Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To really regret getting the cat?

135 replies

Reallyhatingcat · 12/05/2023 18:26

I’m not the source of all evil I’ll doubtless be dubbed as here, but I really can’t STAND the cat.

He is obsessed with food. Has had five pouches already today but is under my feet constantly demanding more. It’s like he’s insatiable.

I’ve put him out - I have to for my own sanity when he’s like this. But it means we can’t have doors or windows open.

He is fine health wise, not thyroid or anything. It’s just sodding relentless and it’s making me SO frustrated that I can’t relax in my own home, every time I move he goes thundering through to the kitchen!

OP posts:
Bpickle1 · 12/05/2023 19:23

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

KarmaStar · 12/05/2023 19:24

Don't use an automated feeder they cause anxiety in animals.
Try licky lix on dry food.
Is he actually after food?or attention?toys?buy him a slow feeder so he has to eat it less quickly so he should know when he is full.
Please don't hate him.he will sense your resentment which will make him stressed.

Riapia · 12/05/2023 19:25

You’ve already found the answer OP just keep putting him outside when he gets too annoying.
He’ll learn, cats are quite intelligent creatures.

Coffeetree · 12/05/2023 19:26

My cat does this when she's bored! Totally annoying but that's her goal. She wants attention really, not food.

WonderingWanda · 12/05/2023 19:29

Reallyhatingcat · 12/05/2023 18:34

He won’t eat dry food - he’s an absolute dick!

Just like all the other twats cats 😂

Mine eats dry food and likes to have food available to graze on all day but would also prefer for it to be fresh every time he pops back in for another bite 🙄 ffs!

MidnightMeltdown · 12/05/2023 19:29

Stick to set feeding times

My cats usually get fed once in the morning, once at 6pm and once before I go to bed. They are surprisingly good at telling the time and will pester if I'm late, but they don't ask for food outside feeding times as they know that they won't get it! Animals aren't stupid.

crimsonlake · 12/05/2023 19:29

I have the exact same problem, one cat constantly demanding food even after being fed and following me around crying. He has access to dried food all day and he is also after human food. I cannot bring a meal out and leave it unattended for someone, I have to stand guard over it.
Sometimes I can switch off to it, others it has been demented.

Bigbus · 12/05/2023 19:31

My two cats are greedy and would eat all day if I let them. Like others they will jump up and try to eat anything that’s out. One of them can actually open the bin which is in a drawer! They also opened drawers to get to the fish food. I feed then a pouch in the morning and a pouch at night and in between they can have as much dried food as they want. If they are hungry they will eat it. If they don’t eat it and shout for wet food then they are just being dicks. After yelling at me for a bit they generally give up and settle down and are then quite cute and friendly. So my advice would be to have a routine and stick to it and they will get used to it. We also shut them in the back room at night where they have food, sofas and the cat flap otherwise they would be bothering me for food from 3am onwards!

MayThe4th · 12/05/2023 19:32

Stop pandering to him.

Feed him a pouch in the morning, mixed with dry food. If he doesn’t eat the dry food that’s what stays in his bowl until nighhtime when he gets another pouch.

The more you keep feeding him on demand the more he will pester.

And if he’s hungry he’ll eat the dry food or go without.

MonumentalLentil · 12/05/2023 19:34

This reply has been deleted

Removed at poster's request due to privacy concerns.

Animonda Carny also comes in pouches.
Good food from Zooplus:
Smilla
Feringa
Macs
Wild Freedom (especially dense and filling)
Thrive

Also from elsewhere:
Scrumbles
Natures Menu (not as good as it used to be)
Blink
Miaowing Heads
Canagan

Look for a minimum of 80% meat, no grain (or rice, some sellers seem to think rice is not a grain) and sugar free to start with. Ensure it is complete food not complementary.

quietnightmare · 12/05/2023 19:35

Reallyhatingcat · 12/05/2023 18:34

He won’t eat dry food - he’s an absolute dick!

😂

Irequireausername · 12/05/2023 19:42

We fed our cat a mix of meat and crap cat food since we got him and he's never been demanding. We leave the dry out and he will eat it whenever he gets hungry throughout the day. He doesn't gobble and isn't demanding. Have known cats that are and it is annoying.

fetchacloth · 12/05/2023 19:44

As some of the posters have mentioned, some companies have reduced the pouch size from 100g to 80-85g and that makes a difference. Also, I've noticed that pouch food has become thinner and more watery in the last year or so, your cat might be feeling short changed. The feeding guide for an adult cat is 3-4 pouches per day. If he's consuming 5 or 6 it's not really satisfying him.

Have you tried him on tinned food? The consistency of tinned food is more dense and may fill him up better. It might be worth a shot and see how you get on.

Good luck😄

Rhino94 · 12/05/2023 19:47

When you say pouches, what pouches are they as if they are whiskas or felix or anything of similar quality he is going require more as they are the worst on the market, If he won’t eat dry food then look for high quality wet food as pp suggested or even consider switching to a raw food

SushiSuave · 12/05/2023 19:47

I complete sympathise OP. My cat is also a dick. Miaows constantly for food despite always having dry food available, and is always, ALWAYS the wrong side of a door. She could have just miaowed to be let through and then 30 seconds later miaows to be let back in again. Drives me mad.

Ontheperiphery79 · 12/05/2023 19:48

🤯 That is a lot of wet food: is he a large breed?! 😯
My monster of a Maine Coon has 1 pouch and some dry food in a 24 hour period.
He's also food obsessed and a manipulative twat, who drives me mad, but I adore the fluffy prick and his annoying ways.

ChristmasFluff · 12/05/2023 19:50

I'm with those who say you need to spend more time loving and playing with your cat.

I sympathise, as I have an extremely disturbed rescue cat who is frankly bulimic - he will gobble down food then vomit it back so fast it goes striaght back into his feeding bowl.

I only feed him a third of a sachet each time he asls for a feed - so he gets the comfort of eating, without the volume. Nowadays I always stroke him before feeding him, but when he was 'new' I stroked him after his feed. He's always let me pick him up and cuddle him, but you may need to build up to that.

The people who are for chucking him outside and 'stop pandering'- yeah, way to sort a distressed and eating disordered animal. Although I'm sure they'd have similar opinions regarding human eating disorders (as seen regularly on Greedy Husband threads on MN).

Your cat may also be bored.

So yeah, same drivers of overeating as humans. It shouldn't be such a shocker, given that humans are animals who talk.

MrFlobby · 12/05/2023 19:55

Ohh OP, I feel your pain. I’ve had cats all my life as a kid and adored them. We moved to a house with a huge garden and thought a cat would be lovely for us & the kids…

She was a rescue 3 years old & she really is lovely (to me & DH) but she swipes at the kids if they even walk past her and they’re not rough to her at all never have been! She pisses on the bed (whilst we’re in!) despite having been outside 10 minutes earlier, she constantly whines for food (& I loathe the smell of it!)

I have had wobbles and considered re-homing her but I do have a bit of love now for the annoying little shit bag. Until the next time she pisses on us… But sympathies, huge sympathies.

DreamingOfRest · 12/05/2023 19:55

Yep, high quality food makes a huge huge difference. Our cat was initially on crappy pouches and wouldn't eat any of the cheap dry food, and was always ravenous for the pouches. Changed her to the Hill's Science Plan dry food and she was a different cat. Loves the high quality dry food, never ravenous, never overeats, and much more content. Also after a few weeks of the high quality food, her whole coat changed, much more glossy. It seems expensive, but they eat a lot less of it, and it's well worth it for their health, and yours!

ChristmasFluff · 12/05/2023 19:56

@Ontheperiphery79 I can't bleieve you are making your cat competitively undereat.

The suggestions on the packs are 3 pouches per day for your average moggie. Unless your 'some' dry food means a substantial amount of carefully balanced dry feed, maybe he's not a manipulative prick. Maybe you're just starving him.

AnnaMagnani · 12/05/2023 20:00

If your cat gobbles it's food in 2 seconds and then vomits, I'd really recommend a slow feeder.

My food monster initially stared at it in horror but when she realised it was figure it out or starve, she got on with it. Takes her so much longer to eat and engages her brain.

Original poster
Reallyhatingcat · 12/05/2023 20:00

Thanks all - just needed a vent! It’s weird how on here you can admit your kids are driving you batshit and get nothing but solidarity but say the same about a cat and you’re morally reprehensible 🤣

OP posts:
JudgeRudy · 12/05/2023 20:02

Like humans animals sometimes seek comfort or stimulation from food. Is there much else going on in its life to bring it joy?

Coffeetree · 12/05/2023 20:03

Have you got toys etc for her?

Soproudoflionesses · 12/05/2023 20:04

My cat is like this too. Love him but he does my head in every single day