My kitten goes crazy over food?

Question

My kitten goes crazy whenever my daughter or I have food. He goes nuts trying to get to it. I have never had a cat act like this over food. He is about 5 months old and is getting neutered on 09/26/07. I have to tap him on the nose, push him off my lap, put him on the floor to try and eat. I literally have to hold him so my daughter can eat in peace. He will try anything he possibly can to get away to race over and steal her food. What can I do to stop this behavior, or at least slow it down some? I really don't want to have to lock him in a separate room to eat.

Thank you all so far for the good advise. I just want to add that I do not feed him table food nor have I ever, he just gets some occasionally when he manages to steal it.

Answer 1

Do you keep food out for him? If not, this could be the problem. He associates you only with food, and so he goes crazy every time he sees you with it an assumes that it's for him. This could be a quick way to solve the problem. The only thing that's bad about this is that he may end up over-eating and gaining weight once he's neutered.

I have a male cat that does that, too. He climbs into my lap when I eat in the living room and sometimes paws at my food. He'll grab it with his mouth if you give him the chance, but it doesn't sound like he's nearly as food-crazy as yours.

Another idea is to feed him something good while you're eating. Put a little scoop of soft cat food in a bowl for him near you, but not too close, and let him eat while you eat. This would hopefully make him think that he has something good for himself and that he doesn't need food from you.

You could also try putting him in a carrier with food of his own, and eating with him in his carrier on the table, where he could see you with your food, and he could see that he has his own. This could teach him that you each have your own separate foods.

If push comes to shove, you may very well have to lock him up when you're eating, but I think that he'll get better after he gets neutered, too. The best piece of advise I can give you is this: be firm, be persistant, and be patient.

At any rate, I hope this helps, and I hope things get better with your little kitty.

Answer 2

I've always fed my kittens (from 8 weeks - just under 3months old now) food other than the cat food and they love it. My one kitten was extremely tiny and underweight for her age, at 8 weeks, and her tummy was always churning and making watery noises; and her - ahem - mess, was never soild. I have them on the wet whiskas cat food but since feeding her fish, ham and other meats she has grown and her mess has become solid. Check her mess to see how she is responding - it is a good indication of her digestiv system and health. In my experience cats are perfectly fine on meats we would eat - i even get them fish from the chip shop!! (not with the batter on). Give her bits of chicken, fish and ham - she should love it. Cats also love cheese but i would think she is too young for this. Just try her with wet fish (tuna and salmon) and bits of chicken, she should definately like this. At the end of the day cats used to eat it and survive before cat food was around! Places like Greece and Spain have hundreds of feral cats running around - they scavenge from bins and live. If your kitten is bouncy and running around then i think your doing the right job! Otherwise, she may just not be a big eater - my kittens are opposites, they never eat at the same time and the little one demands much more so don't worry too much. Good luck! x

Answer 3

Get a spray bottle of water. Spritz the cat when it tries to get your food, or on the tables, or where ever it is not supposed to be. It won't hurt the cat, yet it is very unpleasant, and they learn quick. I have an inside dog and cat, and they have both had their "terrible 2's moments" as I call them. But as soon as they see my orange spray bottle, the get down, drop whatever they are tearing up, or stop begging. Most the time they will leave the room even, and go lay down.

Answer 4

Well a couple of avenues, One take the cat out of the room while eating, or two Give the cat boundarys place her a dish of food or treats when you eat if she tries to take your food use a spray bottle with water and spray her when ever she tries to do this/gets to close. Be sure to give her lots of loving when she is respectful and stays calm and stays down. My other rule of thumb don't feed the cat table food.

Answer 5

i would say that your kitten may be bored with the food that you give them. i feed my cats some milk and tuna occasionally; and no, even though many people say that milk is not good for your cat, it seems to be okay with my cats, who are both around 20 years old. Actually, i just took in a stray that i found under my car about a month ago! :) anyways, i make sure to feed them well, so that they don't steal mine. i pretty much works, and both me and my cats eat in peace.

Answer 6

yeah its fun isn't it *LOL* I have 2 that are doing the same thing- 6 month old brothers- they go in for the snip soon as well. We had a terrible time with them at first, but after we got a water spray bottle and gave them an impromptu shower when they were trying to nab food, they have since curtailed their attempts. It doesn't hurt them a bit and soon we will be able to eat in peace.

edit: OH and Kuddos for you for getting him fixed!!!

Answer 7

Feeding him when you eat (and possibly in a crate or closed room) should help. I blow in my cats faces when they try to steal food from me, I have a presistent theif too :), and that backs her off a little bit.

Answer 8

Sometimes this is an indication of food abuse (i.e. being starved, possible if you got the cat from a shelter or from someone else), and sometimes the cat is just being a butt. Good advice in the other posts.

Answer 9

Put him in a room when you guys eat and when your done eating let him out. Because I had a cat that done that a some body gave me an answer so I done it and it worked. So try it out it will work.

Answer 10

The best thing to do would be to just keep pushing the kitten away. the kitten will eventualy grow out of it as long as you keep pushing the kitten away.