WantsALittle1
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I need some help with my cat, as she is becoming a bit of a safety hazard in our household.
Steadily over the last 2 years she has become a more and more forcible beggar for food. We used to have her on demand feeding, but after multiple visits to multiple vets (we moved a lot), every single one has said she is overweight. As a result we've had to switch to two feedings a day, and since then the begging behavior started.
Because of the layout of our apartment, we keep her litter, food, and water in a coat closet by the front door. It's right near the kitchen and dining room. Starting at around 6:00am, Kitty will sit by my side of the bed and paw me to be fed. If I don't feed her right away, she will follow me around the house, circling around my feet while I walk, and I have tripped over her many, many times. Now that I walk around with a newborn on my boob a lot (chasing my toddler around), this is a major safety hazard and I've had to lock her in the bedroom (away from her litter and food/water) for hours at a time. I do this because we are trying to stick to two feeding times--8am and 8pm. We do this because sometimes we wake up at 6:30 but other times not until 8, and we want her feeding time to be consistent but to allow us the chance to sleep in sometimes.
So basically from 6:30a - 8:00a, she is locked in the room so she won't follow me around. At 8:00a I let her out and feed her, and then… she goes right back to the begging behavior! She will do this until about noon, when she finally gives up. Then the behavior starts up again around 5:00pm (again she doesn't get fed until 8:00p) and she will do it until we go to bed around 10:30, even after she's been fed.
It's become pretty insane, and nothing we do (spray bottle, chasing her back into the bedroom, taking away her food bowl) will deter her from this obsessive behavior. We cannot go back to demand feeding because of her weight issue. She does not have diabetes (we recently had her blood checked). What should I do?
I'm thinking the only option will end up being that we'll have to move her food and water into our bedroom. This isn't a horrible idea, but in our bedroom it will be a target for our toddler, will make our room smell like fish, and when she barfs (as she often does after eating her food too fast) it'll be on carpet instead of tile :/
Steadily over the last 2 years she has become a more and more forcible beggar for food. We used to have her on demand feeding, but after multiple visits to multiple vets (we moved a lot), every single one has said she is overweight. As a result we've had to switch to two feedings a day, and since then the begging behavior started.
Because of the layout of our apartment, we keep her litter, food, and water in a coat closet by the front door. It's right near the kitchen and dining room. Starting at around 6:00am, Kitty will sit by my side of the bed and paw me to be fed. If I don't feed her right away, she will follow me around the house, circling around my feet while I walk, and I have tripped over her many, many times. Now that I walk around with a newborn on my boob a lot (chasing my toddler around), this is a major safety hazard and I've had to lock her in the bedroom (away from her litter and food/water) for hours at a time. I do this because we are trying to stick to two feeding times--8am and 8pm. We do this because sometimes we wake up at 6:30 but other times not until 8, and we want her feeding time to be consistent but to allow us the chance to sleep in sometimes.
So basically from 6:30a - 8:00a, she is locked in the room so she won't follow me around. At 8:00a I let her out and feed her, and then… she goes right back to the begging behavior! She will do this until about noon, when she finally gives up. Then the behavior starts up again around 5:00pm (again she doesn't get fed until 8:00p) and she will do it until we go to bed around 10:30, even after she's been fed.
It's become pretty insane, and nothing we do (spray bottle, chasing her back into the bedroom, taking away her food bowl) will deter her from this obsessive behavior. We cannot go back to demand feeding because of her weight issue. She does not have diabetes (we recently had her blood checked). What should I do?
I'm thinking the only option will end up being that we'll have to move her food and water into our bedroom. This isn't a horrible idea, but in our bedroom it will be a target for our toddler, will make our room smell like fish, and when she barfs (as she often does after eating her food too fast) it'll be on carpet instead of tile :/
We have bought her climbing towers, scratching posts/pads galore and she just freaks out and runs the other way as soon as we bring them through the door. We cover them in catnip but she really hates them. We've wasted so much $$ on the really fancy ones… Her favorite thing in the world is her cardboard scratchy boxes. She is addicted to those, but they don't really help her burn energy… We could try more, smaller feeds during the day but I really think that would make things worse because then she'd expect the food even MORE throughout the day, regardless of the quantity. I do think the begging would be worse because I don't think she begs from hunger. It's almost like an OCD/compulsive thing.
