Can I train him not to meow all the time?

My cat meows ALL the time when he doesn't have food in his dish. It's not cute little quiet mews, it's loud annoying meows. Over, and over any time you move until you feed him. He isn't fat, but he's certainly not thin either. (He's got a belly that hangs though :o) Since I lost my other cat, Kiba, I've been working out how much to feed him. I've been giving him what the bag says but it doesn't seem to be enough for him. I even give him extra sometimes because the meowing gets on my nerves. (I know this just makes him do it more, but sometimes I'm not in the mood to ignore it.)

I adopted him when he was 2 years old and already had this habit. I thought it was cute at first, but now it's annoying. I have no idea how to stop it. I tried squirting water at him when he meows but he just keeps meowing. I'll need to get a video of it so you can see how loud he is!

How can I make this stop?

Good luck, but I've never been able to silence a meower when they get going. It's been said that you can't out-stubborn a cat, and I've found that to be very true. I think you just need to grin and bear it! :eek:

Yeah I'm thinking that too. He's now almost 9 years old. I'm just pretty sure it's gotten worse since I've been feeding him less.

I've even tried to "punish" him by cuddling and hugging. Kiba would get annoying if I cuddled too long or if she didn't feel like being held anymore...it doesn't work on Shadow though. He just sits there and purrs. :rolleyes:

My Angel does the same thing. Her meow is very annoying. Wouldn't even call it a meow, more like screaming at me! If you find out how to stop it, let me know! ;)

Does he have any siamese in him? Siamese are known to be very loud and very talkactive. My petite little girl Pearl has the loudest voice and she'll also some times meow so loudly that she wakes me up. He may not necessarily want food all of the time but just some attention. Maybe you could play with him for a while instead of always feeding him. Good luck.:)

Eve has a tendency to be very vocal:rolleyes::D most of the time. When she gets insistent about something the meows get louder - very disconcerting for such a tiny girl:eek:. I have learned that if I speak to her in a strong, but soft voice and tell her she is "yelling" - she simmers down to a soft mew:D. Don't know why but it works:D.

At least DOGS shush when you tell them to shush! :D At least mine do..............;)

I was also going to suggest play instead of food when he meows - does he like to chase crinkly balls or have a fishing pole type toy he enjoys? Meowing may just be "I'm bored!!!" a ping-pong ball in an empty bathtub can also be kitty fun!

The reason I think he's hungry is he only does it when his dish is empty, and also while he's meowing he runs to his dish and looks at me.

Also I've spent all kinds of money on toys for him. He never plays with them. His favorite toys are straw wrappers, bread clips, strings, and other garbage stuff :rolleyes: He's so weird. I'll try playing with him next him. I wish I could get another kitten right now I'm sure he'd love to have someone to play with. He used to try and play with Kiba all the time but she didn't like it. Clover (my dog) plays with him but that's mostly her pinning him and "mouthing". He doesn't seem to mind this, and sometimes plays a bit, but she's just too big for him.

I have a part Siamese and she's talkative by nature. She will often times sit in the middle of the living room and MEOOOOOOOOWWWWWW for "no reason". I'll call her name, she'll walk into the room I'm in... go back to the living room/kitchen 10 minutes later and do the same thing. She can have food out, doesn't matter. She just likes hearing herself talk I think :)

Have you tried changing to a better quality food? (Maybe you already feed a good food, I don't know what you feed) Try a food with no grains in it. If he is hungry AND pudgy, he is not getting the nutrition he needs, which is why he keeps asking for more.

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Originally Posted by Freedom

Have you tried changing to a better quality food? (Maybe you already feed a good food, I don't know what you feed) Try a food with no grains in it. If he is hungry AND pudgy, he is not getting the nutrition he needs, which is why he keeps asking for more.

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I'm feeding him medi-cal preventive right now (he is prone to blockages and also has a heart condition so apparently this is the only food for him because it's lower in sodium or something). I really hope it's good because it's like $80 for the largest bag :eek: He's used to having food available all the time, and now he doesn't. I feed him what the bag suggests but maybe it's not enough for him? I just give him small portions 3-5 times a day so it's spaced out but he just eats it all in one sitting and wants more. I always assumed Medi-cal was a good food as it's from the vet, but I never did research on it. Anyone know? I really don't think I can switch it though. I did once and he started to get signs that he was getting blocked again. I asked about cheaper foods that still was ok for his heart and they said there wasn't anything else.

Are you using, kibble, canned, or both?

The Medi Cal Preventive is made by Royal Canin, it is to prevent the blockages, has nothing to do with the heart condition. It isnot a very good food, it contains grains and corn which is just a filler. You can use Google to find lots of info on it.

A cat prone to blockages needs lots of fluids, and an acidifier.

See if you can add a canned food like Weruva, Tiki Cat, or Fussie Cat. These are grain free foods, with formulas in a gel, not a gravy, so it helps hold the fluid in the cat a bit longer. Mix it with the dry kibble and see if this makes any improvement.

I was also going to add that cats with urinary problems need more moisture in their diet. My RB Storm became blocked 2 times so he needed the PU Surgery but he still needed to eat a lot of canned food for added moisture. He was on Royal Canin's Urinary S/O diet in both dry and canned for a while but he still wasn't doing too well because he'd still have some UTI's. It wasn't until I changed vets and started him on a grain free diet of both dry and canned food that he never had any more problems again. I started out feeding everyone Innova Evo because my RB cat Starr had IBD/Colitis but this food actually helped all of my cats improve their health. The fat ones lost weight and they all had much more energy. They were also very satisfied will the 4 small feedings that I fed them. I think that most of the veterniary RX foods have horrible ingredients in them and they cost a fortune. Most vets aren't taught much about nutrition so they only know about the veterinary RX diets that their clinic/hospital sells. Both my regular vet and my holistic vet at the time approved a grain free diet for my RB Storm. They just told me to be sure to feed him plenty of canned food too. I no longer feed my cats Innova Evo since it was bought out by Proctor & Gamble but they're still on a grain free diet and doing well. There are many more grain free options out there now and many grain free canned foods as well. I'd do some research about this if I was you. I'm sure that you could also get the sodium content of certain foods by calling the companies too.

Why is it so expensive for something not great? I know the food has nothing to do with heart problem, but they said it's low in sodium which is important for his heart. They told me the other preventative foods were higher in sodium and there for not as good. Should I be looking into something else? When I asked before they said there was nothing.

My guys do the same thing. They meow obsessively because they know it will eventually get you to feed them. They do it because it WORKS. And if you ignore them, they get annoyed because meows worked in the past, so they ramp it up and become more obnoxious. They don't understand why something that worked in the past isn't working now. So they meow louder, longer.

I've been working on ignoring them. They've been working on how to become louder and more obnoxious. Pouncer discovered how to bite the handle on the lid of a decorative jar, pick it up, and let it clang back into place, drop, repeat. MUCH more effective than a simple annoying meow. :rolleyes: The others simply start knocking stuff over. But we're still ignoring them and not feeding them. After a while, they give up. But its after a loooong, noisy, and headache inducing while.

We're winning. Evenutally, they will just stop it all together. Its a process that will take some time. we've been doing it about 2 months now. It would have gone faster if my husband would be 100% consistent, but when he's tired or frustrated he doesn't want to deal with the meows coming from 7 cats.

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Originally Posted by Sowa

Why is it so expensive for something not great? I know the food has nothing to do with heart problem, but they said it's low in sodium which is important for his heart. They told me the other preventative foods were higher in sodium and there for not as good. Should I be looking into something else? When I asked before they said there was nothing.

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When it comes to dietary needs for medical conditions, PLEASE consult with your vet BEFORE making any dietary changes.

Royal Canin prescription food is actually very good for specific medical conditions and are expensive because a lot of research, etc, goes in to ensure that they help maintain/prevent medical conditions or problems.

Of course, some are biased on what constitutes a "good" versus "bad" food. There are a lot of myths out there. Bottom line - if your pet is doing well and the medical condition is being maintained, please stick with the food or talk with your vet before making any dietary changes, ESPECIALLY when it comes to prescription diets. When it comes to diets designed to prevent urinary issues/prevent stone formation, etc -- there are many different types of stones out there, different stones form in different pH, so therefore one diet may not work for all stone formations. That's why it is extremely important in cases of stone formation to consult with your vet about which diets work and what you should be using.

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Originally Posted by Jessika

When it comes to dietary needs for medical conditions, PLEASE consult with your vet BEFORE making any dietary changes.

Royal Canin prescription food is actually very good for specific medical conditions and are expensive because a lot of research, etc, goes in to ensure that they help maintain/prevent medical conditions or problems.

Of course, some are biased on what constitutes a "good" versus "bad" food. There are a lot of myths out there. Bottom line - if your pet is doing well and the medical condition is being maintained, please stick with the food or talk with your vet before making any dietary changes, ESPECIALLY when it comes to prescription diets. When it comes to diets designed to prevent urinary issues/prevent stone formation, etc -- there are many different types of stones out there, different stones form in different pH, so therefore one diet may not work for all stone formations. That's why it is extremely important in cases of stone formation to consult with your vet about which diets work and what you should be using.

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I was just going to post something similar. If the food your feeding your cat is working for his medical condition, don't change the food unless you consult with your vet. I don't think he is meowing because he is wanting more nutrition. I don't think cats are that smart ;) He could be being stubborn, thinking if he meows that he will get more food - whether he's hungry or not. Some cats can eat and eat and eat and never get full. Also, maybe he wants to eat when he's bored. I would do as others have suggested and play with him when he starts to meow. Then he'll get tired out and hopefully decide it's nap time.

Tire him out with play. Laser light, teaser wand, you name it. If you get him to play, he'll be tired and go to sleep.

You can't punish a cat for doing what comes naturally.

When My Cats MEEEEEOOOW at me I take that as a compliment , as that means that they want you to know just how much they LOVE YOU!!:love::love::love:

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Originally Posted by Sowa

My cat meows ALL the time when he doesn't have food in his dish. It's not cute little quiet mews, it's loud annoying meows. Over, and over any time you move until you feed him. He isn't fat, but he's certainly not thin either. (He's got a belly that hangs though :o) Since I lost my other cat, Kiba, I've been working out how much to feed him. I've been giving him what the bag says but it doesn't seem to be enough for him. I even give him extra sometimes because the meowing gets on my nerves. (I know this just makes him do it more, but sometimes I'm not in the mood to ignore it.)

I adopted him when he was 2 years old and already had this habit. I thought it was cute at first, but now it's annoying. I have no idea how to stop it. I tried squirting water at him when he meows but he just keeps meowing. I'll need to get a video of it so you can see how loud he is!

How can I make this stop?

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Spunky will do that. Sometimes it's food. Usually it's attention. Having 5 other cats isn't sufficient. He wants me to play and I oblige or I won't get anything done.

Hope you work it out.

Giving cuddles is good. Also a pinch of catnip might amuse him for a while. :)

Cali "yells" at me for food also. But her twist is if I ignore her for too long she uses my leg as a scratching post! :eek: But I sure do love my girly. :love::love::love:

What about getting him some of the cat toys where you put kibble in them and he has to bat them around to get the food out? That way he has to work for his food, it will be available longer, and he'll hopefully be too busy to cry all the time.

I have the same problem with Sherpa and he drives me crazy.