begging for food

[jenny]

keanu has this really bad habit of begging for our food. We cant have our breakfast in peace, cant have a cup of tea, a biscuit, dinner etc without him meowing in your face and trying to get as close to your food as possible to steal it.

is this normal kitten behaviour? or do u think its something he learnt from the breeders house? and how do i stop it?

at the moment we are just picking him up and moving him away, but hes very persistant.

whats the best way to tackle this? will just ignoring him and never feeding him from the table eventually work?


oh and also, he seems skinny to me, but its been so long since weve had a kitten, i dont know whats normal. he doesnt feel horribly skinny, just enough to feel his bones when you stroke him, but not majorly. should he have lots of kitten fat or is this normal?

hes 12 weeks old and we are feeding him probably 4 times a day. I do try to keep it to 3, but he normally asks for a 4th at some point in the day. so hes eating small amounts throughout the day

[sammy]

Hi Jenny. From my experience with kittens I think it's fairly common. I reckon it's a natural urge they have to get as much food as they can. Mine grew out of it, and I'm sure Keanu will too.

Obvious question, but I'm assuming he has been wormed?

[Jac]

Hi Jenny. My wee bengal girl did that, everytime you produced a cup or a plate she wanted some. Your doing the right thing though. He will "eventually" give up and get the message .
He sounds about right weight wise. Remember at that age they are growing quickly and burning food playing as well. He will fill out later dont worry.

ps more photo's please. Hehe

[Fran]

Yes it's normal behaviour. We have had it will all the meezer babies. Bliss and Porsha have more or less grown out of it now but Mildred is terrible, if you are not watching she will steal off your plate and she will eat anything and I mean anything

Regarding weight, make sure Keanu is wormed properly. They tend to go in fits and starts with growth spurts, Mildred looks quite bandy at the minute as she is having a growth spurt but she is well covered and her back bone isn't prominent so I am not worried. Doesn't your vet offer you a free kitten check up? If so it would be worth popping Keanu along and the vet will tell advise you about his weight/feeding and a worming regime for him

[dandysmom]

Sometimes even as adults they can't resist temptation: years ago I was having dinner when the doorbell rang; when I returned my Siamese had grabbed the rainbow trout by the tail and was dragging it off to enjoy....... But they do mostly outgrow it; Keanu sounds like a lively normal kitten!