I've spoken before of the four aging felines with whom we share our house. (The word "whom" in that last sentence should be a major tip-off as to how the whole situation came into being.)
Because of varying cat health conditions, we're in a situation where two of the four cats get special food. All of the cats are free to sup from the public cat food dispenser at will, but the supplemental food is doled out in the morning and evening. This has been going on for several years with one cat and several months for the other.
"The Possum" gets a little triangle of canned food at each feeding. She has taken to racing to the kitchen every time I go in there, even if she's not hungry or it's clearly not time for her to eat. When she does get some food, I have to stand guard until she's finished lest one or more of the other cats push her aside and eat the rest. Considering that she beats the snot out of her housemate, "Chunky," on an almost daily basis, you'd think she'd be a better defender of her own interests, but apparently not.
"The Boy" gets prescription dry food served to him in our bathroom. He's supposed to be fed once in the morning and once at night, too, but he's figured out that he can get double feedings from my husband. He's developed a crazed, "I'm starving!" meow that convinces my husband that I must have carelessly gone off in the morning without feeding the poor cat. Consequently, "The Boy" is getting a bit pudgy of late.
He's also cranked up the begging behavior until I can scarcely stand to be in his presence. He starts by crouching on my chest like a vulture each morning until I wake up. Once I get out of bed, he begins frantically meowing while he walks right in front of my feet in the perfect tripping position. As long as I'm downstairs, he mercilessly hounds me to feed him.
I've been trying to break him of the constant begging by laying a few ground rules:
- No feeding him in the middle of the night if I get up to use the bathroom.
- No feeding him until I've been up for at least a half hour or so.
- No feeding him until I've been up for even longer if the reason I'm up is that he woke me up.
Of course, it's impossible to communicate these rules to the cat directly, so he just feels extra deprived and becomes more shrill and demanding.
The good news is that once everyone's been fed, I get to enjoy four friendly, furry kitties who only want my company. It almost makes everything else okay...