She’s five years old now and developed an annoying habit within the past six months.
Until now, she’s eaten her food by herself when hungry, but she’s gotten into the habit of wanting her food to be ‘prepared’.
Basically, I’ll be working at my computer and she’ll come into my computer room, jump up on my desk, sit and meow at me, reach up and touch my leg with her paw, or just sit at the door and stare at me to get my attention.
Then, she’ll lead me to her food and ask me to do prepare it. If I pick up the plate and shake it, or simply move her dry kibbles around with my hand, then dinner’s ready!
So, evidently, the issue isn’t with the food itself. I suspect it’s a social habit, but it’s driving me a bit nutty.
I’ve moved the food bowl into my computer room so she can eat and be social with me, but it isn’t enough, she still wants me to prep her food.
Sometimes she doesn’t even want me to prep her food, simply gesturing to leave the chair will prompt her to begin eating (though sometimes not).
If I ignore her she’ll eventually start eating after a few minutes, but it’s annoying.
If anyone knows a way to break this habit and encourage my daughter to regain her independence and self-autonomy, I’ll be eternally grateful.
Have you tried ignoring it? Sometimes cats are like little kids, trying to get your attention. Maybe if you simply ignore her when she does it and give her extra attention afterwards she drops it!
Good luck!
It’s what I’m doing now. Although it’s really hard sometimes. I’m frequently busy at my computer, and ignoring her means she’ll walk all over my desk and stare at me for a few minutes which is very frustrating.
Obviously I’m trying not to encourage her annoying behaviors, but sometimes I don’t have the time to be patient.
If you reinforce the behaviour with attention she will continue it, that’s how it works. Ignore and she will stop, but do give her some acceptable method to get normal attention (not just asking you to prep her dinner) and encourage that. You can pick her up off the desk and set her on the ground nicely if she is physically in the way.
Sounds though! Good luck! :)
When I was a kid my pet box turtle started doing this thing where he lift one foreleg and Stretch his head straight up, mouth open, waiting for me to hand feed the spoiled little shit lol. I never figured out when, why, or how it started, though it was only with worms. I still miss the little guy, 3ish decades later.
Point is, sure it may be somewhere on the silly to obnoxious spectrum, but pets generally don’t live as long as we do. I say just adapt to their quirks and enjoy the ride. If nothing else, it’ll make for find memories and a funny story later.
I’m speculating here but your cat could be seeing your preparation as assurance that the food is safe for her to eat. By instinct, cats tend to be picky eaters out of concern for eating spoiled food that could result in serious illness. Cats are not scavengers and don’t have the digestive system and metabolism for food that is not fresh. I think cats in colonies may behave the same way with each other to keep themselves safe. If my thought is correct, your cat is trusting your judgement and she may feel okay putting her life in your hands. This could be symbolic of a very strong bond. 😻
Makes sense, but I don’t know why she would develop the habit after four years of eating food without hesitation. She hasn’t had any serious illness.
I even go through the effort of changing her food bowl daily so she doesn’t smell the old food. She could even eat some of the food, come back in an hour and demand I prep her food again. It’s very annoying.
Hmmmm … Another thing worth trying is replacing her bowl with a plate. This behavior could also be her telling you that she has “whisker fatigue.” As you know, a cat’s whiskers are highly sensitive. The repeated rubbing of her whiskers against the sides of the bowl could be causing her some discomfort and she is expressing this to the best of her ability. It helped me very much to consider this after you told me that she ate without hesitation for years. It could be that as she has aged, she is less able to tolerate the continuous triggering sensation of her whiskers rubbing against the side of the bowl as she is eating.
I am just an armchair cat behaviorist. I learned a lot from watching Jackson Galaxy but that does not make me, by any means whatsoever, an expert. If switching from the bowl to a plate does not solve the behavior, I think I would take her to the vet and just get her checked out with some blood work done. Cats are masters at hiding their pain and discomfort out of instinctual fear of predation.
She’s ready eating off a plate lol. I say bowl as a colloquial term. She really has nothing to complain about other than my lack of immediate attention.
Seems like a cute habit. How annoying can it be? Maybe you should just comply. Kitty gets what kitty wants.
Also pls pay your cat tax. I need a photo of this allegedly “annoying” kitty
If I must…
I’m sorry, but now that I have seen the cat, I’m siding with her. She deserves the world.
Are you feeding in a bowl? I recently read that cats don’t like when their whiskers touch the side of the bowl, so maybe she’s wanting you to make the pile taller. Perhaps try a shallow dish instead if you are using a bowl.
Not sure how to break it, but my cat developed the same thing after I started wfh. Seems to be some kind of clinginess? He ate independently before, but after starting wfh he always needed some attention first. Now that I’ve gone back to going in he’s mostly better about it, but we had some rough few months of him having separation anxiety before he got more independent again.
