To really regret getting the cat?

[Reallyhatingcat]

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!

We have a very "food motivated" boy. He's not constantly on the ask for food per se but if he smells something he likes he's relentless (he has to be banished now when I cook or make lunch. Even if there is no meat. He's just too interested and will happily eat non meat food - he loves avocado, hummus, any tomato based sauces and whilst he doesn't like bread to eat he likes to play with it so all bread products have to be kept in a cupboard!!) He isn't enough of a CF to steal once it's plated up but I've caught him on walking across the hob / face in saucepan / covered in bolognese sauce before we started to banish him.

He was one of a litter of 7 and when we got him - he was unwanted - he wasn't in great shape (weeny, he couldn't have been 8 weeks. His face was also caked in dried food, he would go wild for food) He'd been fed with all his siblings from the same plate and as a PP mentions he just wasn't secure about being fed.

We have always done 3 meals a day (1.5 pouches, going up to 2 shortly as he's bigger now) and dry food overnight. We feed greedy cat away from our other cat I thought older cat was greedy before we got little cat we rarely do cat treats and we stopped all human food, unless they are ill, once we realised little cat would eat anything. We feed at same time everyday. Have to be honest little cat has been with us 8 months now and is still much more food motivated than any other cat I've ever known.

I can't see @Reallyhatingcat saying how old your cat is, how long he has been with you and where he came from.

** Just to add, I don't think my little.cat was mistreated but he was an accidental litter (mother was meant to be spayed after a previous litter.... thankfully she was definitely done after having the litter my boy came from) so he wasn't looked after properly.

The answer as I think a couple of other posters have touched on, is enrichment.

Your cat, as a wild animal, would spend hours each day hunting, stalking, consuming and sleeping off food.

In your home, food is inhaled in seconds, and then what is there to do - fuck all in most homes.

Provide enrichment, cat trees, food dispensing toys - a simple one for solid treats (if they wont eat kibble) is to rinse out some of those small juice bottles (the itty bitty tropicana ones are good), make some holes in it and fill it with treats/kibbles as appropriate.

Once they learn how to shove that around for food, then up the ante and stick it inside a small sock so now they have to skin it and get the food out.

Once they can do that, then you start to hide it, starting out easy, making it harder as they get better at it.

There are lots of interactive puzzles and food dispensing toys, but simply having cat trees and hiding food around instead of plopping it in a bowl will work wonders.

Do not just feed dry food, its not good for cats and can cause some pretty nasty health issues.

ABSOLUTELY do not play with laser pen toys, they are awful things, honing a cats hunting ability but with no tangible reward or 'prey' caught at the end no matter how good the cat is. A recipe for neurological issues if ever there was one.

Been there, OP! You need to give him more boring food. Kibbles rather than pouches. He will be cross if the pouches stop, and harass you night and day for a couple of weeks but then he'll gradually forget about the pouches and just eat the kibbles.

I'll put my head over the parapet on this one!

I have 2 cats and they drive me insane, I love how much my family loves them but I am totally ambivalent towards them.

DH has always owned cats and adores them but I just cannot find it in me. They drive me mad with the pestering, scratching, meowing, peeing, the random headbutting at 2am. And don't get me started on putting kids to bed and finally sitting down for 2 minutes peace to have 2 furry dictators try and squeeze onto my lap.

I give them all the care they need to be happy healthy cats (maybe because all the pet grunt work falls to me??) But I've come to accept that I'm not a pet lover and wouldn't choose to have them in my life.

They get plenty of love from the rest of the family and I am just their food dispensing/vomit cleaning/ flea treatment lackey!

I had two cats (my girl passed away last year), they both have had everything a cat could want but my boy has always been like Op's when it comes to food. My girl just ate at set times and didn't harass me for anymore. Not all cat's are the same.

Try a high protein food (£££).

Some tinned cat food is grain and rubbish and so, doesnt satisfy them.

Make sure it says 70% from meat protein on the tin.

I wonder if this is what's going on with my cats as well! Ex husband - the feeder - (filled bowls to the brim after one squeak at him) - left unexpectedly last year and since then my male cats appetites have seem to have trebled overnight - ex didn't give them loads of affection but I am massively busier now running around after kids (and cats!) on my own and they don't get the attention they used to......so maybe they are comfort eating 😳

As someone who has had cats all my life I can tell you this is quite normal. They are chancers who will happily take more food if given the opportunity especially if the behaviour is constantly reinforced by food always being given when they beg. I have learn to ignore (or in my case talk to my cat as if she understands, and tell her she can plead all she likes but she's been fed enough and can now bloody wait). This doesn't stop her trying but she will occasionally walk away as if knowing she not going to be lucky everytime she begs. By the way my cat is a normal weight and I feed her 2-3 pouches per day, plus a few treats a month.

Huge sympathies OP. I love my little cat but she pesters me for food when she's bored. Try some catnip toys.

The other week I had flu and woke up coughing at 4AM with a coughing fit. I tried to get back to sleep but my cat decided it was Breakfast Time so was literally walking around on me meowing. I was so sick and annoyed that I squirted my water bottle at her to make her go away! I felt terrible afterwards (but got more sleep).

I have the dog version of your cat 🥴 eats anything and everything. £4500 operation to remove impacted horse poo. 3 x additional trips to the vets for sick inducing injection to expel the toy/glove whatever he'd eaten. Each time on a weekend/bank holiday. Now lives in a plastic basket muzzle. The minute it's off he's hunting. 3 big meals a day, wormed, blood test screening etc. its relentless. He did have a very tough start in life, weaned far too early (unbeknown to us) and then several rounds of antibiotics for diarrhoea

How is your cat weight wise?

I personally don't think 5 pouches is too much if he's not eating dry food. If he feels underweight you should get thyroid checked.

They all prefer wet food, but a good quality dry food should be out all the time IMO. Royal Canin, Science Plan, something that can be a offered as a standalone feed. A bowl might last a few days, but I bet he'd pick at it. Might reduce the constant demands for food.

lol prob best for you to give him to cats protection league or a sanctuary to be rehomed.

I've had many cats all my life and non-have behaved like this. My cat will eat everything I feed him. I have to limit him to max 3 pouches of Sheba - he eats dry food as well. Every other week my dad will feed him fresh fish. White fish in the frozen aisle is cheaper than catfood believe it or not so he gets one a day split over two feedings. Make sure the food is high in protein and a good brand like someone else suggested.

If you are getting stressed and feel he's a dick - prob best to let him find a new home before he frustrates you any further. If the love isn't there - just call it quits. No harm in that.

It's very possible he's anxious in a new home .

Some cats are insatiable, like dogs you've got to give them just the right amount for them to not get fat.

Definitely agree with this. Mine get a mix of either Smilla, Animonda Carny or Macs and some Smilla dry (or high street stuff when I run out) and I'm sure we spend less than we would with pouches.

I buy 800g tins for 2 outdoor cats and they don't get through one in a day. I often add a bit of warm water into it too to make sure they are well hydrated.

It took my original cats (one I still have) absolutely ages to eat this stuff, I used to spend ages mixing it with gourmet mousse and sprinkling treats on top but eventually she gave in and now eats it happily. She is a lot better with the food obsession now as well, on pouches she appeared ravenous but not on this food.

I had one exactly the same .long haired tabby , but just loved food , chicken cooking would sit by the oven ! Lived a long happy 19 years .

Don't keep feeding a cat! They're relentless. Feed him twice. Stop and he will go out catching.

Our cat was similar, he used to wake us up in the early hours by scratching at our bedroom door 🤦🏼‍♀️ we have stayed strong with a routine and that has made a huge difference, we do two smaller meals spaced apart in the morning and then the same in the evening (like one when we have dinner and one when we go to bed) he kind of knows when to expect his food now and doesn't really bother us in between any more. You could also try the RCW Satiety food, it's designed to be more filling, we used to use it for our cat but now he's calmed down we've gone to regular cat food (mostly dry but sometimes pouches too).

I’m looking after a cat long term for someone who’s ill. Ours is greedy fucker too. I was told she didn’t like dried food. Nonsense, she prefers wet food but she’ll happily eat both if they’re put down together.

Our routine is half a pouch and a measure of dried food twice a day, Dreamies at lunchtime, Felix soup at 9pm. I usually chuck a few more dried bits in her bowl before I go to bed in the vain hope it’ll see her through to a decent hour.

Her weight has stayed the same on this diet, but she s an indoor cat, an outdoor one would be using more energy and need more food. She gets lots of play but food at mealtimes only and she knows the timings now.

Be strong, OP!

We have two cats and they get 65-75g of dry food a day each, no wet. One only eats when she is hungry the other is food driven. We bought a cat fishing line which comes with a selection of toys and it has been a mixed blessing. The food driven cat loves the fishing line to the point that she demands it every day from DH for over an hour. I would recommend it though as play is always good and this toy can be used while hearing a child read or watching tv. Tiny cat (Mog) is 3.4kg and food driven cat (Meg) is 3.9kg. They are indoor cats which makes play even more important.

Not wanting to derail the thread, but have you tried one of those puzzle feeders? Designed so that they have to lick it out of the grooves so it takes longer. I have one that is shaped like a cat head, it worked. Gives it a chance to go down slowly, and feed little and often.

My greedy girl is a different animal since I switched her from pouches to grain free dry food mixed with cheap minced beef. Food bill has halved and her appetite is finally satiated. Cats eat meat and I don't think there was much of that in the pouches.

This. We use Royal Canin but once we ran out and couldn't source any more for three days. So we bought Go Cat and a supermarket own brand and I don't think the cats ate for the whole three days. They just were soooooo unimpressed with the lower quality dry food!

Wet food is much better than dry, cats are prone to dehydration which affects their kidneys with time. Dry food also often contains lots of grain and other fillers.
They key is to give them quality wet food, Whiskers and the like are rubbish, but there are lots of high quality foods available (at a price unfortunately), google grain-free wet cat food.

OP, might your cat be bored?
I think sticking to a very rigid 2-3 meals a day at set times is what’s needed here, so the cat learns that pestering doesn’t work.

A cat needs 39cals per pound of bodyweight.

Male Maine Coons weigh 15-25 pounds

So your cat will need at least 585 calories a day and probably much more.

A pouch of cat food is usually 80-120 cals.

You really need to consider feeding him more, no wonder he is hassling you for food, poor thing sounds famished!