We rescued an abandoned kitten (he is neutered - approximately 5-6mos. old now). He acts psychotic whenever he smells food or if there is prospect of him eating. You would think he was being starved! He climbs in the sink right while we are cleaning the table to lick the dirty dishes. When we open his food - he actually goes nuts! Help!
2007-08-17 17:54:11 · 7 answers · asked by ? 2 in Pets ➔ Cats
An awful lot of cats who have tried to find enough food to live on outdoors have this happen. They don't know when their next meal will be, or that they'll EVER have food again, so they panic eat and stuff everything down as fast as possible just in case they don't get anything to eat for the next 4 days.
This is hard wired in as a matter of survival, and it won't go away overnight. It took 2 months for the first stray we took in to realize that the food bowl would ALWAYS have food in it and that he didn't need to stuff everything down all the time. With Fred it took close to 6 months of binging whenever he'd see the bowl before he clued in.
Be patient. Keep dry food down all the time and don't try to correct them, they'll only think you're being aggressive and want the food for yourself if you talk loud or take them away from it. Distract them with a tidbit to get the kitten out of the sink, then show him where the food bowl is so he can eat there.
He's still thinking he'll never get food anymore if he doesn't attack it right away. He'll calm down, but probably needs to know that a food bowl of dry is available all the time. He should be free fed till he gets this under control.
2007-08-17 18:27:05 · answer #1 · answered by Elaine M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sheesh hes a growing kitten
he knows what he likes! :]
well at least he has a big appetite
and that is good for the most part.
about a half an hour before you eat, or
ten minutes before you get hungry for
a snack, put him in a crate or medium dog cage
away from the kitchen
and cover it with a light sheet -
with a little room for air to vent--
that or a room with no people and a
window with a lot of sunshine.- my cat
likes to sun bathe with me on my deck :]
turn on the radio with a low volume
and close the door on your way out of the room.
when you come back, offer him a little kitty treat
and stroke his side and tell him how good of a kitty he is
he might get the point.
another thing is that he might have been starved when he was abandoned, and he's afraid of losing food or starving..
im not sure if thats actually possible though.
oh well, good luck!
2007-08-18 01:05:54 · answer #2 · answered by SQUID 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
he should have access to dry food all the time.. and should only get 1 teaspoon of canned 1 -2 times a day...
if you are not allowing him to eat dry all the time this can be part of the problem...
spray with water from squirt bottle to stop him from climbing into the sink - this can be dangerous if ever their are poisons in the sink...
2007-08-18 01:01:57 · answer #3 · answered by CF_ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
make sure you don't let him lick the food off your plate or feed him from the table...EVER. it will just reenfornce the bad habits.
try to make a big deal about feeding him his cat food. make it a slow drawn out production. maybe even feed him more often. pet him while he eats, or brush him.
2007-08-18 01:00:25 · answer #4 · answered by . 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
how cute.... he was abandoned... cut him some slack... besides that's his personality... I have three cats and two dogs, all inside... some of them are quite the characters... but give it some time and it will grow on you and even end up making you laugh.
2007-08-18 01:02:43 · answer #5 · answered by SST 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Uhmm,this is not natural,i would recommend go to a vet,cause i dont have a clue!Vets will work this problem.
2007-08-18 00:58:06 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should let everyone know when you find out.
2007-08-18 00:57:56 · answer #7 · answered by thousandheirs 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋