Question:
My female cat, Sydney, seems to always be begging for food. She meows and meows to be fed and then if I give her a little snack, she eats about 3 crunchies and then walks away. They are both being fed the recommended amount of food per day and get 3 feedings, one in the morning, dinner, and then right before bed. I think it is more of a habit than anything but it's starting to get old. Any ideas?


Answer:
Candy I agree with you that its more of a habit than anything. that is the same way Aspen is. there are times when he meows like crazy to be fed.. then he will either nibble a little bit then walk away.. or just turn up his nose at it and walk away. he always has his dry food sitting there. and when he gets hungry he will eat that. but still has to meow at me.


Answer:
Ignore her!!!
My brother had the same problem with his 2 cats... they get fed scheduled feedings 3 times per day as well... They simply ignore them and when the time comes for their feeding they are right there waiting in front of their bowls... It's actually hilarious... I was over there once and the cats were both sleeping on their bed and at 5 minutes to 5 pm both cats came out of the bedroom and sat in front of their bowls and stared at the clock! I swear to God! They have one of those annoying clocks with the bird sounds and they stared at it until the bird started chirping and then they started meowing...then my brother went over and fed them...


Answer:
hahahahaha.... too funny Su!!!!!!!!


Answer:
Sue, as crazy as that sounds, I think I may need something similar. I was thinking of buying an automatic feeder or some kind of alarm so that she stops associating me (especially when I walk by their food) with feeding time. Any ideas what I can use that won't drive me crazy?


Answer:
I know this is going to be hard, but maybe try ignoring them at that time no matter how much they beg. It's going to get worse before they give up but it might work. Maybe distract them with a toy?


Answer:
I ignored them for the 8 months that I lived on my own and it still didn't work. They are getting better now that I have moved their food bowls because the area has less traffic and therefore, fewer opportunities to beg for food. I will keep you posted though.