Advice on Walter's new habit of stealing hooman food?

[Molly Pearl]

Hello all,

We recently decided to switch Walter and Sturgeon over to a raw diet-- especially with Walter's HCM diagnosis we think this would be beneficial.

The first step was to get rid of dry food. We took away the dry food and we're feeding them three cans of wet food (5.5 oz) throughout the day. (So that's 16.5 oz for the two of them for one day.) They're doing the usual whining...begging for food thinking the all you can eat dry buffet will come back. However, Walter has started aggressively going for human food every time we eat. Just this morning he jumped up on the table, grabbed a piece of bacon off my plate, and ran into the next room to quickly devour it. When I tried to take it from him he growled at me!

So...what do you suggest? Should we be feeding him another can, just for him? Is this just part of the process? Is he trying to tell us he's hungry, or is he pissed at us? Does he think he's competing with us for food? (It's been about a week and a half.) Sturgeon doesn't seem to be having the same issues. :-/ Thanks for the help!

 

[Cleopatra Beers]

Marcus does this same thing--especially with his newest love--cheese! You might need to up the cats' rations, because kittens need a pretty amazing amount of food when they're growing. And you might try feeding them at your mealtimes. That way they are busy and you might get 5 minutes to wolf your food down before they come after you. Not a very relaxing way to eat dinner. You can also put them in another room while you eat. We sometimes have to do that when Marcus is really determined.
My cats have outgrown this lack of manners with a lot of patience and firmness on our part, so good luck to you!

 

[Hairless Blessing]

I agree, he is telling you he's hungry. Sphynx eat more anyway
because of their metabolism. To stay warm. Kittens need a lot.
Even as a adult, some just have to have more.

 

[admin]

Hello all,

We recently decided to switch Walter and Sturgeon over to a raw diet-- especially with Walter's HCM diagnosis we think this would be beneficial.

The first step was to get rid of dry food. We took away the dry food and we're feeding them three cans of wet food (5.5 oz) throughout the day. (So that's 16.5 oz for the two of them for one day.) They're doing the usual whining...begging for food thinking the all you can eat dry buffet will come back. However, Walter has started aggressively going for human food every time we eat. Just this morning he jumped up on the table, grabbed a piece of bacon off my plate, and ran into the next room to quickly devour it. When I tried to take it from him he growled at me!

So...what do you suggest? Should we be feeding him another can, just for him? Is this just part of the process? Is he trying to tell us he's hungry, or is he pissed at us? Does he think he's competing with us for food? (It's been about a week and a half.) Sturgeon doesn't seem to be having the same issues. :-/ Thanks for the help!

As long as weight doesn't become an issue, I would imagine a pinch more food wouldn't hurt. You say cans, are you feeding raw yet?

 

[Calicocious]

Oh boy! Little thief! Having a routine is important. When I switched from free feeding to go to raw here's what I did. I kept to a schedule feeding at the same time for each meal, but feeding them after we ate. Otherwise we are training them to expect to be fed if they wake us up, or beg ect. Once I wake up in the morning I go about my business for a bit and then feed them. They no longer expect to be fed right away and they don't wake me up at 4 am wanting to fed anymore, yeah!! For the evening meal they have some playtime before then food. This is around 8 pm and after we have had our dinner. (They are adults now so only fed twice a day. When they were kittens I fed three times) It can take a couple weeks for them to get used to the new routine but with patience and consistency they will learn quickly it's not worthy it and hopefully stop the stealing. Or at least it will be less intense lol.

 

[Molly Pearl]

As long as weight doesn't become an issue, I would imagine a pinch more food wouldn't hurt. You say cans, are you feeding raw yet?

Not yet. We wanted to adjust them to wet food only for about a week and then begin with the raw. Unfortunately we're also in the middle of moving so that pushed it back. This weekend I'm planning on picking up the ingredients and giving it a shot!

 

[Xandria]

When I switch Max from free feed plus regular feeding, I just made sure Max received as much food as he could want during his feeding times, which are 4 times per day right now. It didn't take long to adjust.

The advice above is great. Extra portions and/or more frequent feeding will likely help.