My cat always wants to eat my food

I am not referring to my cat but a statement made by people using the Google search engine when looking for reasons why it happens. There are two ways of looking at this, one is positive and the other is negative.

Cat grabs human food. Photo in public domain.

Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

Positive

If your cat always wants to eat your food one reason must be because the food that you give them is less palpable to them than the food that you eat. Also cats will naturally be attracted to the smells of many human foods. Cat guardians should be tolerant of this. Thirdly ask if you are underfeeding your cat (read how much should I feed my cat?).

The first solution must be to make their cat food as palatable as possible. That means (a) buying the highest quality wet cat food you can buy and (b) varying your cat’s menu day-to-day. Cats like variation. They can get bored with the same food every day. I would not write off dry cat food either. It is useful for nighttime grazing and best quality dry cat food is notoriously palatable (addictive). Try Hills Oral or Royal Canin Oral. They are larger pellets which makes cats chew rather than swallow them whole. This is better for their teeth and digestion.

If does not have to be the best wet cat food either. You can make your own but you have to be skilled and knowledgeable. Never take risks with a raw homemade feline diet. But a raw diet, well made, might prevent your cat begging for your food but the outcome is dependent upon the individual cat. Or provide some carefully selected human food treats from time to time. The amount given should be very limited. Your cat will know when to expect the treats which should limit them to asking for human treats at preset times rather than all the time.

Cat grabbing human food. Picture in public domain.

Negative

You punish or verbally criticise your cat for begging for your food and make no attempt to alter their diet as described above. This is bad cat guardianship. It is completely normal for a domestic cat to seek out what they think is the best food that they can find. You’d do the same thing under the same circumstances 🙂 . Often times they’ll discover that human food is not what they want but they are driven by their noses. Their sense of smell is vital in their attraction to foods.

Be empathetic to your cat’s emotions and desires and find a positive solution.

SOME PAGES ON DIET: