Why does my cat complain to me that he’s never been fed in his life when his bowl is still half full of food?

[BlodwinTheThird]

Forcing me to perform an hourly charade of getting up, pretending to put more food in his bowl, putting it down whereupon he proceeds to eat it.

Why does he do this? Why??

Because cats are wee shite bags
Mine threw up on the carpet this morning. He starting retching on the bed so he got shoved on the floor. Was cleaning my carpet at 6.30am.

Ours ask for food then look like you've crapped in their bowls as its not the food they wanted

A) because that’s “old” food
B) because he wants your attention
C) because he’s a cat
Any of the above.

Ours is a fussy bastard. Only likes beef flavour or lamb flavour and will yowl and hit me in disgust if it is chicken flavour or with jelly instead of gravy. She happily eats toast, though.

He wants your company. Mine does this when I get back from holiday. I don't need to pretend to put more, but I need to stay around until he finishes his food.

Can he see the bottom of the dish? That's always a crime in our house unless it's late in the day. I shuffle food about a bit and that seems to placate the feline overlord

Because your role in life is to serve him. He is providing you with extra opportunities to fulfill your life’s purpose and give your world meaning.

YABU to even ask the question, tbh. You should be grateful to exist in his house.

@Clymene

Can he see the bottom of the dish? That's always a crime in our house unless it's late in the day. I shuffle food about a bit and that seems to placate the feline overlord

Woody won't eat biscuits if they're around the outside of his dish I have to shake the dish so they're in the centre... good job he's so cute

One of my (male) cats is the same. He’s always meowing at me throughout the day.

Because they can.

One of mine had started to try and form howls 😮

"Woody won't eat biscuits if they're around the outside of his dish confused I have to shake the dish so they're in the centre... good job he's so cute"

That's an actual thing - Whisker Fatigue/Stress. Their little whiskers touch the sides of the bowl too much and it makes it uncomfortable for them. Having the food in the middle of the bowl or a bowl without high sides helps

My new arrival, Grubby Cat is monumentally thick about dry food.

Unless he's witnessed it going in the bowl, and it's been in the bowl for under 30s it's 'stale' and no longer fit for cat consumption.

Meal times take about 3 tries. he doesn't seem to notice we put the uneatened food back in the box each time.

How he survived as a street cat is a mystery. He's so picky.

To be a little more serious than your frankly whimsical replies cats 'eat with their noses' - so if the food has been in the bowl for say half an hour and lost some of its pungency the cat will not eat it.

If you jiggle it around a bit [technical term] then it releases more pong and thus registers as grub. Sometimes just going nearer because they think you've put more food in gets them to smell it again and register it as food.

@AnnaMagnani mine was a street cat for 4 years. Now if I forget to put his salmon oil on his food, he looks in the bowl then at me and howls mournfully
Beef flavour makes him vomit, he won't eat chunks or anything in gravy or jelly. He's on raw or organic grain free pouches

@Whatsissname

"Woody won't eat biscuits if they're around the outside of his dish confused I have to shake the dish so they're in the centre... good job he's so cute"

That's an actual thing - Whisker Fatigue/Stress. Their little whiskers touch the sides of the bowl too much and it makes it uncomfortable for them. Having the food in the middle of the bowl or a bowl without high sides helps

explains a lot!

Food bowls can only be in three states:

Full
Empty
Dangerously near empty, which you are probably referring to as "half full".

That's completely normal.

I'd be worried if he wasn't acting like that.

I have one who howls and scratches the furniture until you accompany him to the food bowl, because once three years ago he went on an unaccompanied trip to his food bowl and discovered it "empty" and had to rush back to acquire a human to do something about it. Obviously by ensuring he always has a human with him when he looks at the food bowl means someone can fill it, and if there is indeed food already in the bowl well you've had some exercise haven't you.

He even walks past the bowl to get someone to walk back and look into the bowl

To remind you of your purpose in life- that is to serve him.

I cleaned out under my bed the other day. It was packed full of stuff and dust. Emptied it out, hoovered. It was spotless. I was literally winding the Hoover cord up when I heard the sound. Yes, my cat was vomiting right on the carpet under the centre of the bed so I had to crawl right in to clean it.

These responses are making me laugh 😹. Although I’m feeling pretty bad about whisker fatigue and ‘eating with noses’ too 😬

Just want to throw this into the mix , I agree with all the responses but if your cat is elderly it may be possible that they have feline dementia, and they forget that they've been fed.

Most likely though he's just being a shitebag!

Ours just stares at you silently and unblinking til you stop what you're doing and then leads you to his bowls where upon he sits silently staring at said bowls with a mournful expression until they are filled to his satisfaction.

He has got us very well trained

Ahhh I am always amazed by the Cat/Meal Time Routine .

Male jumps on our bed at 5am to remind us he is Here and has A Mouth
Female walks in front of DH slowly with her tail kinked
They circle him like sharks
Eat then go out

13.30 they appear , like the shopkeeper in Mr Benn . Dreamies Time

Female likes to hoik food out with her paw to eat it
She does a stroppy Miaow at supper time .

I have always had a rule of Animals Fed First .
The guinea-pigs appreciated this . The cats demand it .

Dcat1 needs to see the food go in the bowl, and I am to psychically know if he wants wet food or dry. If any part of the bottom of the bowl is visible, the bowl is empty. If I put out dry food, and he wanted wet, the bowl is empty. If I leave the room, and he wanted company while he eats, the bowl is empty. If the bowl is empty, then he's on the phone to the RSPCA.

I had a search up on Whisker Fatigue/Stress .
I did wonder if there was a whisker:width ratio ( the thing about cats will check a gap to make sure they can fit by if the whiskers do ) Our cats have amazing whiskers yet my Vet always says they're "heavy" . If they grew to fit the whisker length they'd be the size of a small house !

Our bowls have a wavy scalloped edge presumably for whisker manouvering .
The paw scooping is when Female Cat likes to show off

Refused to give Cat the second breakfast he wanted (tried to trick me into giving) this morning, so he decided to lick some fat he found