Cat growling/hissing when eating

[Rosella moggy]

Buster went home, and had been eating fine (preferring wet) but has since started hissing and growling when he takes big chunks of food from the dish.

The fact that he was initially eating fine after vet visit and the growling started again later is what led me to suggest trying pain relief but could just be him returning to his previous behaviour like frances says.

 

[Frances]

Am I right in thinking that you, and your grandad, don’t know too much about Buster’s history?   Buster’s “growling at food” has continued after his dental work so although I think it’s sensible to double check everything is okay with his mouth, given he is eating okay and not losing weight this sounds to me like it could be a possessiveness over food.

Have you seen this behaviour yourself?  Does it look like he is either trying to protect his food from (now non-existent) threats from other cats or does he take a large piece and seem to “kill” it by shaking it and growling (similar to “killing” a toy)?  This could be a learned behaviour either from being in a (slightly dysfunctional) multicat household or from a period when he was a stray and had to fend for himself.

Eleanor is very possessive over food and at mealtimes she often defends the place where she is fed with hissing and swiping at the boys.  Once the bowl goes down, she is fine, although she also tries to bury or cover what she hasn’t eaten.  I don’t know her full history but she did spend some time as a stray.

[Rosella moggy]

It is always so difficult with older people and their pets.  We so want our elderly rellies to have furry companions but it gets complicated 

[FeralStrayFoundation]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

I'll ask my cousin to take him and get him checked at their local vets. I was there when the dental was done, and all roots appeared to be removed well. Some of his teeth were so rotten they virtually jumped out him mouth, bless him. I am wondering if it's more mouth related. The problem will be my grandad's 94, and he struggles remembering his own medication, so getting a Metacam dose may not be the easiest task for him, or the safest option for Buster, unless they can get the vet to draw up daily doses, or give a long-acting pain relief injection, which would probably be the wisest option.

Hopefully we can get to the bottom of it. Just a shame I'm so far away and can't be on hand to help out with his care.

Thanks again - much appreciated.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I agree with Rosella, get him checked out 

[Rosella moggy]

I would be more inclined to think problem with his teeth/mouth rather than learned behaviour.  One way of making sure would be to give him pain relief for a few days and see how he behaves?  I've heard a few times of roots to teeth being left in by some vets and this causing problems after a while?

Hope you are able to get to the bottom of this for him 

[FeralStrayFoundation]

Hi all,

Just wanted to ask if anyone had any experience about the following:

My grandad was given a cat (cat was owned by an older lady who died, my cousin rehomed the cat with my grandad). I knew nothing about it until the cat was in his care.

I went to see him and the cat, Buster, and to give him a little check. My grandad said he was growling at his food, so I managed to check his mouth and saw lots of bad teeth. Long story short, I took him to work and we did a dental, resulting in the majority of his teeth being removed, and the remaining ones scaled and polished. This was about 3-months ago. We estimate Buster to be about 10-years.

Buster went home, and had been eating find (preferring wet) but has since started hissing and growling when he takes big chunks of food from the dish. Weight fine, but I was wondering if it was behavioural from having pain previously. I'm heading there next week, so will try to have a look in his mouth, but he gets a bit angry with me, so not sure what me and some thick gloves will achieve!

If necessary, I can get my cousin to take him into a vets local to him for a thorough check (I'm a long way from him) but wondered if anyone else had experience this?

Thanks in advance,

Liz