Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Monster in the Morning


Doesn't look like a monster, does he?
I have created a monster!  Not the slimy green, two-headed kind out of some sci-fi flick.  No, mine has four legs and long gray hair.  He is my little buddy, Rosie.  
Why is he suddenly a monster?  A little thing called canned cat food (and this is how it all began).  He started out asking for breakfast at 7 a.m.  Every morning, I  make not one, but three trips to the kitchen to feed him.  He must have his food in small portions, otherwise he just licks at it and pushes it around the dish until it's all mooshed up and gross.  

It gets worse.  His "breakfast time" keeps getting earlier and earlier, and his growing addiction to the stuff is driving us both crazy.  He will sit on my pillow, beg and whine into my ear, and then paw at me until I get up.  What began as a 7 a.m. breakfast, has moved to 6:00, then 5:30 and then 5:00.  This morning the clock said 4:50 when the call came.  When he is serious about eating, there is no putting him off and still sleep.  So mama drags her weary butt out of the bed and trudges to the kitchen, pulls out the food and starts the feeding process.  After the third serving, I close the bedroom door and hope he is sated for a couple hours while I catch a few more zzzz's.

How about now?


Rosie has a look that will turn you into Swiss cheese!  In other words, he'll stare holes in you until his needs are met.

So what's feeding time like at your house?

11 comments:

  1. Most decidedly NOT like that!

    We do have a routine. When I get up, which is quite early, they all run to the kitchen and sit on the counter where the bar stools are and wait patiently for me to make my coffee, scoop their litter boxes, clean their water bowl and put out fresh water and dry food. By then my coffee is done brewing. I then open one can of food and split it onto their 3 plates... Gandalf and Grayson still prefer to eat off of the same plate. Whitey and Gracie each have their own plates.

    Then I pour my coffee.

    It works for us! =0)

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  2. Rosie is so majestic, Linda! My cat rules my life too, he basically eats when he wants to. I've tried instituting a routine, but he refuses to cooperate. He's a pain, but I wouldn't have him any other way :)

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  3. My morning sounds just like Barb's. I have to split the meal into separate plates because my 5 cats have preferences about who they like to eat with!

    My Tarot is like your Rosie. He starts meowing at the bedroom door about 4:30 or so and does not shut up until I feed his fat butt! Your Rosie is beautiful by the way!

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  4. Barb, I agree whole heartedly that it's not an ideal situation. It all started when he went through a diabetic period, and canned food (specifically Fancy Feast) was suggested by our vet. The diabetes reversed and we're dealing with his addiction.

    Sam, Rosie thanks you for the compliment. Like I told Barb, there are extenuating circumstances for his behavior, but being the humans, we should have more control. Alas, he learns the less desirable behavior quite well. Things that would benefit him, like not eating dry leaves, he never learns.

    Brooklyn Book Lover, thank you for sharing your story. Rosie says thanks, too.

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  5. Linda, Rosie is a handsome monster. My cats share a half small tin of canned food at 5 in the afternoon. They gobble it up quickly for fear the dogs might get it (which won't happen as the dogs can't access the cat's ledge, but Stripey and Missy are still convinced their food is in danger). They have dry food during the day. Maybe you should get a dog? ;) Only joking. That's too bad that Rosie won't eat the food all at once. I hope you can outlast his getting-earlier cries and teach him to wait until you're up. Maybe you can feed him the wet stuff later in the day? Animals are such creatures of habit. Speaking of which, my menagerie is now waiting patiently for me to get off the computer and feed them - I'm about 10 mins. late today! I'm starting to wonder if there are addictive qualities to wet cat food because another friend of mine has a kidney disease cat that is acting the same demanding way as Rosie.

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  6. Oh my goodness, cats can be so funny. Give 'em a minute, and they'll try to take an hour.

    May I suggest 3 bowls with small amounts in each, instead of having to get up thrice? maybe? Worth a try!

    As with Talon's cats, Kit-Kat has dry in the day,and wet at night. Actually his dry food bowl is kept filled all the time.

    Good luck! I know how disheartening it can be to lose sleep because a cat is raring to go bright and early.

    xo

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  7. I apologize right away ... but.... I had to laugh at this!!! That is SO FUNNY! I have no idea how you can fix the problem - but I have to say high five to kitty because he is SMART! Do they have a Cats Anonymous? Or Canned Food Anonymous?

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  8. Hi Talon, Thank you for your kind comment. Rosie is a complicated cat. Always has been. I know others wouldn't tolerate his behavior, but we're the ones that started feeding him canned food. There may have to be a sequel to this post to address his other issues. Breakfast is not the only time he gets canned food. He wants that whenever he gets hungry throughout the day. We always free-feed the dry and he was fine until...Now he wants the canned to be available like the dry. He has two housemates who are more than happy to finish his leftovers, and get fat doing it. If he gets too hungry he'll throw up. Yuck! TMI, I'm sure.

    Btw, I didn't realize you had another cat besides Stripey.

    Jannie- Thank you for your comment and kind suggestions. As I was telling Talon, Rosie has always been a rather complicated cat. He is, however, my buddy, for good, bad or otherwise.

    Katherine- That's OK, feel free to laugh. I just grin and bear it. Well, not so much on the grinning part. But seriously, Rosie does have his own set of issues, and we just deal.

    Btw, I was impressed with your coolness regarding the invasion of the invisible crab larvae.

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  9. Ahh this sounds familiar. I had two cats who used to start hollering for breakfast earlier and earlier like that. One instigated it and the other joined in as her chorus. 7 am became 6, then 5, 4 3.. etc. It was the night that they began demanding their food as soon as we were in bed for a few minutes, that I realized the solution. Feed them before bed. What used to be a morning and dinner hour schedule became a dinner hour and bedtime feeding schedule. It never became a problem again.

    I can see where that wouldn't be a great solution for you since Rosie is diabetic and it's also risky waiting him out if the others will finish his meal before his hunger takes over. How about feeding him separately from the others? And leaving his "breakfast" (in three bowls if you have to) alone with him until he's done so at least you will only have to get up twice.. once to feed him and once to let him out (I'm thinking the bathroom). I have to feed my guys apart like that because one is on prescription food and the other will gobble it up before he has a chance to eat enough of it.

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  10. Brilliant! I love the way animals make us bow to their every whim, especially cats! Thanks for sharing.

    Enjoy the journey.

    Mandy

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  11. Hilary- Thank you for your thoughtful response. We are fortunate that Rosie's diabetes reversed, as it sometimes does with cats. However, we are left with the feeding issues. The past few nights he got going around 3-4, but we just closed the door and let him decide whether or not to eat the dry food that is always available. We may have started with the canned stuff, but he's the one making himself hungry waiting for it, when there is dry that he has always loved, sitting there. This morning, he started at 4:30. I carried him to the kitchen and placed him in front of the kibble, went back and shut the door. There were a few vocalizations, but he did pretty good until almost 7. I guess I just need to be more firm, but that's hard for a softie like me. In all fairness to Rosie, he has other issues including awful allergies, and something maybe like a sinus infection we're trying to clear up with multiple rounds of antibiotics.

    Mandy Allen- I have so learned that the hard way - over and over.

    Jingle- Thanks. I love my cat dearly, but sometimes....grrrrr.

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