Expert: Jessica - 5/29/2010

Question
I have never seen food aggression in cats..

I took in an orphaned 7 week old kitten. The litter was attacked and killed by a pitbull. (or fed to.....)

This is the only surviving kitten of the litter.
He still isn't quite weaned but is eating soft food and food soaked in KMR.

However, he refuses to eat with my other cats, and when I give my cats treats, he will snatch the food from the others and growl and hiss savagely and will scratch, swat at and chase the others. It's a funny sight because he's so tiny, but at the same time, I don't want him to grow up and be food aggressive.

What do I do? will he grow out of this?

thanks.

Answer
Hi Desirai.  In general, everything a kitten does is an exaggeration!  As kittens, they practice all the skills they may need to survive.  In an environment where food is scarce, being very aggressive and protective about food will pay off.  However, cats learn to sharpen the skills that work to their benefit, and they fall out of practice with the skills that don't come in handy.  Once he understands that food is plentiful in his environment, wasting energy on food aggression won't make much sense.  You can expect that much of his food aggression will wear off as he gets a bit older.

However, some cats do remain greedy!  Kittens tend to grow out of general food aggression when it comes to the food that they receive plentifully, but special treats can still bring out the tiger in them!  They won’t generally break out into brawls like dogs will, but cats can become very excited over treats, which might result in swatting, etc.  Before I hand out tasty foods that the kitties only receive in limited portions, which tends to result in snatching and such, I place my pushy cats in a separate room.  I hand out treats to the calm cats, then feed the excitable ones last.  Sometimes they tend to finger-chomp, and I remedy this by placing the treat in my balled up fist and then placing the treat on the floor for them.  

Good luck with the little guy, and thanks for giving him a special home after his rough start!

Jessica