To not be enjoying my cats?

[msalex]

I’m not going to rehome them. And I do love them in a way.

But I realised this morning I get no pleasure out of them at all and to be honest I wish I’d never got them.

They demand food as soon as I get up but it’s somehow not enough. After I’ve had a shower and am trying to get ready they are mewing round my feet wanting a second breakfast

One of them miaows so loudly - a real yowl of a sound and he does it at 2/3 am for me to put him out (can’t put a cat flap in - it’s a bottom floor apartment in a listed building) and it really disturbs my sleep terribly.

The eating, they just never stop. Even when their food bowls are full every time I stand up they thunder through to the kitchen and stand over their bowls miaowing.

I feel horrible as I feel irritated by them.

[MargaretCavendish]

Sadly I've read that too, chowmum - and it is true that while I actually think my black cat is the more handsome of the two in person, in photos his ginger (adopted) brother looks much more striking (I have taken this as an excuse to show off my two little treasures! Beams with pride) I suspect the same thing (they look good on Instagram) also drives people to want pedigrees, which also really bothers me when there are so many moggies needing homes.

[Santasbigredbobblehat]

I always thought of myself as a cat person, had them growing up and thought I’d get some soon as I had my own place. Fast forward to two years ago and I ageeed to look after two cats. Great, I thought, I can see if the kids like it and if it goes well we’ll get some. My god they were annoying. Constantly under my feet, one would scratch at the door to the stairs and wake us up in the middle of the night, meowing for more food. I’ve completely sworn off getting one now even though the kids beg.

[Chowmum]

MargaretCavendish Aww, bless 'em. Dammit, that's how I ended up with 9 of the little blighters. We have 4 black cats and 1 black dog, and I'm always tripping over them. But then I trip over the other ones too

[thetemptationofchocolate]

The automatic feeder is a great idea, I've used one before and they soon get to know the sound of it opening :)

[HungerOfThePine]

How old is your old cat op? Could be that he is going a bit senile causing him to meow or forget that he's just eaten or been outside/inside moments ago and could cause him to get a bit stressed?

Could try Feliway to calm them down a bit or just make time to give them extra cuddles and ignore them completely at other times. My cat is fairly vocal and calls for treats any time I am in the kitchen, she gets a loving pat on the head then her request is ignored if she has already had a treat that day.

[brogueish]

Agree with PPs that if the behaviour has recently changed, it's worth a vet visit first of all. My old girl got very yowly when she hit about 15, turns out it was a touch of early dementia (for which she was prescribed fluoxetine), and then again at 17 when she developed hyperthyoidism. Definitely worth ruling things out anyway.

Hope you're feeling better soon.

[SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed]

Some cats (and dogs) are just very food-obsessed. It's not a sign that they are hungry, but a sign that they are anxious about food and being fed. I've had loads of rescue cats from bad homes, and they've always started out a bit like this. It takes a few years for them to calm down.

My cat was when she first came to live with me. She came from a rescue, and was very underweight when she'd gone there. Both I and the vet think she had sme anxiety about going without food, so if she knew there was some she wanted it NOW. I stuck to strict feeding times, and she did yowl a lot, but it only took a couple of weeks for her to figure out I wasn't planning to starve her and there would always be food at certain times of the day.

She also liked to wake me up at 3.30am to socialise, I dealt with that by putting her and the litter tray in the sitting room and closing the door. It took her two nights get the idea that night time was for sleeping not frolicking. In fact, she nags me to go to bed now.

[Ginkypig]

As they are older haveyou had them at the vet?

My old lady started yowling amongst other odd behaviour. I though it might be cat dementia but it turned out to be hyperthyroidism and kidney disease.

[myusernamewastaken]

Ive got an elderly black female cat....i rescued her from less than ideal living conditions a year ago...shes a pain in the arse....costs me a bomb in food...and has started weeing in the lounge....if im honest i regret taking her on....but i did and i will look after her till the end.

[msalex]

Thanks. You’ve all made me feel loads better.

I think a routine would help. Definitely.

[MonaChopsis]

Can you put a cat flap in an external wall?

[msalex]

No; cat flap is just not possible at all.

[Davros]

I think that, once you give them wet food, you're asking for trouble. They love it so much they get very impatient and greedy. I know lots of people don't like to put a cat on a dry food only diet but I'm very pleased I did. Dr Mewler is 10 years old and has never been unwell. I did it because DH didn't want a cat if it had wet, smelly food so it was a compromise worth making. I feel guilty now and then as she'd probably kill for wet food if she knew what it was

[SleepFreeZone]

My cat follows me around tripping me up and crying most days and yep it drives me mad. I feed her wet and dry food, she had access to the outside whenever she wants. She chooses to stay in and trip me up all day. I don't enjoy her at all and wish we'd never got her.

[SleepFreeZone]

To add she was on dry food but the vet said she was on the low side of her weight range so I've added wet food and dreamies. She is still annoying as she ever was just in dry food, so in my case I don't think it's solely food related.

[madamedesevigne]

Could it be the Gourmet food itself that's the problem? I wonder if there's an additive or something that sets them off. Mine aren't allowed Felix AGAIL except as a special treat as it turns them into absolute arseholes, really hyperactive and demanding. They're much better with basic waitrose cat food with some biscuits and the odd tray of Sheba here and there.

[TalkinBoutWhat]

I love black cats. TalkinCat is a black and white moggy, looks just like Felix.

I would love a few cats but I seem to end up with neurotic cats who don't get on with other cats. TalkinCat doesn't like being held either.... , does love being petted though. I'd love a lap cat.

[Time40]

I think you should just get rid of them, OP. I really don't understand why people are so against re-homing. Why struggle on keeping animals if they are giving you no pleasure? I'm sure cats don't mind where they live, as long as they are well looked after.

[IHaveBrilloHair]

I have four Indoor cats, I honestly adore them but my god at times they can be a drain and really get me down.
I'm not sure about advice but I've been there, on the brink of rehoming but I just couldn't (so far).
Lots of understanding though and feel free to pm me at anytime with catty moans

[GingerKitCat]

Loads of really great advice on here. I hope you manage to resolve things OP

I don't know how your cats would react to an exclusive diet of complete high-protein dry food. It's what I feed mine. Always have a dish of water available alongside. I order in bulk from Zooplus, there's always at least a 5% off code knocking around and I think they do new customer discounts.

Lately I've been trialling Harringtons dry food as it has a decent protein content (30%), is very reasonably priced and available in most supermarkets. My cat adores it (only tried the chicken flavour so far):

here

I know there are pros and cons to dry food (e.g. kidney issues in older cats) but it's working for me so far (3yrs on). My cat goes beserk for wet food and won't regulate his intake at all. One pouch is never enough and I hate all the pestering and nagging and attention seeking-trashing of furniture/belongings it creates He's much calmer with his dry food. He doesn't scoff it all at once which means I can leave it out all day with no smells and he can snack whenever he chooses. I measured the portion based on weight to start with until I was confident. Often I divide it into morning and evening portions. Failing this the auto-feeder sounds like an interesting idea I see Sureflap do microchip feeders if your cats are partial to stealing each others' food. They're a bit pricey though.

I've had to limit Dreamies and wet food pouches as it just reintroduces the cycle of pestering unfortunately.

I don't really agree with shutting cats out at night for all the reasons mentioned (particularly traffic and temperature at this time of year) however I do shut mine in the kitchen every night at bedtime. He has his food, water, bed(s), scratching tower and cat flap (or litter tray if you're without cat flap). I don't know why anyone wouldn't! He'd give me no peace otherwise and be scratching at my bedroom door if shut him out. I value my sleep and god knows what he'd be up to if I gave him free reign overnight

Do your cats have enough stimulation if they're mostly indoor cats? Treat balls and mazes can work well if your cats aren't lazy like mine. This one loves his cat tree/tower although more for the height and being able to look down on you/ look out the window. He rarely uses it for scratching his claws but I suppose he does it plenty outside on the fence posts. If you're tempted I'd suggest getting a nice tall one with a small footprint, at least 5ft tall. A lot of them are really tiny in reality especially for an adult cat.

Good luck!

[Coffeeisnecessary]

Not sure if this has been mentioned as haven't read all the thread but have you wormed them?

[Coffeeisnecessary]

Could you shut them in another room at night? My cat yowls at night sometimes particularly if on her own but when she is with the dog she doesn't, not sure why!

[GingerKitCat]

Sorry I missed all of the latest posts, didn't mean to sound like a broken record

Routine may indeed be the key. Do you have a room you can shut them in with all their stuff? I have to say this doesn't work too well when I'm in the next room, catzilla can sense it and scratches at the closed door. It's a godsend overnight however and maybe your cats are less arsey than mine...

It's definitely a battle of wills to implement a new routine and they will try and break you This is where shooing them outside/ shutting them in 'their' room comes into its own. Hopefully within a few days/ weeks things should have settled down and they will appreciate the measured time they spend with you!

[DratThatCat]

I went through a phase of wanting to rehome my cats and it was 100% related to low mood, possible pnd. Im a proper crazy cat lady normally but they were just one more problem to deal with on top of everything else and I didn't have the physical or mental energy for them. I felt so guilty for feeling like this but I couldn't help it.

I would suggest dealing with your low mood before making any decisions about your cats. If I'd have got rid of mine back then, I'd be devasted now. Hugs for you, it's not a good place to be

[lookingforthecorkscrew]

I’m not enjoying my cat too much atm either. He sank his claws into my ankle earlier and drew blood. He also has fleas, despite regular treatments, and they’re biting my DS.

I’d swap him for magic beans right now tbh.