My boyfriend and I have two sweet, affectionate, healthy 6-month-old kittens who turn into total psychos at feeding time. We've tried everything and any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
We got them (female, littermates, spayed) three months ago. They get wet food 2x and dry food 1x a day. From the start, they'd try to steal each each others' food, resulting in both of them inhaling it in 10 seconds.
We supervised them. We added water. We set their bowls far apart. We've tried two different kinds of slow feeders–they're smart and found ways around them–and are now trying a third.
The smaller, 5 pound kitten–let's call her Thing 1–is particularly obsessed. She'll steal food right off your plate and drag it behind the couch in the blink of an eye. Thing 2 is more the persistent type.
There are no underlying issues. Their vet says they are perfectly healthy and getting the right amount of food. We tried clapping, hissing, and coins in a jar. Spraying water was the ONLY thing that kept them off the dinner table, and they are slightly better behaved around human food.
At one point we couldn't do *anything* in the kitchen without them begging for food, biting legs, or crowding. I've almost tripped and fallen multiple times this way. We ignored them when they did this and praised them when they acted appropriately. It did nothing.
We started putting them in a different room at feeding time so they wouldn't associate us in the kitchen with food, but it didn't work. They'd try to dash out the room at the sound of the knob turning and would sometimes hit their heads running at full speed.
A few weeks ago, we installed a 41 in. baby gate for the kitchen. Thing 1 jumped over it in 3 seconds. Put double sided tape between the bars and on top so they'd stop, and only opened the gate at feeding time. This worked for a while.
Now, not only do they beg–they leap onto the gate at the slightest *hint* of their food bowls being picked up. They don't care that it's unpleasant and their fur gets caught in the double sided tape.
Frankly, they don't give a f*ck. No matter how much we pick them up and place them outside the gate, they keep doing it. I've spent 20 minutes before trying to associate leaping over with delays in getting their beloved paté.
We play with them for at least 30 minutes a day. We give them lots of love and attention–and they love us back–but there is no crime they wouldn't commit for some tasty cat food.
Please help us!!!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/j7q05y/help_my_food_obsessed_cats_are_maniacs_who_would/
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