wait until they have had some to add it. If I know I'm not going to finish what I have, I will put some aside (unseasoned) and this is chopped up into small pieces and added to the their dinner. If there is enough left after that, I will refrigerate it and they get it the next day as a snack or added to their food as a topper.

I also do this with turkey and steak which they also love. Lilith is more into the people food than Sophie is but Sophie adores steak. They like their steak like do. Nice and rare. They do not get any people food other than cooked, unseasoned meat.

If I am eating something that they shouldn't have, they just don't get any. Lilith will stop by to check out what I have but seems to know if it's not something I am going to give her and then she leaves.

We have only had one incident where an attempted food theft occurred. I had cooked a steak and the plate it was on was on the desk next to me while I let it rest. Sophie jumped up onto the desk while I was preoccupied with something else. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over and she had grabbed a corner of the steak and was trying to lift it up so she could take it. She couldn't so she dropped it. Then she tried taking a bite. All this time I was watching her and was highly amused. She realized I was watching her. She looked over at me and started hollering. I guess it was, "Don't just sit there! Cut me a piece! NOW!" She's so shameless. :angrycat: :lol:

Yes, I did cut a piece off which I cut into small bits and they had their share.
 

Juniper_Junebug

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We have only had one incident where an attempted food theft occurred. I had cooked a steak and the plate it was on was on the desk next to me while I let it rest. Sophie jumped up onto the desk while I was preoccupied with something else. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over and she had grabbed a corner of the steak and was trying to lift it up so she could take it.
Your cat is smarter than mine. My Juno will see me with food she wants and meow and watch the plate intently. But then when I leave the room, she will follow me, meowing, while the plate just sits there in the other room. I can pretty reliably leave food unattended, as long as I go to another room, knowing my cat will follow me. It's so adorable how un-conniving she is. (But she's young, and naturally a menace, so I figure it's only a matter of time....)
 

Kat0121

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Your cat is smarter than mine. My Juno will see me with food she wants and meow and watch the plate intently. But then when I leave the room, she will follow me, meowing, while the plate just sits there in the other room. I can pretty reliably leave food unattended, as long as I go to another room, knowing my cat will follow me. It's so adorable how un-conniving she is. (But she's young, and naturally a menace, so I figure it's only a matter of time....)
She is very intelligent. She had never done that before or since. I guess she was just tired of waiting for her share that night.
 
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SueAndHerZoo

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OK, so not only does it depend on how well my cat trains me, but it varies from cat to cat. I love sharing my food with my dogs and they know the routine and the drill, so I would be fine getting the new kitten into the same routine. But I fear that even though my dogs have finally learned this new addition is a member of the family and they need to be kind to her, I fear having them all receive table scraps in the same area because if the cat gets pushy and heads for a piece of theirs, they may not be so brotherly. And I really don't want her eating off my plate - I want her to wait until I'm done and it's offered (like my dogs do). Wish me luck, and thanks for all the feedback!
Sue
 

ladytimedramon

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Delilah will sniff my plate but rarely touch. The one exception is the evil green bean. I always make sure to give her one when I sit down. She will make sure to thoroughly kill the green bean before eating it and coming back for another.

And yes I have this on video.
 

fionasmom

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I have really enjoyed reading all these accounts. For us, I am a vegan so there is just about nothing I ever eat that would appeal to the cats. My husband is not, but even at that, they do not approach his meat/poultry/fish meals with the exception of Jamie and completely freshly grilled salmon. I will offer them rotisserie chicken but mostly they walk away and ignore it. The dog has home prepared food and one cat has mild interest in his meals, but not enough to do anything about it. As for Jamie, when I found him he was such a poor little wasted thing that I did give him salmon which is what started the interest. I did have to "wean" him off of it as well and onto some pretty pricey cat food that met with his expectations.
 
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