# Meal time - How do your cat(s) react?



## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

Yoshi gets 3 meals per day, and goes absolutely buts when it's time to eat. Actually, he starts acting up 1-1.5 hours before.....pretty much on the nose, which seems a bit strange. I joke that he "puts his countdown clock on" about an hour before.

So....when it comes time to feed him, I have to put him in his bedroom so I can actually get the food ready. He starts talking and crying NON stop, he jumps on the counter and headbutts me, while pacing back and forth in front of me at the sink while I hand wash his dish and serving fork (the fork is for me to prepare the food, not for him to use! LOL).

He's goes completely bonkers. 
So I was wondering if your cats have any crazy behavior when it comes to feeding time? Please share!

I've actually questioned whether or not I'm feeding him enough, but I do believe I am. He gets 1/4 of a 5.5oz can every meal for 3 meals/day. So all-in-all, 3/4 of a can per day total. I also add a little bit of water to some of his meals, hoping that it might make him feel fuller, but it doesn't seem to. 

I guess I just have a little piggy on my hands.


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## littleminnie (Nov 9, 2011)

How old is your Yoshi? Does he look at you for more when he is finished with what you gave him? Does he get any kibble in between? 3/4 of a can per day doesnt seem like much food. I would give him more until she is content.


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

No dry food. He was previously on 50/50 wet/dry. During that time he would get smaller portions of the wet and then some dry as well (can't remember the amounts). 

I am quite sure that he's getting enough though.....because if I feed him any more, his stools get softer (too soft). And he looks super healthy. He's lean and full of muscle. I questioned the founder of Nature's Logic (the food), whether or not I was feeding him enough, and he said I was. He did recommend feeding him in 2 meals instead of 3, that way the portions are larger.....but I haven't tried that yet.

He doesn't beg for more food after his meals, but he just seems to get hungry slightly before it's time for the next meal.

He's 10 months old now and around 8.5 lbs, though we haven't weighed him in a couple months. I would expect him to be no more than 10 lbs full grown...and based on his body type, I wouldn't be surprised if it's under 10 lbs. His mom was a modern Siamese and was very long, lean, and petite...and he takes after more of his mom than his dad looks-wise.


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## littleminnie (Nov 9, 2011)

try 1/2 can in the morning and 1/2 in the evening ? He sure is a cutie!


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

I serve my cats 3 meals per day as well. When I prepare the meal, Metoo gives tons of rubbing/head butting/meowing, whereas Meatball sits quitely at the place where the meal will be served. But when I bring their dishes to the "designated seating area", Meatball happyly chrips and trills 

As of the "count down"... My cats starts following me around about 1 hour before the regular eating time. They will NOT leave me out of their sight. I guess they think I might steal their food if they don't keep an close eye on me?


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

yingying said:


> Meatball sits quitely at the place where the meal will be served.


Meatball has excellent table manners! :cool


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Mow gets a can split into 3 feedings. Book (7 months old) gets a can and a half split into 3 feedings.


Mow waits patiently and fairly quietly for his food while Book screams his fool head off and runs back and forth across the kitchen like he's on fire


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## yingying (Jul 19, 2011)

Meezer_lover said:


> Meatball has excellent table manners! :cool


Meatball is never vocal. I usually only hear her chirp when I serve her meal. And she only trills when she hasn't seen me for a long time (like I'm back from work or get out of my bedroom in the morning). 

She is a smart girl, so I think she figured that all the meowing/headbutting/rubbing won't make the food come faster, so why bother


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## Cats&Plants (Aug 20, 2011)

My guys all meow and sing while I dish it out. I call them my furry quartet lol. They start reminding me its almost mealtime about an hour before.


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

Ok...so Yoshi's behavior seems at least semi normal! Makes me feel a little better..... 

I wish he would realize that pacing back and forth in front of me actually makes it take longer to wash his dish, therefore prolonging his feeding! Guess he's not that bright.


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## Goldtanker (Jan 9, 2011)

Lately, Midnight, the wild cat, gets a portion of a can of food with his dry food first thing in the morning, at noon and last thing at night.

When/if he comes back at night before 1030 he gets his wet food treat and gets locked in the garage (with his inside house) until about 0400. (If he doesn't come back, he has to stay in his outside house under the porch) Then before he gets let out in the morning (or when he shows up) he gets another portion. He loves the stuff and meows at the door when he hears me moving around in the morning.

Over the weekend, the kids and grand kids were here and we were all around the table at night. When Midnight came back from his travels he could see us so he climbed up on the porch steps, put his front legs up on the railing so we could see him and started meowing. He set off the motion sensor light in the back so we could see him and his mouth moving.

"Hey! Let me in for my treat."

What a character.


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## SpellQ (Dec 12, 2010)

Yoshi has taken a page right out of Apple's book. She's the first cat I've had to actually hold while getting her food ready and oh she squirms, but it's the only way I can do it without having a mess all over the floor! Pedro is a wonderful little gentleman who although he will voice his dismay at my VERY slow supper making skills, he will wait and not dive into his dish until I say it's ok to do so. I'd put Apple in another room, but he would cry because they really dislike being separated. It's just easier to hold her little squirmy craziness.

They get 2 meals a day and if I'm home they get treats in between. About 2 hrs before the 2nd meal she starts her campaign of showing me where her food dish is, where the food is stored, and oh Mommy I am starving and clearly going to fall to pieces without more food. She gets a little pathetic. lol


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

That's hilarious, SpellQ!! Maybe Apple and Yoshi are soul mates!

I can't possibly hold Yoshi when I'm preparing his food. I even had my boyfriend try and hold him last night instead of putting him in the other room, but he's much too fiesty and can't be held.


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## librarychick (May 25, 2008)

My boys used to be like Yoshi, they'd run all over and jump on the counter, and meow and meow and meow!

I got fed up with it. Now they can either stay on the floor (and be as loud as they want), or sit on top of the gecko tank and watch me get their dinner ready. They aren't allowed on the counter, not even the tip of one paw, so it's hard for them. They're way better at it now than they used to be.

All I did was put them in their place and proceed to prepare the food. If they tried to go ont the counter I'd drop what I was doing and shoo them onto the floor. Repeat a bazillion times and they started to catch on. Now Doran sits and watches, he thinks he's helping, and Muffin sits on my feet on the floor and yells at me. *shrugs*

Jitzu, on the other hand, goes to sit on the top stair and waits for me. When I'm done making it I put them away for the night, with their dinner. I say "Bed time!" and the three of them run down the stairs into their room. Jitzu likes a head start, lol.

Torri couldn't care less what is for dinner. She usually sits in the other room until the rest of the cats are put away, then goes to stand by our bedroom door and howls to tell us it's bedtime. She gets fed in a kennel in our room.


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## cooncatbob (May 27, 2011)

Samantha used to wait patiently at her food dish, then as I prepared her food she would stretch way up as only a Maine **** can to watch what I was doing.
At her later meal she would go into what I call "Lassie" mode, she come to me the run to her dish as if to say, see silly human empty dish and hungry cat.
Chiquita on the other hand isn't food driven like Samantha was, she want lots of pets in the mourning and when I get out of bed will swar at me as if to say come back her and give me some more pets.
She is addicted to Friskies Party Mix snacks and will sit on the end table while I watch TV until I give her some.


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## Abbie (Jan 13, 2011)

Your meal times sound similar to ours!

About an hour before (occasionally 3 hours before- trying to trick me!) My girls get very excited and start meowing and chasing one another. They follow me around constantly anyway, but they are certainly closer to me when it's meal time- right under my feet.

As I get their meals ready Evie stays on the floor, Mitzi tries to be a 'counter cat', but keeps getting told off. They wind themselves round my feet, rub up against me... and fight! They always have a fight when it's meal time. Then we trot off to their bowls- they know which is which. If they don't like what they have found- they walk up to me and do the loudest, most demanding meow until I follow them to the cat cupboard where they demand I change their food!

I have Ragdolls, laidback and gentle?! Ermm... Diva cats!


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

This morning at 2:30am, I had to get up to work from home. Yoshi apparently thought I was getting up to feed him. So now he's going nuts and I'm just trying to get servers upgraded!


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## The Divine Miss M (Oct 4, 2011)

The girls go INSANE, but at least they no longer try to kill each other just maim. I have to trick them to be able to feed them. Every day they get fed in a different area and I call them once it's ready because if they see me I'm not coming out of it in one piece.

As to Yoshi, I'd do the opposite if possible instead of going down to two I'd try bringing it up to four. The more often he's fed the more he thinks he's getting. I'd also consider going up to a can a day instead of the 3/4ths. At ten months, he's still a growing boy so while he just might be a typical greedy kitty cat it's also entirely possible that he really is still hungry.


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## Penny135 (Apr 6, 2011)

Mia is on dry food only (she doesnt like wet). First thing in the morning I put 1/3 cup of food in her bowl. She graises on it throughout the day. Then around 4-5pm I put another 1/3 cup in her bowl. She graises on it too. She sleeps with me all night so she doesnt get more until the morning.Sometimes there is some leftover from the day before, sometimes not.


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## Huge2 (Jan 28, 2008)

Yeah Peggy goes a bit nuts when food (hers OR ours) is being prepared. She almost gets up to a "normal" meow sometimes, and stands on her hind legs occasionally.


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## tghsmith (Dec 9, 2010)

the pm feeding is at around 9, at around 8:30 I have a semi-circle of cats around me (I'm most likely on the couch watching tv) any movement on my part from then untill feeding actually takes place is the signal for competative meowing, leg rubs and running back and forth to the food containers... they like me sooooo much more when food is in the balance..


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## wondercat (Oct 11, 2011)

it's so funny how all our cats love us more when they know food is coming. Cleo is more patient she just sits by her bowl and waits patiently. Max and Zeus cry like they have never eaten before. Poor starving sad kitties. And on weekends... sleeping in late? not acceptable.


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## Meezer_lover (Apr 19, 2011)

wondercat said:


> And on weekends... sleeping in late? not acceptable.


I haven't slept in since April....when we brought Yoshi home! :sad


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## catbrb (Jun 1, 2011)

My kitties also get fed 3 meals a day. 2/4 cup in the morning, 1/4 at dinner, 1/4 before bed. I might try 2/4 at bed instead, maybe they won't feel the need to wake me up all the time in the morning. They both go crazy when I open the spare bathroom (where the food/toys are) though. If it's wet food I'm giving them they go even more crazy, never jump on the counters though. But they meow and rub on my legs while I'm preparing it, even do the prairie dog pose.


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## tghsmith (Dec 9, 2010)

my emma cat wakes me every morning. she is the perfect alarm clock.. but I often wonder if I didn't wake-up to give her breakfast would I be breakfast?


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## wondercat (Oct 11, 2011)

Meezer_lover said:


> I haven't slept in since April....when we brought Yoshi home! :sad


awww but Yoshi is so absolutely adorable that I think it's worth it :kittyturn


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## Oriole (Jan 11, 2010)

Well, my two fat cats are on strict portions which they get twice a day. When it comes to feeding time, I have to hold on to my lamps and chairs since Mikey goes absolutely nuts and starts racing through the apartment, jumping on random things  He will yank the food out of my hand, if he comes close enough, so I always have to on guard  My kitties also usually try to steal some food in between mealtimes - so it's never boring in my house!


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

My girls are okay about meal times. It's kibble that sends them into orbit. Charlee gets so excited she actually starts jumping on top of Cleo, even her head sometimes, and being rude.


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## Muzby (Jan 9, 2008)

My cats all run from wherever they are in the house to their respective kennels and jump in, yowling and crying for FOOD NOW PLEASE! Mia actually sticks her paw out of the cage repeatedly trying to "nab" a morsel... and the old guy Zaq is always purring his fool head off.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

When i first got MowMOw he would howl so loudly while i was getting his food ready. It's not so bad in the evenings but in the early morning.... it just grated on my nerves. I started carrying the squirt bottle into the kitchen with me and anything above a trill or a chirp got him blasted from the bottle. NOw he sings to me in little trills and chirps while i make it. Those I can deal with. NOw if I can just teach his mentally challenged little brother the same thing........

Weekends aren't so bad. I usually have to get up for potty anyway so I quick feed them with my eyes half closed and go back to bed. MowMow finishes up and comes right back to bed with me and since SHepherd Book gets locked up to eat.... he doesn't bother us.


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## littlesushi (Jun 8, 2011)

my kitties are mostly behaved at and before mealtime, aside from the occasional jumping on the counter and trying to eat the food as i'm scooping it out of the can into their bowls.


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## nicole78 (Aug 13, 2011)

My cat sometimes runs over in excitement to just look at the food, but won't eat it until she feels like it lol


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## Fyreflie (Mar 5, 2011)

Wicket starts his food dance about 90 minutes before feeding time (usually 6 am and 6 pm, sometimes a snack before dinner if they're being horrid). My poor hubby normally gets the brunt of it--especially around dinner time, when Wicket will climb the back of his chair repeatedly and walk across his shoulders, yelling the whole time. He's ruined a few good pieces of art that way--slip of the pen across the page when the cat Kamikaze's him from nowhere! Atlas doesn't meow but he gets more and more wild when he's hungry--will start running the stairs full tilt up and down, or his new funnest game: slamming the cupboards in the kitchen over and over again until we come see what he's up to. He just inserts a paw, pulls it out slightly, and then watches it drop shut. Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. 

They both get about 8 oz of food a day--slightly more on raw than they do on canned. Wicket is maintaining his musculature (and a bit of his portly belly!) and the kitten is growing still so sometimes we feed him a bit extra in the middle of the day. He has days when he's ravenous and days when he turns up his nose at food. Wicket would eat if he was throwing up, I swear--which is why we can't really let them stay home alone overnight, even though I'd love to. I'm looking into a timed feeder--maybe then they would stop bugging us!  Although once we're back on raw I guess that's not an option either...but maybe for when we go away....


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## ~Siameseifuplz~ (May 6, 2007)

Back when they ate dry food it was MISERABLE. I usually got up to get ready for school around 6 so that's when I'd feed them breakfast. So if it was summer, the weekend, any sort of vacation I got woken up at 6am. Neko would bite me and Willie would pull my hair. If I didn't get up Neko would go bite other family members. For dinner I'd start being yelled at by Neko every time I stood up about 2 hours before dinner time (if I stood he though I might feed him). They both got excited for their kibble but as far as I remember they didn't make any noise, but it only took a second to scoop kibble and drop it in the bowl. 


On wet food it's much different. Neither asks for food before it's time, I never get woken. Neko will usually start yelling if I'm really late (sometimes I forget to feed them breakfast on a weekend day and he'll usually inform me around 1 pm). Willie never asks for wet food. There are a few reasons for this. one they just like kibble more, and two it takes longer for them to eat the wet food, they never just hunker down and eat the whole meal, they take a few hours. With dry food they snarfed it as fast as possible. A lot of the time they don't even eat one of the meals because they don't like whatever I gave them and they still don't whine about it. As I prepare the food Neko usually rubs all over me and the dog, Willie usually isn't even in the room, he doesn't care. Neko will eat a little bit right away, Willie usually comes and eats a bit after like a half hour.


The only food Willie gets pumped for is meat. He steals it, he screams if you have it, he tries to remove it from your hand and plate, and if you start carrying some towards his room he screams his head off (it's a bit frightening actually if you're in another room and someone else it bringing meat towards his room, sounds like he's being killed). This all started after he was switched off of raw and onto wet so I feel super bad, he clearly misses it. He got the turkey heart for thanksgiving and everybody was shocked at his little tummy, they had not seen it so full in a long time. Boy loves his meat.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

~Siameseifuplz~ said:


> There are a few reasons for this. one they just like kibble more, and two it takes longer for them to eat the wet food, they never just hunker down and eat the whole meal, they take a few hours.


Reason no. 3 - Good quality canned food is higher in nutrition and less full of empty calorie junk therefore it keeps them satisfied longer.


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