Cat giving up its food wonder why

[meaningofnight]

We have 2 black moggies. Younger of them is really noisy and greedy. Older one much more refined. Little one always starts to eat her food (while keeping an eye on the other one's bowl), stops half way through, goes over to other cat, barges her out of the way and eats all her food before going back to finish her own.

Can't understand why older cat lets her do this. She just wanders off patiently even if she's only had a bite or two.

We had the older cat for two years before the other one moved in as a kitten. Older cat is definitely the boss everywhere else and a bit grumpy (not averse to dishing out a good swipe if she fancies it). If they play fight little one always ends up squeaking in a head lock.

So why would a cat give up her food? Sometimes I feed them in separate rooms, but thats not always practical and I can't stand over them all the time!

Because secretly she lurves her!

Our dogs are the same. Our older dog is almost 3 and our pup is 8 months. Although the older one is definitely top dog, she lets the pup walk all over her when it comes to food. Like your kitten, the pup will eat half her food, then will barge the older dog out of the way to eat hers (as if she's saying "oooh what've you got? Is it better than mine?"!) Our older dog is quite happy to let her do it, and without so much as a grumble will just walk over to the pups dish to finish hers off instead. Sometimes she'll even lick the pups head when she sticks it in the bowl! Luckily both dogs eat at the same rate so nobody ever goes without. It's quite funny really, as any other time the older dog takes no nonsense from her. But she seems quite happy to let the pup do what she likes when it comes to food. It's the same with treats - if we give the older dog a biscuit first, she'll spit it out and give it to the pup and then wait for us to give her another one. She hates to think the pup is going without! In our case, I think our older one mothers the pup a bit (even though the pup is now bigger than her!).

The only problem is, it's teaching your younger cat that barging your older one out of the way will earn her extra dinner. So in future, when she moves to the older cat's bowl, take her own bowl away. That way she can't go back and finish it afterwards. It should sink in after a few days. But until your cat stands up for itself, there's not much you can do unfortunately, except feeding them separately.

Oh I am pleased if it means she lurves her! I was worried little cat was evil bully of cat world and big cat afraid.

We got the kitten after 2 years of having the older cat (Bob).

Bob was a rescue cat and had had a troubled childhood (the rescue place found a rusty sewing needle in her head). She had never had a garden before and she was really happy to be able to go outside. She was fierce with neighbourhood cats defending her patch until she ended up in a terrible fight and got badly bitten. Then she went a bit weird, licking herself like a lunatic until all the fur had gone from her back legs (not a good look).

We got the kitten and after a bit of initial hissing Bob accepted her and all the crazy licking stopped. They seem happy together and the only problem is this food thing. sometimes Bob goes to her food bowl and spends ages scratching the wall next to it as if she's marking her spot, but then just caves in when the greed monster approaches.

What an awful start your older cat had! It doesn't sound like she's scared of the younger one, as scared cats tend to hiss and attack, rather than just walk calmly away. And as it's been going on for a while now, she wouldn't keep going through the same rigmarole every night if she didn't want to. It's funny what they'll put up with, isn't it? You might find that she sees the kitten as her surrogate baby, especially if it was brought in quite young.

Our cats had a bad start too - we resuced them from a farm at 6 weeks old after they were left for dead. They were in shocking condition and wouldn't have survived much longer if we hadn't taken them, but you wouldn't know it now! They're sisters but completely different - one is small and slim, as is always out hunting. The other is fat and lazy, and is always asleep! Both absolutely love the pup, so she she gets away with murder with them too! The smallest cat is the funniest, if the pup gets too boisturous, the fat cat just walks away. But the smaller one will flip onto her back and start boxing the pup round the ears with her front paws - she always keeps her claws in though so she doesn't hurt her! It always has me rolling with laughter, you can hear the 'thud thud thud' as she pummels the pup, but the daft dog just stands there with her tail wagging madly!

Aaaagh Mrs 123. Your pets sound lovely. It's so horrible to think they have been badly treated by some ghastly humans isn't it. The vet told us that the needle would have hurt Bob every time she tried to eat or if she was petted. It has taken about 5 years for her to be brave enough to sit near us or ask for a stroke. She used to bite (not hard) every time you put your hand near her head. Now she rules the house!