Advice about kitten wanting our food

[Uponmytiptoes]

Hoping for some advice. We got two kittens two weeks ago and they're lovely but when were eating one of them wants out food and is quite insistent!

They were both terrible with this when they arrived but I've been telling them no and moving them away, one of them has got it and leaves us alone when we eat but the other one (the bigger one if that makes a difference) is driving me nuts and really upsetting my toddler.

I've tried feeding them before us/at the same time but she'll leave her food to come for ours (we've never given them our food to encourage this).

Today she was getting really bad with it so I popped her in the spare room. Once we'd finished I let her out again (less than 10 minutes) and she'd pooped on the bed and when she came out she sprinted to my son (who makes crumbs) with a big thick tail and really scared him. Every time I moved her away she ran back to him.
I don't think she needed the litter tray as she'd been this morning and usually seems to just go twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

They're both lovely friendly, gentle cats so I'm not sure what got into her but I'd just like some advice on how to stop the jumping on our plates somehow. Anyone have any ideas?

Is she jumping onto the table?

Yes, I pick her up and put her on the couch with her sister and she runs back across the room and onto the table (we have an open plan kitchen/living room).

I can only think this is bad habits from the breeder possibly.

I would put both kittens in a room together while you are eating, put a litter tray in the room too, possibly even food and water.

Oh, and the big thick tail is the kitten who is frightened … they do that when they’re frightened to ‘ward off’ predators…

You just need to be patient, really. Keep doing what you're doing, picking them up off the table and putting them on the floor every time they do it. Will they be going outside once they're neutered? That will make a difference, they'll have other distractions like hunting for themselves. It may also be worth including them a little bit. Our cats always have a little bit of cooked chicken when we have some, for instance, and they tend to be happy once they've had their share and wonder off for a nap. If they get a bit of the nice smelling food in their own bowl, they'll start waiting for it there rather than climbing on the table looking for it. You obviously don't want to do this too often, but occasionally won't hurt.

I'm assuming your house is open plan so you can't just shut the kitchen/dining room door when you eat?

As you have a spare room set it up for the kittens, litter tray, water bowl, dry food, cat tree and some toys, go in there to play with them every day and then use it when you're eating or if you need them contained. You can't just dump them in there unprepared as this is massively stressful for them.

Ah thank you everyone, we really love the kittens and I certainly wasn't meaning to scare her by putting her in the bedroom. I didn't realise it would be stressful, her and her sister are often in that room playing and it was the room next to us (we're in a flat) so I thought she'd be okay for 10 minutes. I won't be doing it again.

Hopefully as pp mentioned it'll get easier once they're neutered and can explore outside 😊