Why is Jaffa a pain at mealtimes?

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Jaffa's had his thyroid tested fairly recently and everything is fine.  He's always been a greedy guts so nothing new there    Maybe I should just become a vegetarian as he is a bit better when I don't have meat!

[Moggy73]

This may sound odd but i hiss and growl at my mogs when they go for the ' lions in a pack' moment.
Usually when im having my food, or like Susannes kittys, when im preparing food .
They usually get the message to back off.
Then its stare at me eat and pray the kitty gods make me drop something  .

Moggy !!

[ginge66]

Hi, I found my old cat was like that but he was forteen when he started doing it and he also lost weight, thats when he was diagnosed with thyroid problems. I don't know at what age cats suffer with thyroids I would have thought he was a bit young but I'm no expert Just a thought x

[tigerbaby]

Jameson is like that, too, but mainly if we eat sitting in the sofa. If we eat at the table he is ok. I sometimes wonder if he really is half-dog, as he's begging like one! If I eat in the sofa I often find that there is a cat attached to my plate.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Maybe he is hungry?

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I just don't get what's caused the change in behaviour.  He's been like this for a while now, but after the usual kitten antics he'd  been quite good around food.  he'd be there ready to pounce as soon as I put my empty plate on the floor (so I suppose it's not that drastic a change!) but he never bothered me this much.  I do think Mosi has something to do with it.  He's maybe climbing all over me to make sure Mosi can't sneak in there first.  When I'm feeding him he's pretty frantic too but that's no change (I used to shut him and Magpie out of the kitchen when preparing their meals so that I could do it in peace).  He usually ends up pinning me to the floor by putting a rear claw through my sock 

Mosi was such a nightmare around food when I first got him but now he takes no notice.

[Gillian Harvey]

I've found the opposite Susanne, now that mine eat raw they don't tend to try it on so much LOL! although thye ARE quite happy to finish off anything left on my plate!  Elsa was an exception and she used to try and steal food from a very early age - it got worse a few years before she was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism - she was still doing it at 20 yrs old! George will sometimes fling himself at the worktop when I'm preparing their food if I'm taking too long, but I usually toss him a large piece of meat - that keeps him occupied until I've got everything dished up 

[clarenmax]

Max goes through phases of doing this as well, I've not found a solution yet apart from keep putting him back on the floor, but he can be a persistent little munchkin sometimes 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

That's not really an option.  The living room and kitchen have always been his core territory, so to speak.  If he gets shut out of anywhere, that's where he gets shut in.

[Harna]

Could you keep him out of the room whilst eating?

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Just had to eat my meal in record time while trying to fend off Jaffa    Has anyone any ideas why Jaffa is such a pain in the  these days when I eat?  He's been fine for 8-9 years but over the past year or so he's become a rght nuisance.  He climbs all over the sofa trying to help himself and I have to constantly push him away and say "no".  He's only started doing this since Mosi arrived on the scene - could it be that he is doing it because he sees Mosi as competition?  Or is it because I've started giving him raw meat and feeding him cat food with a higher meat content?  Ironically, Mosi was a pain when I first got him but I was very firm with him and pushed him away all the time.  Now he doesn't bother at all, but Jaffa has gone from not bothering to trying desperately to get at my food, esp if I'm eating meat.  He's also a nuisance if I'm preparing raw meat in the kitchen.  I never let him have anything off my plate, and always push him away and say No firmly.  But he's not getting the message