Why won't my cat eat alone?

I'm wondering how many other people's cats are very strange when it
comes to eating. My cat wakes me up at 6:00 a.m. everyday, whining
constantly. I have to get up and go to the kitchen, where there is
plenty of food in his bowl. What's more, he doesn't want fresh food-
as soon as I walk in the kitchen and stay close to him, he chows down.
It happens for his evening eating as well.

Anyone heard of this?

yes he associates you with safety and security. Think of it in human terms
do you really like to eat alone or do you want company. He wants company
and you obey his wishes welcome to slavehood

do you have another cat or pet or is the house very active in the day time
in that area

if this is a bother you may need to move his dish to a quieter part of the
house but not near the cat box

"Reid" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm wondering how many other people's cats are very strange when it
comes to eating. My cat wakes me up at 6:00 a.m. everyday, whining
constantly. I have to get up and go to the kitchen, where there is
plenty of food in his bowl. What's more, he doesn't want fresh food-
as soon as I walk in the kitchen and stay close to him, he chows down.
It happens for his evening eating as well.

Anyone heard of this?

"Reid" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm wondering how many other people's cats are very strange when it
comes to eating. My cat wakes me up at 6:00 a.m. everyday, whining
constantly. I have to get up and go to the kitchen, where there is
plenty of food in his bowl. What's more, he doesn't want fresh food-
as soon as I walk in the kitchen and stay close to him, he chows down.
It happens for his evening eating as well.

Anyone heard of this?

Yep. It's called social eating. Many cats do not like to eat alone. Our
two don't much care for each other, but do manage to show up at the food
bowl at pretty much the same time. Plenty of only cats want company when
they eat.

Jo

On 2006-03-30, Reid penned:
I'm wondering how many other people's cats are very strange when it
comes to eating. My cat wakes me up at 6:00 a.m. everyday, whining
constantly. I have to get up and go to the kitchen, where there is
plenty of food in his bowl. What's more, he doesn't want fresh
food- as soon as I walk in the kitchen and stay close to him, he
chows down. It happens for his evening eating as well.

Anyone heard of this?

Oscar doesn't insist that I hang around, but I've noticed that if I'm
eating a meal, she's pretty likely to eat at the same time.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

Reid wrote:

I'm wondering how many other people's cats are very strange when it
comes to eating. My cat wakes me up at 6:00 a.m. everyday, whining
constantly. I have to get up and go to the kitchen, where there is
plenty of food in his bowl. What's more, he doesn't want fresh food-
as soon as I walk in the kitchen and stay close to him, he chows down.
It happens for his evening eating as well.
Anyone heard of this?

Smudge does this. She's the first cat I ever knew who did this, and
I found it strange but adorable. My other two do not require company
when eating!

Actually, even Smudge doesn't need company when eating wet food,
just the dry. I figure that she finds dry food a bit boring and wants
encouragement to keep eating it, or maybe she wants entertainment to
ease the tedium.

Joyce

"Jo Firey" wrote in message
...


Yep. It's called social eating. Many cats do not like to eat alone. Our
two don't much care for each other, but do manage to show up at the food
bowl at pretty much the same time. Plenty of only cats want company when
they eat.

Jo

This is so true. Rusty has never been a hearty eater. One time he was
cat-sat by a friend
who also had a cat. Rusty not only ate his own dinner, but he ate the other
cat's dinner
as well. When I told TED about this, he said it was social eating.
I can understand this as I don't particularly like eating by myself either.

Winnie

On 29 Mar 2006 20:45:43 -0800, "Reid" yodeled:

I'm wondering how many other people's cats are very strange when it
comes to eating. My cat wakes me up at 6:00 a.m. everyday, whining
constantly. I have to get up and go to the kitchen, where there is
plenty of food in his bowl. What's more, he doesn't want fresh food-
as soon as I walk in the kitchen and stay close to him, he chows down.
It happens for his evening eating as well.

Anyone heard of this?


He just wants to make sure you're up and functioning. He may not
really want food, he wants you. As far as he's concerned, it's
morning, and you should be up.
For years, my tiny Mimi would think of all kinds of diabolical ways to
get me out of bed, then not necessarily eat right way, just run around
the house. Cats like a routine, and contrary to myth, many of them
like company, and do things together. My cats don't even like each
other, but they tend to work "as a team." They don't get me up in the
morning, but they seem to have pretty strong ideas about when I go to
bed at night. They think 11:00 PM is the right time, and start trying
to herd me into bed around 11:30 if I'm staying up.


Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Make Levees, Not War

My cat likes me to take him down, from the second storey to the basement, so
that he can have company while he uses the litter box at 3 AM. Now that's
special ;-) He eats happily by himself though - he has competition with his
buddy so that probably keeps it all moving along.

Susan M
Otis and Chester

"Reid" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm wondering how many other people's cats are very strange when it
comes to eating. My cat wakes me up at 6:00 a.m. everyday, whining
constantly. I have to get up and go to the kitchen, where there is
plenty of food in his bowl. What's more, he doesn't want fresh food-
as soon as I walk in the kitchen and stay close to him, he chows down.
It happens for his evening eating as well.

Anyone heard of this?

Reid wrote:

I'm wondering how many other people's cats are very strange when it
comes to eating. My cat wakes me up at 6:00 a.m. everyday, whining
constantly. I have to get up and go to the kitchen, where there is
plenty of food in his bowl. What's more, he doesn't want fresh food-
as soon as I walk in the kitchen and stay close to him, he chows down.
It happens for his evening eating as well.

Anyone heard of this?

So long as there's food there, mine are expected to help
themselves without human encouragment! If they don't like
what they're fed, they've et (until the next meal). If they
just want company, they're welcome to curl up next to me
until I'm ready to get up.


--
NewsGuy.Com 30Gb $9.95 Carry Forward and On Demand Bandwidth

On 29 Mar 2006 20:45:43 -0800, "Reid" wrote:

I'm wondering how many other people's cats are very strange when it
comes to eating. My cat wakes me up at 6:00 a.m. everyday, whining
constantly. I have to get up and go to the kitchen, where there is
plenty of food in his bowl. What's more, he doesn't want fresh food-
as soon as I walk in the kitchen and stay close to him, he chows down.
It happens for his evening eating as well.

Anyone heard of this?

My parents had a cat for 15 years who showed this behavior. I have
heard it described as "social eating".

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria