- He meows at me, as soon as I get out of bed, for food. I used to feed him in the morning, but then started to feed him at dinner and he meows throughout the day anytime we go into the dinning room or kitchen (which is probably most of the day), which is where we keep his food and food bowl. I thought this might also stop him from trying to get our food while we are eating it, but it doesn't and he continues to meow for food after he has done eating. So how do I stop him from meowing all day and trying to eat our food?
- He claws everything. I even got him two scratching posts. He uses them, but still scratches on the couch and bed. I don't know how to stop him.
- He eats really fast. I got a rock and put it in his bowl, but this doesn't help. Plus he doesn't even move himself towards food. He paws at it to move it towards him. And he's rough when he eats, so he pushes the food bowl all over the place and spills water everywhere. Is there a way to stop him from eating so fast and pushing the bowl everywhere?
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Okay, I'll try to answer all of your questions to the best of my ability.
1) I think the most effective technique is something which is, I believe, called "Behavior Extinction". I may have heard it wrong, but the principle is that you get your cat to quit waking you up or meowing for food, by completely ignoring that behavior. I can tell you from personal experience. I started to ignore my cat when he meowed to wake me up. If he bit me awake I'd pop his butt or push him off the bed, but still ignore him. He gave up after a week or two. Other family members get up and see what he wants, so he won't stop waking them up. It'll be hard to ignore, but as long as you don't give in and acknowledge or feed them when they are actively meowing or trying to get you to do something, they should quit.
2) Step one to reducing clawing damage is to keep the claws trimmed. I wait till my cat is in a coma-like sleep and then clip them. I play with his paws when he's asleep all the time, so he's used to it and does not wake up. Then I can have the clippers nearby and I just press his pad till they all pop out and snip, snip, snip. Never, ever, EVER, remove the claws as it causes physical and mental pain and discomfort. If anyone reading this feels like they have no other recourse, then find it a good home and get a dog.
Another helpful way, especially if he's clawing on specific spots. is to get one of a variety of devices off Amazon that attaches to a compressed air can, like you'd use to clean a keyboard. They have motion sensors and when they sense the cat, they puff air out at them and shoo them off. I read that cats don't necessarily associate an action with a consequence, such as them being on the counter and you using a squirt bottle to shoo them off and teach them not to get on the counter. I read that they don't associate getting on the counter with getting squirted, they just think you're a d***. On the other hand, this device is on 24/7, whether you're watching or not, and puffs them with air when they get next to their scratching areas. I think it's worth a shot.
3) Firstly, I'd separate the food and water. I saw a documentary and it said cats don't like to drink near their kills, because they feel it's contaminated. Apparently they're arrogant enough to think they "killed" their kibbles and prefer to drink away from their food. I've noticed this personally when my cat bypasses his clean water and goes out to drink out of a stale plant saucer or the dogs' bowl. We separated his food and water, and he drinks much more readily now.
As for his food, get a rubber drawer liner or a non-skid pet mat to keep him from sliding. Get a bowl with the little knobs to slow down eating. He won't be able to shift them around. Another alternative is to get a treat ball that releases treats when it's rolled and feed him exclusively from that. It would provide exercise and mental stimulation, as well as reducing the rate he feeds at to help prevent medical issues. Good luck.
