When we adopted our black cat Ki-Ki, he would eat cat food just fine when he was little. 2-3 years later he wants me to feed him only human food because we sometimes gave him scraps of meat we cooked. Could this be the reason? Has he gotten addicted to human food and not like cat food anymore? The only time he eats cat food is when I am in there with him, as if he doesn't like to be left alone. What is happening to Ki-Ki??
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1First step is to stop feeding him between his own meals (don't fill the kid up with candy). You might then want to try different cat foods to see if there is something he finds especially interesting. If he doesn't eat even after being allowed to go hungry for a few days, a visit to the vet maybe appropriate.– keshlamCommented Sep 16, 2016 at 12:43
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We haven't tooken him to the vet for a while. I should set up an appointment 😯– Ryan NolesCommented Sep 16, 2016 at 12:44
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1 Answer
Once a cat develops a taste for human food they will make it their full time job to get more. This includes begging for food, stealing it, or even taking it by force. Human food tastes/smells better than cat food evidently.
Most people view these begging/stealing behaviors as undesirable so the normal advice is to not feed your cat human food ever.
Also many believe our cats tend to view us as "mom" and they like to see what we are eating and also be sociable and eat when we eat. Several of my cats love to eat their food as we are eating dinner.
Your cat also needs a balanced diet, and human food typically does not meet their dietary needs. Cooked or uncooked lean meat won't hurt them but it is still not a balanced diet. Cats eat some vegetable matter in the wild and eat the organs of their prey so they actually get quite a variety of nutrients. Thus pet food has some cat digestible vegetables such as green beans or carrots and some added compounds like taurine.
As Keshlam suggested if you stop feeding the cat human food he should (begrudgingly) eat the cat food when he gets hungry.