cat didnt eat breakfast

thegreatiam

So the cat usually wakes us up around 5am, and we go down to feed him, he plays for a while in the living room before coming back up to sleep it off. I usually get up around 7 to go to work.

This morning I saw his breakfast still there half eaten. Bit strange as he usually is a hungry bugger, never missing a crumb.

I check him out to see if he is sick, he seems fine, still a bitey scratchy little git. I think nothing of it and finish getting ready while he pops off to see what he can break in the kitchen (cup and a teapot, he seems satisfied with that today).

i go upstairs and tell the missus hes off his food maybe hes sick, but i cant figure out what it is.

She says, "of course he didnt eat his food, I fed him at 4:30! he woke me up, he was grabbing my face and biting my hair".

The cheeky bugger! he's figured out that he can get extra if he wakes us up individually, first one sneaky breakfast by waking one of us up quietly then a second breakfast. Is this a cat or a hobbit living in my house?

I think we will have to get more regimented in his feeding schedule if he's going to be playing games like this.

Pumpkinseeds

Ah yes, this is common practice in our house. Although mostly Mr Pumpkinseeds is such a deep sleeper that it doesn't work on him. I on the other hand get kneaded, have my t-shirt tugged, things get knocked off my bedside locker, my hair gets 'washed' and if all else fails the wardrobe door gets rattled until I get up and give them breakfast.

Lawrence1895

The older one of my two Toms refuses to eat as well...he seems to go in a huff, when I'm in work. But when I come back home, he mills two pouches within 5 minutes :pac:

Nody

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

Ah yes, this is common practice in our house. Although mostly Mr Pumpkinseeds is such a deep sleeper that it doesn't work on him. I on the other hand get kneaded, have my t-shirt tugged, things get knocked off my bedside locker, my hair gets 'washed' and if all else fails the wardrobe door gets rattled until I get up and give them breakfast.

Our old cat used to start with trying to mjau, when that did not work do biscuits on your chest, then lick your cheeks and if nothing else woke you up flop over your face (being a big tomcat he had no problems covering both mouth and nose!).

He had also learned how to open doors that were not locked (so instead of waking us he'd walk in on our visistors who had forgotten to lock their doors as we told them :pac: ).

Chuck Stone

Made think of this for some reason.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aTagDSnclk

SillyMangoX

If I allow my 2 to sleep in my room peach wakes me up by licking my eyebrows I'm so looking forward to spending a night in a hotel room with her in 2 weeks!!!

thegreatiam

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Made think of this for some reason.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aTagDSnclk

My cat is similar, doenst like to be too far from me, follows me into the bathroom etc. blocks the door when I go to work.

Strangely tho, he never comes to bed when I do but waits up for my girlfriend who gets home at 23:30/00:00. and when he does sleep in the bed he cuddles her and not me, even tho he wont go near her when we are in the living room.

She gets very upset that he wont snuggle her on the sofa. and seemingly refuses to get off my lap. I think my beer belly must be the most comfortable spot known to animal kind

he attacks her quite a lot, playing, but very rough, biting quite harshly and always jumping at her feet and hands, but rarely attacks me. (although he does attack me its more like once a week, but with her its daily). He has lunged at her face more than a few times. and when he is reprimanded he will wait for her back to turn before launching in one final attack, usually a vicious bite to the shin or foot, then he will saunter off happy that he had the last word. Shes convinced that he hates her, but I point out that he waits for her before going to bed, wont even stay in the bedroom if its just me.

Meh, cats are weird.

Nody

thegreatiam wrote: »

he attacks her quite a lot, playing, but very rough, biting quite harshly and always jumping at her feet and hands, but rarely attacks me. (although he does attack me its more like once a week, but with her its daily). He has lunged at her face more than a few times. and when he is reprimanded he will wait for her back to turn before launching in one final attack, usually a vicious bite to the shin or foot, then he will saunter off happy that he had the last word. Shes convinced that he hates her, but I point out that he waits for her before going to bed, wont even stay in the bedroom if its just me.

Meh, cats are weird.

Sounds to me that your gf is afraid of the cat and bring that fear with her when she's interacting with the cat. The cat will reflect back what's there and act accordingly and I'd strongly recommend you get the cat some proper toys (such as Da Bird) to play with the cat and the moment he lounges at any feet/hands you walk away (and of course never use your hands or feet to play with him either as doing so is seen as saying it's ok to attack feet/hands).

Chuck Stone

thegreatiam wrote: »

He has lunged at her face more than a few times.

That's totally unacceptable.

I don't think I'd be able to stop myself giving a cat a whack if he did that.

lubie76

Chuck Stone wrote: »

That's totally unacceptable.

I don't think I'd be able to stop myself giving a cat a whack if he did that.

Spoken like a non cat owner- you can't discipline them with a whack. They thinks ur playing so you will only confuse them.

At about 630am my awakening starts by the cat on my bed side locker staring at me with a loud meow and me pretending i dont know she there. She then jumps on my chest, bounces on to my other halfs chest and on to his locker then vice versa until one of us gives in and feeds her. Then when I am up and wide awake with an hour to spare before work and she has a full belly she decides to get into my warm spot in the bed and stays there most the day

thegreatiam

Nody wrote: »

Sounds to me that your gf is afraid of the cat and bring that fear with her when she's interacting with the cat. The cat will reflect back what's there and act accordingly and I'd strongly recommend you get the cat some proper toys (such as Da Bird) to play with the cat and the moment he lounges at any feet/hands you walk away (and of course never use your hands or feet to play with him either as doing so is seen as saying it's ok to attack feet/hands).

This would be sound advice normally, but our house is filled with toys for this very reason.

The problem comes from her way of dealing with it. she tries to push him off and shoo him away, but this tends to trigger the play response.

I am in the middle of training her in how to train him (believe me, of the two, the cat is easier to train)

SillyMangoX

lubie76 wrote: »

Spoken like a non cat owner- you can't discipline them with a whack. They thinks ur playing so you will only confuse them.

Too true, I used to tap cream on the bum if he attached himself to my foot, but then he started to swing around and attach himself to my elbow! Only way to discipline cats is through noise aversion I find, shake a can of coins at them and they usually take off running! That and seperation, when cream gets too loopy I put him into the utility to cool off a little so he won't cause damage to himself, me or peach!! (Or the ornaments on the mantle!)

Chuck Stone

lubie76 wrote: »

Spoken like a non cat owner

I love cats and hate cruelty to animals actually. There was always a cat in our house growing up (RIP Mittens, Pusskins and Jack).

I know giving a cat a slap wouldn't teach them anything but if a cat went for my face it would be hard not to react in fairness.

Heroditas

Our cats used to sleep on the bed until we got up but after the third one arrived, she used to annoy the other two and then all three of them would wander around the bedroom, jumping up on the bedside lockers, messing with stuff on them etc... generally just being annoying enough so you would wake up. It gradually got earlier and earlier until they were doing this at 5am!!!
Anyway, since last March we lock them into the kitchen/dining room at night. We had to do this anyway because we had our first child last June and needed to get the cats acclimatized nice and early.

Still doesn't stop them being annoying buggers though! We have to lock the doors into that area because they have figured out how to open them by hanging off the handles.
Also, if they even hear us up and about during the night, they start kicking up an awful racket and start hanging off the handles.

Finally, any sleep is verboten after 7am. As soon as the boiler kicks in, they're up and about making as much noise as possible until we go downstairs and feed them. Awful little feckers.

thegreatiam

Luckily ours hasnt learned to open doors yet, he will soon no doubt. But he near screams the house down if we leave him in the Kitchen.

Ive taken to leaving a trail of toys to distract him from coming back up stairs when we want a lie in. he eventually gets back to the bedroom , but is tired out by all the toys so he just sleeps. hopefully he wont get bored of the toys for a while.

Alun

Our two wake me up any time between 2am and 7am depending on the time of year (i.e. when it starts to get light) and the weather (i.e. when it's wet, windy and/or cold they're quite content to stay inside!). I'm a light sleeper so I always hear them, and just let them outside until a sensible getting-up time arrives, when they then get let in for their food.

Pumpkinseeds

thegreatiam wrote: »

My cat is similar, doenst like to be too far from me, follows me into the bathroom etc. blocks the door when I go to work.

Strangely tho, he never comes to bed when I do but waits up for my girlfriend who gets home at 23:30/00:00. and when he does sleep in the bed he cuddles her and not me, even tho he wont go near her when we are in the living room.

She gets very upset that he wont snuggle her on the sofa. and seemingly refuses to get off my lap. I think my beer belly must be the most comfortable spot known to animal kind

he attacks her quite a lot, playing, but very rough, biting quite harshly and always jumping at her feet and hands, but rarely attacks me. (although he does attack me its more like once a week, but with her its daily). He has lunged at her face more than a few times. and when he is reprimanded he will wait for her back to turn before launching in one final attack, usually a vicious bite to the shin or foot, then he will saunter off happy that he had the last word. Shes convinced that he hates her, but I point out that he waits for her before going to bed, wont even stay in the bedroom if its just me.

Meh, cats are weird.

1 of my cats used to occasionally lunge through the air at me. He only ever did it upstairs and it was rare. We noticed it was usually when he was overexcited, maybe thats whats happening with your cat. Yours and mine sound very alike. My chap would live on my husbands lap but could care less about mine, even though I'm the one who feeds and plays with him. He prefers to sleep at my feet in bed but I think thats just because I'm shorter than Mr Pumpkinseeds and less fidgety:)

Pumpkinseeds

Nody wrote: »

Our old cat used to start with trying to mjau, when that did not work do biscuits on your chest, then lick your cheeks and if nothing else woke you up flop over your face (being a big tomcat he had no problems covering both mouth and nose!).

He had also learned how to open doors that were not locked (so instead of waking us he'd walk in on our visistors who had forgotten to lock their doors as we told them :pac: ).

He was a hefty 8 kilos when he used to try to walk across my pillow so I'd jump up and give in out of fear that he'd slip and scratch me. Now he prefers the comfort of the bedside locker and meeping first before the reign of naughtiness begins

DEFTLEFTHAND

Oh they'll play you if they can, the cat is a master of deception.

I love the way they express their intelligence, typical cat they use their brains for wrong doing, if they they were humans they'd be in the mob! Considering that they're serial killers and manipulators that sounds kinda of right. :pac:

Still though that cute innocent look and furry face never fails to melt me, I couldn't shout at my cats. :pac:

Solair

Wow ! Our cat just politely knocks on the door and not ridiculously early in the morning either.

You'd really want to lay down some rules about feeding times. Cats can become absolute pests when they figure out that they can demand food like that.

You should really just feed the cat when you're having your breakfast.

As for cats lunging at you. That's really bad and potentially dangerous behaviour.

Anytime our cat does anything nasty like that it results in one if us standing up and reacting by making a big noise and chasing him out of the room. If its really serious like for example he used to bite feet (enough to draw blood!). The reaction to that was instantly being picked up and out outside. He very soon copped on that if he bites us, he ends up outside within 20 seconds.

You really cannot and shouldn't let a cat boss you around or attack you like that. They have to learn boundaries of what's acceptable interaction with people.

Also cats are highly trainable (especially where food is involved). So, never ever enforce nasty / annoying behaviour by feeding on demand.

In terms of cat discipline , you need to react loudly and instantaneously followed by completely ignoring them for a while (like deliberately sulk)

Also encourage good behaviour with lots of rubbing, attention or even food (if you're about to feed anyway)

Our cat even gives you the big purr and thank you rubs when you give him food and responds to words like "dinner" and "breakfast" by getting very excited.

But seriously, do not tolerate violent or pestering behaviour from a cat. It's a recipe for physical injury and a very unpleasant relationship with your feline housemate!

Also. In terms of play ONLY play with toys, never your hands or feet. The cat will learn that it's fun to pounce on your feet / lunge at you if you do that .

Some of you posting above sound like you need to call in Super Nanny (For Cats) !!

Pumpkinseeds

The thing about discouraging cat behaviour that you don't like is that you have to discourage it every single time it happens, which isn't going to work. Most of us are happy to enjoy the quirks of our cats. A lot of it comes down to understanding why cats do what they do. People tend to have a habit of attributing human motives to cat behaviour, which is wrong.

An over stimulated cat will do things like lunge, its not intended as an attack on a person. If a cat is in lunge mode the best way to react is to play it out of them by distracting them with toys. Shouting at a cat or putting it out of the house or room just confuses the cat, it isn't a child and has no concept of a time out. A person who dislikes or feels nervous of a cat will tend to ignore the cat and given that cats see direct eye contact as threatening, they will be drawn to a person that ignores them.

One thing that I've noticed over the years is that most humans misinterpret cat behaviour, it isn't that the cat is pestering for food all the time, its that we tend to assume thats what they want and give it to them, thereby creating a problem, when mostly what they want is company or to play. Really its human behaviour not cat behaviour that is the problem.

Solair

Worked a charm on our cat. Seems to fully comprehend the time out / ignore concept.

Seems to be how other cats behave! Loud noise / howl if they're injured by a cat rough playing!

I'm hardly going to not react to being bitten to the point it draws blood! That's beyond play.

At this stage he fully comprehends the limits of what's play and what's inappropriate aggression !

Pumpkinseeds

If it works for you thats fine, personally I found it a very negative way of dealing with cats. If my cats grabs me with their claws I don't move my hand. They see it as play, if I'm not pulling my hand and making a noise they have nothing to stimulate the play situation. To me shouting at and putting a cat out of the house is potentially damaging to the cat human relationship. Each to their own.

Solair

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

If it works for you thats fine, personally I found it a very negative way of dealing with cats. If my cats grabs me with their claws I don't move my hand. They see it as play, if I'm not pulling my hand and making a noise they have nothing to stimulate the play situation. To me shouting at and putting a cat out of the house is potentially damaging to the cat human relationship. Each to their own.

Our cat was very very rough with us as a younger cat. He'd just decide to sink his teeth and claws into your foot / leg thinking it was a game.
It was getting to the stage he was actually dangerous.

So basically anytime he bit / hurt anyone we decided that everyone was going to react very loudly. Stood up and yelped / chased him away etc etc

Within a few weeks he was an absolutely changed cat! Couldn't be nicer, we get rubs, cuddles, and he now does this kind of soft play bite thing where he will absolutely draw the line at puncturing your skin.

He also now knows the difference between padding you and scratching you. So play is with claws in.

Overall, the technique worked very well. We'd never be nasty or violent towards our cat but he did have to learn that you can't bite your family !