Running off with food

I wasn't sure where to post this, but I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what they do.

I've been slowly introducing meats, then organs, then bones into Othello's diet. He's been doing really well and I'm able to feed him larger and larger chunks, then letting him tear them apart.

But I do have one problem, I've noticed. I'll still have to cut up his food into smaller chunks and he'll eat everything faithfully at his bowl except for the last piece. That one he'll pick up and run off with it. When I haven't caught him right away, he'll drop it (usually on the living room rug :\) then play with it.

When we do catch him and say no, he runs farther, like he's about to go hide under the bed, then drops the food and sort of does his, 'no oh, I'm in trouble' face.

We've been picking up the food and throwing it away when he does this. Has anyone else had this problem? How did they stop this behaviour? Will feeding him just one chunk at a time remedy this?

Since you have just one cat, have you thought about either crate training him for dinner or putting him in an easier to clean room until he's done? Bathroom perhaps?

All our kids are fed on plates on their cat trees, and one likes to run but we just put his food back where it belongs and he'll stay.

I've never stuck him in a crate before, but he knows the toilet.

When we first got him, he would only poo in the bathtub! We tried shutting him up in there until he pooed, changed the litter, etc... but in the end, all he wanted was his own covered litter box (the bathroom door covers part of the bathtub when open, plus the shower curtain, I guess it was private).

When we shut him up in the bathroom, he'd cry, for as long as you have him in there. We even put his food in the bathroom when we were trying to litter train him and he wouldn't eat if the door was shut, just cry.

My husband thinks he doesn't like where he's eating, which is in the kitchen, and we should move the spot, but I'm not sure yet. I'll try to stuff him in the bathroom with his food, since he is a little older and might not cry as much. But I also think he likes to eat near us too, he especially likes eating while we are eating.

One of our other members actually has a card table set up just for her cats to eat, is this a possibilty at your house? Maybe have that table closer to you and try and snack with him while he eats?

Being up higher may help as well.

That's a good idea, I think I'll try to get him higher up, first. He does have a cat tree, so I'll try there first.

We do the cat tree thing, it seems to work okay. Let us know how it goes.

My cat was "crated" in her condo for all meals (I had to crate and rotate her with the dogs) so we never had issues. But she also would not eat anything that was "whole". She would only touch the mash. But hey, I didn't switch her until she was 15, so what was I to expect? LOL!

If your cat enjoys the privacy of his litterbox he may enjoy eating in the privacy of his own crate?

*A.C. waves!*

I'm the cat slav.... I mean, owner who bought her kitties their own table to eat on. All five were sharing it until we transitioned to raw, now the kittens eat on the counter where I prepare their dinner. Mostly because they lack the manners of their elders and also my beautiful and always hungry Spencer is positive the others are going to steal his food.

For the most part, he's ok on the counter, but every now and then, he'll run off with something. Drives me nuts. Hopefully he'll calm down in time - they've only been eating raw for three weeks tomorrow.

Here's everyone on the table..

AC, your kitties all lined up on the table is too adorable!

I might think about crate training, because recently we bought a new shelf for our kitchen(we don't have a real pantry!) and I put the old one next to his food bowl and he's been going behind the shelf to eat. Then again, if we're eating, he happily eats with us and doesn't run off with food.

I'm surprised with one cat he feels the need to run.

Harley is my runner- he likes to take his under the dining room table--where there is carpet...So we had to rearrage where I sit their bowls. They are now on opposite sides of the kitchen and other than taking the food out and sitting it next to the bowl they really don't run with food--I just need to get some plastic placemats for under their bowls--otherwise I'll have to steam mop the floor everyday.

Leslie

Waverli only runs around with whole guinea pigs and rats. And she growls the entire time she is running with it. I just chase her back into the kitchen and she finishes.

I agree with you,

Jack&Harley wrote:I'm surprised with one cat he feels the need to run.

Harley is my runner- he likes to take his under the dining room table--where there is carpet...So we had to rearrage where I sit their bowls. They are now on opposite sides of the kitchen and other than taking the food out and sitting it next to the bowl they really don't run with food--I just need to get some plastic placemats for under their bowls--otherwise I'll have to steam mop the floor everyday.

Leslie

Thanks for sharing that.


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