Begging Cat

[happylabs]

Was wondering if anyone else here has a cat that begs for food. I believe that Buddy learned this from Casey and since she is now gone, he is carrying on the tradition. If he is nearby when I go into the kitchen he will come up to me purring, meowing and rubbing away. He likes bits of people food like cheese, turkey lunch meat and butter bread (weird). None of the other cats want anything to do with people food. Of course, I just encourage the behavior because this morning he came up to me meowing with his sweet little orangey face, I opened the fridge, got out some cheddar cheese and gave him 3 little bites.

[lvpets2002]

Yup mine are beggers for anything that I am eating.. Thats just normal for cats to be beggers & food snatchers..

[aTailOf2Kitties]

My Toby is totally obsessed with food. If you get up and so much as lean towards the kitchen he'll practically knock you down to get in there first. He heads straight for the cabinet where the cat food is kept and won't move until he gets almost stepped on. It's darn near impossible to eat anything ourselves without him trying to see how close he can get to your food without getting yelled at. He wakes me up all hours of the night by turning on my touch lamp, playing with the blinds, or pawing on the side of the bed until I get up. He will NOT leave me alone unless I get up and feed him a couple bites or I can grab him and force him to cuddle for a few minutes, LOL. Then I might be able to go back to sleep for a few hours, if I'm lucky. I tell him all the time that it's a good thing that he's cute, otherwise I wouldn't put up with his crap

[pomtzu]

Yup - beggars reside here. My son's 2 cats will beg for lunchmeat when they get a whiff of it, and when we have chicken for dinner, they are sitting right by the dining room table just waiting for a handout. They probably learned from my dogs that it works.

[Queen of Poop]

Cali and Diego always want to see what's on my plate first, then decide if they want some. They're big fans of cheese. Cali will also run into the kitchen ahead of me and paw the drawer where I keep their treats. She's got to show me where they are cause silly cat mom always forgets!!!

[katladyd]

I'm lucky, I guess. Neither of my two has any interest whatsoever in human food. Now, they will beg for temptations or cat food by staring at their dish and then looking up at me cutely. But beg for my food, nope.

[lvpets2002]

WoW you are so Lucky they dont beg for people food.. Mine go crazy for any people food I am eating.. They also love temptations..

I'm lucky, I guess. Neither of my two has any interest whatsoever in human food. Now, they will beg for temptations or cat food by staring at their dish and then looking up at me cutely. But beg for my food, nope.

[MoonandBean]

Moon has a way of "escorting" me to the kitchen. He will chirp and run past my legs (bumping into them) and then motion his head towards the kitchen to get me to follow. He also runs and sits by the closet door anytime I open it cause that's where his treats are kept But he doesn't beg for people food when we eat....Sunny has the corner on that market.

P.S...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOONIE!!!! 11 years old today.

[catland]

I opened the fridge, got out some cheddar cheese and gave him 3 little bites.

I would say that your cat has you very well trained.

[happylabs]

I would say that your cat has you very well trained.

Oh yes...he knows I have a weakness for his adorable orange face and sweet little meow.

[Taz_Zoee]

Taz would only beg when I opened a can of tuna. Or when I walked to his feeding area. He loved his temptations and greenies.
Taz would sometimes sniff my food if I was eating on the bed. But I'd just say no and he'd back up. I miss my baby boy SOO much.

[Pinot's Mom]

I don't know how I missed this thread!
As far as people food - CHEESE! Pinot is crazy for cheese! She'll climb on the counter and try to get to it as you're slicing it - lick the cutting board and knife...she's never had it as far as I know, so I don't know where this comes from.
Cat food - she knows when her feeding time is and won't let you forget it! If we're not home on time, or the cat sitter is late, she'll open the cabinet and try to get to it. We've put the food in a plastic bin now, so she can't get it, but she'll still try!
In other words, no, she doesn't beg. She DEMANDS!

[sasvermont]

Juni-get-down has the role in this household. Lucy could care less about human food, Chloe is mildly interested but does not beg. Juni, on the other hand, will hover in the area until she see's you walk to the kitchen with an empty plate. She loves to lick plates, clean. My Mom taught her that trick when she lived with us. She gave Juni her morning cereal milk.

I have never fed my cats in the morning, so they do not try to get me out of bed each AM. I usually feed them when I get home from work, and now days, it's not until 9PM! They have dry food all the time.... and they love the wet stuff.

One begger!

I love the variations of "trained human behavior"....hehehehehehehe!

[orangemm]

Oh geez, I am glad I saw this thread!

Archy is the world champion beggar; he is too chunky to begin with, and he loves food...his food and his brother's food! Everytime Jeff or I head towards the kitchen he's right there, underfoot, chirping, running ahead and then looking back to make sure you are following. It's not so bad in the morning, but later in the evening you can't make a move without him leading the way to the kitchen! Jeff usually gives him a scoopful of food before bed; otherwise we'd never get any sleep!

ETA He will come in the bedroom when we're watching TV or reading and will sit there STARING at us until Jeff gets up!

[jensonnyjenson]

One of my cats Phoebe goes absolutely crazy every time anyone walks into the kitchen. And you definately can't open the fridge without her cute little nose poking in! She persists in jumping up on the kitchen work surfaces whenever I am preparing food much to my annoyance! But she will never learn. It's almost like she doesn't have that shut off function in her brain - she never stops eating, bit like a pig!
Our other cat Vinnie does cry out for food and get all balshy, but only really for his own cat food. Two different cats!
My mum and dad's cats do not beg at all, and one of them doesn't even seem that interested in her cat food - perhaps she eats too many mice in the night!
Anyways, I don't think it's strange, cats are very complicated beings all very different in personality and can suddenly change their pattern of behaviour for no particular reason - just enjoy their silly little ways! :-)