Author Topic: Over-excited about food  (Read 2073 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Pookie

  • Charter Member
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 5441
  • Country: us
  • Proud member of the Wet Food Club
Over-excited about food
« on: March 27, 2012, 12:32:21 PM »
Now and then, Pookie will get himself SO worked up about his breakfast or dinner that he horks it up.  :( He did it on Sunday morning (I was giving him raw, which he normally only gets as a bedtime snack), but he'll do it if I'm late from work, too.  In the evening, if I suspect he'll have a problem, I just give him smaller portions and spread them out by about 40 minutes, but I'd prefer not to do it in the morning, as I get up pretty early and would prefer not to get up even earlier (yes, I'm being selfish but I need my zzzzz's, and it's not like I can predict when he'll do this   sleepinggif zzzzzGif).

Any suggestions on how to calm him down when he gets so excited?  Or is my only option to just do what I've been doing and give him smaller portions and spread them out?

Thanks in advance!
2-4-6-8  Please don't over-vaccinate!
"Pass on what you have learned."  -- Yoda, Star Wars:  Return of the Jedi

Offline CarnivorousCritter

  • Charter Member
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 1151
  • Country: us
Re: Over-excited about food
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2012, 01:47:47 PM »
  Maybe a minute sitting with him, petting & humming to him, first...?
 :-*

(saying a minute cause that's probably an hour in cat-time  ;D )
« Last Edit: March 27, 2012, 01:49:22 PM by CarnivorousCritter »

Offline Shadow

  • Charter Member
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 1406
  • Country: ca
  • Just say no to Kibble Krack
Re: Over-excited about food
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2012, 03:47:07 PM »
All I can think of is not to feed as soon as you get up in the morning, wait a while then feed.  Do you have your food dishes raised up a bit?
"Education is the key" to make informed decisions about the health of our pets

Offline Middle Child

  • Charter Member
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 9556
  • Country: us
  • Just say No to declawing
Re: Over-excited about food
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2012, 08:56:14 PM »
As you know, I have one girl who cannot go more than 8-9 hours without food or she will regurgitate her first meal after the fast.  She doesn't scarf and barf though, she is a very slow eater. I feed her last thing at night, but because I am a poor sleeper I need to allow myself about 9 full hours of bed time, because much of it is spent tossing and turning.  I prepare her first meal of the day, and put it in the fridge, and as soon as I get out of bed I warm it up (by placing the dish in another dish of hot water for a few minutes) and then give it to her.  She is the only one who is fed first thing, because she needs very small portions at a time. 45 minutes later they all get their breakfast, split between two servings.

Is Pookie your only cat? How about one of those feeders with a timer?  You can set it for a small early morning feed, and a mid-day meal, so he is not going long hours without food, so will be less likely to gobble?

There are ones for canned food.

Let me see if I can find an example for you.....

Offline Middle Child

  • Charter Member
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 9556
  • Country: us
  • Just say No to declawing
Re: Over-excited about food
« Reply #4 on: March 27, 2012, 09:02:46 PM »
Here's one. It has ice packs to keep the canned food fresh.

http://www.amazon.com/Ani-Mate-Inc-Cat-Feeder/dp/B001KAIGH8/ref=pd_sim_petsupplies_2

Now, I want to clarify that I would never rely on something like this to feed a cat if I was going away. What if it failed and the cat starved, you know?

 But for interim meals, for a cat who has trouble going too many hours without food,  it might be very handy.

Offline Lola

  • Global Moderator
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 11790
  • Country: us
  • Spay or Neuter
Re: Over-excited about food
« Reply #5 on: March 28, 2012, 10:03:57 AM »
Does "worked up" mean that Pookie is gobbling his food quickly?  There are bowls, for dogs, that have a ball (something round-ish) in the middle of the bowl that slows their eating down.  Maybe there is something similar for cats?
Everything you NEED to know about caring for your feline. www.catinfo.org

Offline Pookie

  • Charter Member
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Posts: 5441
  • Country: us
  • Proud member of the Wet Food Club
Re: Over-excited about food
« Reply #6 on: March 28, 2012, 04:18:07 PM »
"Worked up" means howling his furry head off.  Basically I interpret his behavior as the feline version of a child having a kind of temper tantrum:  "I WANT MY FOOD NOW!  NOW!  NOW!  NOW!  NOW! NOW!  Are you LISTENING?!?!!?"  Sometimes it includes him running around the house at warp speed.  He doesn't do it every time, and there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to it.  Whether I talk back to him or ignore him doesn't seem to matter.   :-\

I can understand if I get home late, and my guess is Sunday was just him getting super-excited over getting raw for breakfast, but there are occasions when he does it with his regular (canned) breakfast in the morning, too.

Sometimes he does do the scarf 'n barf thing, which is why he gets 4 meals (2 in the mornng, 2 in the evening plus a bedtime snack).  It usually happens after he's had a tantrum.   :(

Thanks, MC, I just bought a timer feeder w/ice packs but have only been using it to give him a mid-day snack of some treats.  I don't know if he gets worked up because he's hungry, or just because . . .

Shadow:  nope, the dish isn't elevated.  I could try that, I just chalked the barfing up to him being cranky.  Thanks for the suggestion.   :-*
2-4-6-8  Please don't over-vaccinate!
"Pass on what you have learned."  -- Yoda, Star Wars:  Return of the Jedi

Offline Lola

  • Global Moderator
  • Motor Mouth
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 11790
  • Country: us
  • Spay or Neuter
Re: Over-excited about food
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2012, 12:59:10 AM »
Our Roxy gets pretty riled up for some feedings.  Her tail puffs out 3x its size, she jumps up and down on the counter the entire time I am putting food into each dish...and I'm prettttttty sure she uses bad language. 

Everything you NEED to know about caring for your feline. www.catinfo.org

Tags: