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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / November 2004Greedy cat
Hi, I have two cats. One is a female and a normal weight. One is a neutered male and is getting tubby. He seems to eat about 3 times the recommended amount of cat food he should be eating. I feed them both dry and wet cat food. The female seems to prefer the wet food, whilst the male prefers dry. My cats greediness is disturbing my sleep. I get up to feed him about 3 times at night. It drives me nuts. I have tried ignoring him but he scratches the bedroom furniture and whines until I get up. I am afraid he will ruin my furniture or wake my kids, so I get up to feed him. My other cat does not disturb me at all at night, until its time for breakfast. Please help. My cat is putting on weight and I haven't had a decent nights sleep for months!!! Chrissie > My cats greediness is disturbing my sleep. I get up to feed him about 3 > times at night. It drives me nuts. I have tried ignoring him but he > scratches the bedroom furniture and whines until I get up. I am afraid he > will ruin my furniture or wake my kids, so I get up to feed him. My other > cat does not disturb me at all at night, until its time for breakfast. You know, when it's unpleasant for them to wake you, they stop. ;) Punish him for waking you, don't reward him. Why do you think he does it? If your kid whines and whines for candy, do you give it to her? Do you think that's going to make her stop whining for candy, or whine more? Use of time outs (put him locked in the bathroom or basement or whatever), loud clapping or 'NO', squirt bottle, and other aversives will quickly disabuse him of the notion that waking you is a good thing. You don't want to hurt him, obviously, but he should get an aversive (NO, squirt, time-out) for doing something wrong (waking you), not a reward (food). HTH  Signature-- ~kaeli~ Every calendar's days are numbered. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace >> My cats greediness is disturbing my sleep. I get up to feed him about 3 >> times at night. It drives me nuts. I have tried ignoring him but he [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > HTH You are so right. If my DD woke me up in the middle of the night for food I would tell her to go back to bed! I think I will try the squirt bottle. Thanks! > Hi, > My cats greediness is disturbing my sleep. I get up to feed him about 3 > times at night. It drives me nuts. I have tried ignoring him but he > scratches the bedroom furniture and whines until I get up. I am afraid he > will ruin my furniture or wake my kids, so I get up to feed him. My other > cat does not disturb me at all at night, until its time for breakfast. > Chrissie If you give him more food before bed, will he eat it all at once, no matter how much you put down? >> Hi, >> My cats greediness is disturbing my sleep. I get up to feed him about 3 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > matter > how much you put down? Yes. I always feed him before I go to bed (between 10pm and 11pm) and he has woken me up again before 2am. >From: "Chris" chris54711@freeserve.com >One is a neutered male >and is getting tubby. He seems to eat about 3 times the recommended amount >of cat food he should be eating. Then why are you giving it to him? You control his diet, not him. You need to portion his food according to what his caloric requirements are. If you need to, consult your vet in this regard. >I get up to feed him about 3 >times at night. As Kaeli said, you need to train him to not wake you. good luck, Lauren ________ See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html Declawing Info: http://www.wholecatjournal.com/articles/claws.htm > As Kaeli said, you need to train him to not wake you. On a bit of a side note, I am a HORRID person for _anyone_ to wake up, human or animal, so wonder of wonders, no one ever does. Always have been. My mother carried me to bed until I was nearly as big as she was if I fell asleep somewhere other than my bed. If I was on the couch, I stayed there. My cats can walk on my head and it doesn't faze me in the least. A person can vaccuum right next to the bed and I won't stir. It takes a LOT to wake me up. If something has done enough to wake me, I'm pretty peeved about it. I'm not a morning person. I've broken a few alarm clocks in my day. *LOL* The current one is an extra loud one and it's across the room so I don't chuck it against the wall and roll over and go back to sleep. Signature-- ~kaeli~ Do cemetery workers prefer the graveyard shift? http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace > The current one is an extra loud one and it's across the room so I don't > chuck it against the wall and roll over and go back to sleep. I have one alarm clock that is across the room and another one that is *downstairs in the kitchen* -- because I can easily get up, cross the room, turn off the alarm clock, and go back to bed and sleep. Oy. My favorite though is my puppy alarm clock -- Zoe will jump on my head and then kiss my face until I get up -- it's good to wake up laughing! --Catherine & Rosalie the calicohead & special guest appearance from Zoe the cockerchow .... He seems to eat about 3 times the recommended amount > of cat food he should be eating. ...> My cats greediness is disturbing my > sleep. I get up to feed him about 3 times at night. It ...> Please help. > My cat is putting on weight and I haven't had a decent nights sleep for > months!!! > Chrissie I think you might be encouraging it by rewarding the behavior. But, if the cat really seems to be so excessively hungry, there might be a medical problem. You should take the cat to the vet for a blood workup and a checkup. Also, if you can get him to have a diet of canned food, or at least a diet of more canned than dry, it will be better for him and he'll be less likely to put on weight, assuming that he does not have a medical problem causing the hungar and weight gain. Annie I would try free feeding them. In my household there are 3 cats and the food dishes have food in them around the clock and they have water in the other dishes as well. I usually get a decent night's sleep and never get awakened by a hungry or thirsty cat. SignatureCat Galaxy: All Cats! All The Time! www.catgalaxymedia.com Panther TEK: Staying On Top Of Your Computer Needs! www.panthertekit.com > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Chrissie No, no, no! Do NOT free feed this cat. 1, he's getting reinforcement (positive) for waking her up, so he's going to continue that, even if there's already food in the bowl. 2, if this cat is gaining weight, allowing him to eat as much as he wants will only cause him to gain more weight. The first thing that has to happen is to stop getting up when he bothers you. I know it's hard--and perhaps he'll wake you or your kids a few times--but it can be done. You might need to shut all of your bedroom doors for a couple of weeks. You can play with him to tire him out just before bedtime, so he has less nighttime energy. Does he have something to do at night--a cat tree, window perch, bird feeder to watch? Second, it sounds like you need to establish two mealtimes and stick to them, one in the morning and one at night. Another poster had mentioned giving him more canned, which will help him feel fuller and help him not gain weight. I have been working with Megan (who regularly posts here) on an all-canned diet to help my Tucker lose weight, and it's working well. Hopefully she'll post here with her thoughts. It sounds like kitty has "trained" you well, but it's time to break the cycle and get back to a more normal schedule. Good luck. Rene > I would try free feeding them. In my household there are 3 cats and the food > dishes have food in them around the clock and they have water in the other [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > > > Chrissie > I would try free feeding them. If the OP tries this, her cat will be entirely spherical within a week. On the plus side, it wouldn't be able to scratch the furniture because its paws would not be able to reach the ground. Steve. Not really. It really depends on the cat. All mine are healthy and have had no weight problems due to free feeding. SignatureCat Galaxy: All Cats! All The Time! www.catgalaxymedia.com Panther TEK: Staying On Top Of Your Computer Needs! www.panthertekit.com > If the OP tries this, her cat will be entirely spherical within a > week. On the plus side, it wouldn't be able to scratch the furniture > because its paws would not be able to reach the ground. > > Steve. >Not really. It really depends on the cat. All mine are healthy and have had >no weight problems due to free feeding. You've already said before Jade is fat. Sherry Yes, it does depend on the cat. Some cats are self-regulating. However, if you read the original post, this cat is already putting on weight. Free feeding would be a disaster, b/c the cat would eat even more. Rene > Not really. It really depends on the cat. All mine are healthy and have had > no weight problems due to free feeding. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > > > Steve. > Not really. It really depends on the cat. Yes. That's why I mentioned the OP's cat, this being a thread about the OP's cat - not your cat, my cat, or any other random cat that wanders past. > All mine are healthy and have had no weight problems due to free feeding. All well and good, but c.40% of cats in the US are overweight - dry food and free feeding are mostly to blame. And on the flip side you apparently feed Noxious Scrapings from the Bowel Walls of Hell to your cats, which is not a Good Thing, I warrant... S. |
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