Does your cat bother you for treats?

[weegiemum]

At the grand old age of 9, our cat has discovered Dreamies! We got a neighbour to feed her while we were away for a long weekend and the neighbour was very nice to her, bringing her own cat's treats to share!

Dd2 thought this was great (we did try treats when cat was young but she showed no interest!) and went out and bought our own bag of tuna dreamies. They are a hit! So much so that cat has started pestering for them. I have an armchair in the kitchen (disabled, not lazy!!) and it's right by the cupboard where the treats are kept. Cat never paid an awful lot of attention to me, she much prefers dh, but now I am Keeper Of The Dreamies I am very much flavour of the month. She climbs on me, rubs against my ankles, meows constantly and ignores her food if she thinks a treat might be forthcoming. I'm trying not to give her too many but she simply won't leave me alone, and now the dog is trying his luck as well!

Is she now addicted to Cat Crack or will it settle down?

Cat tax paid!

Yes. Penelope gangs up with Cheddar to get Sheba.

Yes. He gets a few dreamies first thing in the morning on his cat tower and runs there and waits for them. Gets quite agitated if anyone doesn’t follow the drill. He has a lick e licks as Sunday treat and recognises the cupboard they come from so gets super excited when anyone opens that cupboard!

Our cat will happily sleep in her bed by the radiator in the living room until she hears any sort of food action in the kitchen, and then she's through like a shot, wailing her head off. That food might be something she's interested in (a tin of tuna or pack of ham being opened to make a sandwich for example) or something she would absolutely never eat and would never get offered even a crumb of (at Christmas she was mortally wounded that I had a mince pie and she didn't).

At night we have a routine where she pops up by my chair at 10pm on the dot, has her "snacks" - two Dreamies - and then goes out for her final patrol of the garden before bed.

One of my cats sits next to the Dreamies tub and purrs very aggressively while staring at me. Sometimes he taps the tub if I don't move fast enough. He only gets them once a day, and accepts that.

I have 3.

They all sit and stare at me 3/4 times a day to get their hit.

Whatever you do, don't introduce your cat to cat nip it's 100 times worse.

Our cats don’t shadow me, but they assemble in the kitchen by the snack cupboard whenever my DH walks into the kitchen. They will also take up positions to watch him when he sits on the couch at night. If he says the word “snacks” they appear instantly.

Change food wrapper to Dreamies and you have most cats!

Our cats don't specifically bother us for treats and they are surprisingly tolerant of own brand ones (given how fussy they are about general food!)
But the treats have to be put away straight away, or kept in a click-lock type plastic box. If the bag of treats is left out overnight they will rip the bag to shreds and devour the whole packet in one go (sometimes with unpleasant consequences 🤢)

Yep! Bruno and willow know the cuboard the treats are kept in so as soon as that's opened they run from wherever they are the house to try and get a treat 🥹

Only if we're in the kitchen around mealtimes - otherwise they don't really show any interest.

Of course - usually five minutes after she's just had some.

Many years ago I did read about some cat behaviour research which suggested that cats target the weakest person in the human household to pester for treats.
In my household it is just me and my partner. She has a massive important highly paid job. She has always been a high flyer even when we were young.
And so all the cats we have ever had target her. Our old cat I would say bullied her to get food and treats. Including waking her up, never me, by sitting on her and hitting her in the face.
I think though OP you might need to move the treats if you can't move your chair. Cats always get what they want. Your cat is super gorgeous I would give her treats on demand!

One out of two does this, then his brother benefits! (He never does the nagging though!)

Black & White cat will run to the cupboard he knows they are in and shout until you've either shown him we're out of them or given him a couple!