Stopping Begging

My three cats get good quality food and eat plenty of it, but they still beg for scraps. Sometimes they act as hungry as a feral cat and try to eat food out of our dishes or try to get into the trash. All three were rescues, but all of them were so young when we got them that I doubt they actually did any of these behaviors while they were feral.

How do you train your cats not to beg for food?

 

Would love to know the answer to this as well. My cat is constantly acting like he is hungry. I always fill his bowl up at least twice a day. Sometimes he will even beg if his bowl is not completely full as if he wants it to be topped off with "fresh" food! The only difference is a lot of the time he is just begging for me to add cat food to his dish. He has been doing this for years.

My question to you double lady is, do you know if ALL three of your cats are able to get enough of the food you put out? Sometimes only one of them is eating all of it or the majority of it leaving the others still hungry. I do have a dog so I know that sometimes he is the one eating my cats food unfortunately but I have lately had to separate them during feedings and give them each their own food. Although my cat still seems hungry all the time.

 

I've been using self-feeding containers that have a lot of food. Usually my cats seem to eat at different times and don't stop until they are full. But then they'll turn around after eating all that food and still harass me for what I'm eating. They are eating a little too much though so I'm going to start feeding measured amounts at certain times. I'm going to have to separate them to do it though because otherwise the youngest will just eat everyone's food. The two older boys don't stop her unless it's a special treat.

To get around the "top up" problem with our cats I use the self-feeders, since the food in the bin doesn't lose its smell like the stuff sitting in the bowl. Cats really don't want to eat food that's sat out because the smell fades away and they're big on smells. If I've got a food that has sat out sometimes I add a tiny sprinkle of tuna juice from canned tuna, watered down with 3 parts of water, to cover it. The new scent makes them all excited about it again.

 

I have a cat who acts like she is always starving, but I feed her three times a day if not more. Maybe she is going through a growth spirt, I am not sure.

 

I think the cats figure whatever we are eating must be better than whats in their bowl but once you give in to their meows and pleading stare just once, you have started a hard to break habit. As Doublelady said, cats are big on smells, that may also be why a well feed cat will still beg for food. Maybe giving them some smelly cat food before just before you sit down to eat would help.

 

I made the big mistake of giving them something straight from the refrigerator ones, so this has become the favorite begging spot for my kitties.
They hardly beg but if I leave trash out or a plate they will try and get their paws on it. I think it has to do with smell and the part of 'hunting down' or 'finding' your own food as well. There is no more thrill of a hunt when there is always food out. This is just a guess though. When we have dinner I give my cats their wet food which might keep them from begging as well. I am not sure as they didn't beg a lot to start out with, but I know for sure they are occupied when we are having dinner

 

It seems like now that my cats have been eating a better food for a few days, begging has gone way down. I ate a bowl full of chicken right in front of the youngest cat, who used to be the worst about trying to get your food, and she just looked at me and went back to sleep.

 

For the 'top me off' meow, I simply stir what's in the bowl if it's not too old. If it's been there all day, I change it out with fresh food. My cat isn't too picky tho since I started him on raw food. For cats on a mostly dry food diet, they may just not be satisfied as much as they would be with canned or raw food.

 

I'm having this issue too with my 4 year old! He was never a beggar, but I think one of my friends must have tossed him some really tasty steak or something delicious because now he's even reaching his paws on the table trying to grab whatever he can reach! It's so funny to watch, but embarrassing when I have company!

 

That is a really good questions, because I have tried to get my outdoor cats to stop doing that all the time. But they will just beg us for food when we are having a cookout, or having dinner on our deck.

 

This is not an easy problem to solve. Green Seven does the same thing when I am eating. I have to take him to his food dish and make sure that he has started eating before I begin on my own food.

 

Your cat is named Green Seven, Victor? Just curious to know where you came up with that name. Oh, and super cool banner Max! I need to make one for my cats! DId you use some sort of program to make that or did you just PhotoShop it?

 

Green Seven is a natural name for my tom. He has green eyes and a tail with a crook in it like the number seven.