I AM right in saying "No" when they ask for more food not long after I gave them their dinner and they didn't eat it all, Yes?

[ghosty]

Am I right or am I right?

you are dead right!

weeeeell.
at mine its fruit / raw veg / oatcakes / cereal when that happens.

are they hungry though?
I would give them toast or fruit or a bowl of cereal, but then I am a soft mummy
I used to hate going to bed hungry

Do they maybe need more and smaller meals? How old are they? Agree with SCF.

Ok, LOL ... Get this:

My kids are 7 and 3 and are ok about this really.

The problem is my blinking bloody CAT!!!

She's 1.

How do I enforce that A1 Parenting rule with a sodding cat???

She begs for food. I fill her bowl (not full, not even half full these days). She eats for maybe 3 minutes, hardly has any of it. Walks away. x amount of time later she is miauing and driving me mad, even ambushing me in the hallway by jumping out at me, nipping my ankles, tripping me up in the kitchen. I put her in front of her food. She won't have a bar of it.

So I either put a bit more in and she will eat a teeny bit. Or I will empty what she didn't eat, put a bit more in which she will nibble at then anything between 20 minutes and 2 hours later she is doing the same thing ... with a load of food still in her bowl ...

She's driving me nuts. She is not losing weight ... she is healthy looking and happy otherwise ...

What's your intention in making them go hungry? Is it a punishment? Do they learn something useful from it? Is it not a good idea for them to learn to eat when they are hungry and not when you decide they should eat?

i dont want to say "you aren't / can't be hungry" to them.... i think they must learn to recognise when they are / arent hungry.... and i wouldnt like to be told that by someone!..... doesnt mean i let them eat crap or stuff themselves with snacks 30 mins before a meal...

great minds franny

Cross posts. You are asking for parenting advice about your cat?

OK first rule - never try and discipline a CAT
I can't believe you don't know this rule.
the cat is in charge

Like I said, my children aren't the problem

It seems like she doesn't like the food you are giving her?

you should read"how to talk so your cat will listen and how to listen so your cat will talk".....

by steve kittulph.

But it is 'Supreme' Vet's recommend it, Scientific stuff ...

She has to like it!

I can see your point, F&Z, but I had this problem with ds. So I keep his dinner, and if he is hungry, I will heat it up, and he can eat that. But to be honest, since realising he isn't going to be allowed to stuff crackers, biscuits and raisinss in between meals, he is eating better anyway.

I cannot afford to have him turn down meal after meal, only to subsist on toast.

LOL at Cat Guru book

is she your furry alarm clock, ghosty?

Give her katkins. Cat equivelant of Nuggets.

Is there a book that will help me get my cat into a routine?

Yup ... furry alarm clock ... yes

the contented pussy?

you can get it on miaouazon

that's another publication entirely

oooh i wouldnt google that trisha!