Kitty won't eat alone

[mishymowfoof]

My new kitten hasn't shown much interest in eating. She's affectionate, though pretty much afraid of everything....she won't take initiative to do much. When I snuggle with her and place her in front of her food (mix of wet and dry), she chows down. When I leave, she stops. She will only eat when I'm sitting right with her. She's turned it into a ritual where she'll eat a bit, and then snuggle, then eat some more. On and on.

Obviously, I won't be able to sit with her every time she eats, and I don't want to reinforce this habit. However, she needs to eat! Any thoughts?

[Miss Z]

Your kitten is probably a little unsure of her surroundings. Being young and with the absence of something else that she knows may make her feel uneasy. I'd suggest letting her have a good look around the whole house, so she knows that nothing is going to jump out and grab her! Also when she's eating, maybe you could surround her with things she likes, such as her toys. Then what i'd do is gradually move a little further back from her for each meal, until you are out of her sight. If she eats alone, praise her loads when she's finished so she knows that she's done it right. It may take patience, but i'm sure she'll grow out of this habit sooner or later Hope this helps

[TopCat3]

I think that's very sound advice Miss Z. The other thing I would suggest is if kitty is in a large room with lots going on around her - or just in a large space when she is eating, she might feel more secure in a smaller room or well inside the door, but so that she can look up and see the door and who is coming in. If she's in a corner and she can't see who or what is around her and when she was tiny the other kittens in her litter shoved her away from the food she could have some left-over instincts to need toknow she is safe from being bullied while she is engaged with the food and can't see behind herself.

I just re-read that and it sounded clumsy, I hope it makes sense

Older cats sometimes like company while they eat, especially if their appetite is variable due to kidney problems etc. Cleo prefers it now if I hold the dish for her most times, or at least she likes to know Colette won't come and disturb her and if Colette does Cleo walks away from the food. So by and large now I feed them separately and stay with Cleo to encourage her to eat and praise her etc. Sometimes it just takes trial and error to see what works best and the same routine might work for months/years and suddenly change. This fickleness is part of why we love cats. (I think?...)