Expert: Karen Craft - 5/24/2007

Question
I have a male neutered cat, 9 months old - adopted at 4 months old. He has vision problem anomalies that the vet hasn't been able to figure out yet. His pupils dilate when they aren't supposed to - so sometimes he's blind. But that isn't the main problem. He is very vocal, which is fine during the day when I'm awake. My husband gets up at 5AM for work, and at the first alarm ring, my kitten is up whining at me at the top of his lungs to feed him. I don't feed him until nearly 9AM every day and he just meows and yowls at me all morning - NONSTOP - every time I move, he tries to lead me to his bowl. I've tried ignoring him (consistently) for at least a week and that didn't help. I tried a spray bottle, and in a day he learned to just sit out of range. If we annex him to another room he yowls and gets really pissed, throwing himself around, knocking stuff over, and is basically inconsolable. I am at the end of my rope. Also, when myself or my husband go to feed him either at night or in the morning, he begins to meow loudly at the first sign of feeding and won't stop until he's been fed. I've tried not going through with the feeding until he stops, but he doesn't learn. I've sat there for over 45 minutes before - he is very persistent. I feel like I am at the end of my rope. Please help me if you can.

Answer
Hi Mary,

It sounds like he has you trained. What you are doing is responding to his behavior thereby reinforcing his crying. You can do a couple of things to help. Keep dry food available at all times. Change his diet to a premium dry with very little or no grain products in it. This will help with his hunger. You need to ignore his crying. I know it sounds simple but 45 minutes won't do it. This will take a bout a month to retrain him. You can't feed him when he cries. Wait until he stops. This way you are reinforcing the behavior you want. He's a cat and you are letting him win. It will take time but he can be retrained not to beg for his food.
It sounds like your eye problem might be an untreated Feline Hypertension. If he hasn't have your vet check your cat for this. Good luck and let me know what happens.

Ciao, Karen