Over excited cat feeding issues!?

Question

From the minute the sun rises my cat cries for her breakfast, she'll come up on the bed and start licking my face, will yowl at the foot of the bed, if I give her a row she'll run off downstairs and cry loudly at the bottom! When we finally do feed her (same time every morning) she'll firstly swipe for the bowl when I lift it, cry and dance about until it's put down to her, wolf it down then run away and bring it back up again! I think it's because she works herself up so much it's too much for her. I start her off with only half a pouch but it still happens. Any suggestions as to how I can remedy this? (I do not want to got up and start feeding her first thing in the morning because it just means she gets hungry through the day and the same thing happens at dinner, I work all day so feeding more than twice is out also) The constant crying is bad enough but the sick is not something I enjoy clearing either! help!

Answer 1

My cat is exactly the same and the more I ignored her when she demanded food the worse her behaviour got (ripping carpet, knocking over plants - you get the picture). I began feeding her dry food which I put in a round plastic food ball which you can buy from the pet shop and the cat has to push it around and then the food comes out bit by bit through a hole in the ball. She loves it and because it combines play and food and I love it because it takes her a while which means she is unable to bolt down her grub and throw it up.

Answer 2

Start by never giving him any food unless he is calm, it takes patience on your part but when feeding his meals, hold the bowl and if it takes an hour for him to realise that he wont get the food until he sits and waits, then thats what you need to do. Be very consistent, otherwise he is telling you to give him the food. You want to let him realise you are the one who GIVES the food on your terms. Dont stop there either, he must still be sitting calmly while you put the bowl down and dont let him near till YOU tell him its 'ok' Once this is mastered start a 'learn to earn' programme where he only gets rewards, ie food, toy when he is calm and respectful. Make sure you are strict with his walking, not just daily walking times but making him behave well etc. Make sure his worming treatments are up to date too. If he tries to eat his faeces on walks then scoosh him with a water spray, do the same to correct any other unwanted and or aggresive behaviour, do it straight away so he connects that bad behaviour = bad response, good behaviour = praise, food and play. If you are consistent with this everyday then you will see a big difference in a couple of weeks but keep it up for longer than that and it will make your life easier in the long run.

Answer 3

You need to slow her down, use treat balls or use cardboard tubes from paper towel rolls, fill with dry biscuits and leave around the house for her to hunt, alternatively, small bowls of dry food left in different places will help and alternate where you put them, if she has to find it, she can't eat it all in one go. Switch to a quality brand dry food, they eat less, so it costs less, even though the initial outlay seems expensive, it lasts for months. The better quality food contains less crap and won't make her sick as easily and she won't be overloading her stomach. Also, IGNORE her for a while, don't feed her when she demands. She wakes you, get up, go for a shower, make her wait. When you get home, don't acknowledge her for a while and don't feed her straight away. Be persistent and patient and she will learn and although it will be tough for a week or two, you will reap the rewards. Then feed her the usual wet food when you normally would.

The best food for piggy cats, I find is Royal Canin Siamese or the Royal Canin Oral Sensitive 30, the kibble makes it so they have to chew well which slows them down, never seen a cat refuse the Siamese chow.

Answer 4

I'd leave out some dry food for her throughout the day. I know folks say it's best to have feeding times for your cat, but if your cat throws up her food because she eats too fast, I would try giving her a BIG bowl of dry to satisfy her hunger.

Answer 5

Why not leave a small amount of dried food out overnight. She can then have a snack during the night. By doing this, she won't be so determined to get you up to feed her in the morning and she will probably eat her main meal in a less manic fashion.

If she's constantly bringing her food back up because she's wolfing it - she's probably not getting enough to eat - and will be hungry. It's a bit of a vicious circle at the moment!

Answer 6

same problem here, ive got 3 cats and one of my cats used to eat then throw it back up, easy solution is:

(1)leave dry food out for it a small bowl a day with water next to it

(2)instead of just giving pouch food by itself mix it up with dry food so its a mixture of both pouch and dry,

the reason for my cat bringing it up all the time on pouch food was because as its a wet food and the cat drinks water after, its stomache is more or less just liquids, so just imagine having your dinner as a soup everymorning afternoon and night the stomache wont hold it down, so mixing it with dry food will help it absord the liquids plus the water when it drinks.

plus its something special for a cat having pouch and dry food mixed my cats love it so do all the cats on the street lol, plus its an easy way to put weight on a cat aswell, good to give more in the summer so when winter comes the cold wont effect them that much plus it'll cut the risk of the cat catching a cold or worse the flu.

try to for couple of days

good luck

Answer 7

have you tried leaving a complete biscuit down over night and during the day whilst you are out so that she can eat when she wants and just give a small amount of meat at feeding times this may help it worked for mine altough they do sometimes wake me up early as they have finnished the biscuits and are hungry again but 2 is worse than 1 believe me i hope that this helps

Answer 8

Keep her bowl filled with dry food as well. Don't change her feeding routine, you are the boss. You may need to change her food, she could have a sensitive belly. If she is throwing it back up all the time, the she is going to be hungry all the time, vicious circle. try putting dry food down as well, and change the pouches for a while.

Answer 9

Maybe you could get one of those automatic cat feeder things. They have 5-7 different sections, you set what time you want it to open and the thinggy slides back to give the cat the food.
That way you could give her the breakfast earlier, and also set it to open during the day when you are at work.

Answer 10

Change brands sounds like this brand is not agreeing with her. And mos cats are nibblers they like to nibble on dry food through out the day. Leave dry food available for your cat to eat as she wants it.