Cat owners often have no other option than to ignore their little felineâs odd human-food eating habits when they see them refusing to eat their food or constantly trying to sweep their tiny paws all across their dinner plates.
This becomes essentially more important as cats can be picky in what they eat. Even for cat food, many owners have to face the fact that cats can sometimes ârejectâ items on their menu.
As a cat owner myself, it is not strange for my furry friends to look up at me with their pleading adorable eyes while I am having dinner and demand a piece of whatever it is that I am enjoying with their endless growling and mewling until I finally decide to share my meal with them.
If there is no health issue, follow different strategies to stop your cats from eating your food: you can lock them away when youâre eating, give them dinner before you start eating, change their food or simply ignore their pleas. If that doesnât work, try to be a little more understanding, maybe your cat wants to share or to show its love.
Anyway, hereâs what I did to stop my cats from eating human food.
This may be a bizarre thing for a lot of people with cats because the never-ending worrying about your felineâs health is bound to nag at your brain day and night. Admittedly, when you are not even aware if it is safe to feed your cats human food.
Read below to learn more about your catâs cravings.
Why Is My Cat Obsessed with Human Food?
Being confronted with your catâs strange eating habits recurrently, can be quite frustrating and exhausting, especially when you are trying to maintain your pet friendâs diet and avoid the possibility of him being overweight.
When they fill their tummies with bits of chicken or turkey from your dinner platter, they may not be able to consume the same amount of nutrients that their cat food could give them.
Why Is My Cat Eating My Food?
It can be a little unpleasant when your cat refuses to eat particularly when you are spending a huge chunk of hard-earned money on its food. That is why, it becomes exceedingly important to teach it that your food is always off-limits.
Read below to know even more about the main reasons your feline friend is eating your food.
Cats are unable to hold themselves back whenever you come back home with shopping or grocery bags filled to the brim, what makes you think they are going to stop themselves from invading and stealing the food that you made only for yourself. Once you decide to adopt a cat, you need to prepare yourself for the equal sharing of everything in your house.
2. Your Cat is Curious
It is a well-known fact that these graceful felines are one of the most curious animals to ever exist. They would look through your cabinets, your cupboards, your clothes, trying to find something worth catching their attention. When you prepare yourself a meal and find your cat climbing into your lap and pawing his little paws through your plate to figure out and taste what his favorite human is eating is just another sign of your catâs ceaseless curiosity.
3. Your Cat is Imitating You
Just like a parent, whenever you raise a child, your child often picks up your traits and habits. Similarly, when your furry friend sees you munching on anything, he would want to do the very same thing since you are his paw-rent đ .
4. Your Cat Wants Attention
Frequently, you may notice your human-food obsessed cat always trying to get a glimpse and taste of whatever it is that you are devouring without him. This is most likely to make someone frustrated but maybe your cat is just trying to bond with you through the act of sharing food. Your fur-ball is probably trying to get your attention by doing the same thing you disapprove of.
How To Stop My Cat From Eating My Food
Trying to find ways to stop your cat from tasting the food that you were meant to eat, could be a bit of a hassle.
We have picked out proven methods to prevent your cat from eating human food for you. Here are they:
1. Feed Your Cat When You Are Eating
Calling your fur-ball towards his food bowls and feeding him before sitting down to eat your food is an effective way to stop your cat from picking at your food. He would be so indulged in consuming his food that he would not notice your food platter at all.
2. Disregard Your Catâs Pleas
Ignoring your feline friendâs adorable pleading eyes or constant mewling is an extremely difficult thing to do when they make sure that you know just how much they want something. It may be difficult but not impossible. Stand firm and refuse to acknowledge your furry friendâs begging. Once your cat is aware of the fact that you are not going to indulge his bad eating habits, he will eventually stop demanding food off of your platter.
3. Do Not Treat Your Cat with Human Food
Whenever your cat does something that pleases you or something worth praising, treat her with cat treats and not human food. Constantly treating your furball with food from your dinner plate, could push them towards developing bad eating habits. They may even start looking forward to you treating them with chicken and turkeyâŠ
4. Buy Different Cat Food
If you notice your cat often opting for stealing and consuming human food rather than eating from his food bowl filled with cat food, maybe your little feline does not like the way his food tastes. Maybe, itâs time for you to switch up on your usual cat food or buy your cat something different.
5. Play with Your Cat
Cats are instinctual animals which is why they are always going to have predatory instincts. Stealing your dinner may give most cats the same kind of a thrill that they get from playing with a toy. Buying your feline friend new toys to play with and scheduling a time to play with him is most likely to rid your cat of his food-stealing habits. Once they have fulfilled their desire to hunt, they will not seek any pleasure in hunting for your food.
6. Do Not Leave Any Food Unattended
When you are done with eating, it is preferable to clear the table as soon as possible to avoid the possibility of your cat stealing and eating your food. Try Not to leave the leftovers on the kitchen counter.
Why Is My Cat Asking for More Food Even When Is Just Fed
Oftentimes, your catâs excessive eating habits can hint at an underlying medical issue. There can be a lot of medical reasons that causes cats to look for other sources of food. Some of these medical conditions that are common are explained below.
1. Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is the abnormal increase in the thyroid hormonal level that causes the bodyâs metabolic rate to rise.
2. Diabetes
Diabetes in Felines is a condition in which the felineâs body is unable to produce sufficient insulin to adjust glucose, or sugar levels. Between 0.2 and 1 percent of cats in the general population are believed to have diabetes.
3. Worms
Intestinal worms are a very common health concern in canines and felines. Cats with worms tend to always beg for more food because the worms inside them are robbing all the nutrition from the food they are consuming. Your cat is most likely to get worms by consuming fleas while grooming himself or by coming in contact with snails or slugs. Little kittens can also be infected if their mother already has worms inside her when they consume her milk.
4. Pregnancy
Like humans, cats also require more food than her usual intake to cater to the little kittens inside her belly. Pregnant cats can develop excessive eating habits during their pregnancy, which is not unusual at all.
How to stop my cat from stealing food from my other cat
No matter how much we try to make our cats live together like a happy family, they are never going to be devoid of their instinctual habits. Cats are exceptionally territorial animals that cannot accept another feline eating from the same bowl they eat in and definitely cannot accept another feline eating more than them.
Even if you feed your cats in separate bowls, their curiosity is bound to get the best of them which is why they may feel the need to taste whatever it is that the other cat is eating to make sure they are not getting better and more delicious food.
Read more to know to stop your cats from eating each otherâs food
1. Feed them separately
If you feed your cats in the same food bowl or the same area, together, and one of them keeps stealing food from the other catâs bowl, you should start feeding them in separate rooms at the same time.
2. Use heights
For people with more than one feline in their house and not enough rooms, making use of the heights in the feeding area has proven to be an effective technique to avoid your cats eating from each otherâs bowls. Feed one of your cats at a certain height, such as the kitchen counter, and feed the other one on the floor. Stand there until they are done eating to make sure the cats eat from their assigned bowls.
3. Get the same type of food for each cat
If one of your cats is prescribed by the vet to eat food that is rich in protein, you must get the same kind of food for all the fur-balls in your house. This technique is effective to put an end to cats stealing each otherâs food since the other felines in your house are likely to be attracted to the other catâs food which is rich in protein as well.
How to help a food-obsessed cat?
Living with a cat that is always whining and begging for food even when he has already been fed twice, could turn out to be very taxing at times. Especially when half of what you earn is spent on gigantic cartons filled with cat food.
To put an end to this bad habit, we have compiled a list of everything you should do to help a cat that simply cannot stop eating.
1. Ignore the begging
Stand firm and avoid your furry friendâs ceaseless begging because overeating is only going to turn out to be harmful to him in the long run. Once your cat notices how you are not giving in to your catâs excessive eating habits, he will stop asking for more food.
2. Praise them at mealtime
Refuse to feed your cat apart from his scheduled eating timings, and start praising them at mealtimes by sitting with them while they eat.
3. Put your catâs food bowl away
As soon as your cat is done eating, you must put his food bowls away to avoid him coming back to eat more, whenever he pleases. This is to make your cats aware of their fixed feeding timings.
4. Distract them
Whenever your cat begs for more food at an unusual timing, distract him by playing with him for a little while. Strings, toys, and balls are well-known methods to get your felineâs mind off of something.
5. Make sure your cat is getting enough nutrients
If you are feeding your furry friends thrice a day and they still seem to be not satisfied you should try changing your felineâs diet.
Sometimes, the food you feed your cat does not provide all the nutrients that your cat requires.
6. Consult a behaviorist
To ease your worrying mind about your catâs health, it is recommended to consult a behaviorist to figure out the root of the problem and give the perfect solution to get your catâs eating habits under control.
Conclusion
Maintaining your catâs health and controlling your felineâs excessive food consuming habits can be quite challenging and time-consuming, but just like humans, cats can undergo stress or depressive periods which may make them eat more than they usually would.
Cats that are constantly consuming human food can put themselves in danger unknowingly. It can become hard to trace the issue that compels your cat to eat your food but sometimes, it is more than just a nutritional deficiency issue. Maybe the cat food is not good or your feline has an underlying medical issue. It is always better to get in touch with a vet if you are not able to control your catâs habit.
While eating human food might not be a serious threat to your cat, there are things that a cat can eat without any associated dangers. However, some things should be avoided.
For better understanding of what your cat eats, see the table below.
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