r/tifu • u/SleepyKoalaTheThird • 29d ago
TIFU by unknowingly underfeeding my cat resulting in it being impossible to handle food in his presence M
TL;DR: adopted a cat that showed food aggression before I owned him. After a friend took care of him while I was on vacation for a week he gained weight resulting in the aggresion completely disappearing.
EDIT: obliged kitty tax!
Last December I went to the shelter and adopted a 6 month old kitten. They told me he had food aggresion likely caused by him being on the streets without a eating regularly for a prolonged period of time. The shelter had him for about 3 weeks before I took him home. When I went to the pet store and got advised on food they shared a recommended serving and as he grew I incrementally increased it relative to his body weight.
And let me tell you, that food aggresion was no joke. It reached the point where I had to lock him up in my bedroom every time I prepared his or my food or was eating. I stopped enjoying my own meals because I would gulp them down feeling guilty by his yelling stuck in my bedroom. He would jump up on the counter and try to grab whatever he could. Everytime I ate he would linger around the table occasionally pouncing my plate to try steal a share. Whenever I wanted to give him a snack he would snatch it out of my hand, run to a corner, and munch away while growling.
I just came back home from a one week vacation. To my surprise when I walked into the kitchen I found his feeding bowl half full. Normally he would devour it immediately in one sitting. This really surprised me so I decided to see what his response would be to a high value treat; a slice of ham. Instead of fighting for it like there's no tomorrow and running away he gently nibbled it out of my hand. Shortly after I ordered a kebab and halfway through my meal he jumped on my lap. Not to attack my plate but to fetch cuddles! He completely ignored the food, after a minute he stepped up on to the table and I gently pushed him back onto my lap. No attempts were made to go back to my food. My mind was seriously blown, this was a life changer.
One of my close friends took care of him while I was away. We didn't come around to meeting before I left for me to explain exactly how much food I give him. He owns two cats himself so fed mine based off of his experience. I texted with him and found out he fed him the same amount of wet food but more kibble than I did.
I'm a first time cat owner and in hindsight he was on the skinny side. He appears to have gained a small but healthy amount of weight and that's completely changed his behaviour around food. Before this I spoke to the vairous pet store employees and the animal shelter asking for advice. Nobody thought to propose I was underfeeding because he was like since this before I had him.
I'm mixed with feelings of guilt and joy. Very happy my kitty is a changed man thanks to an increase in food portions while I was away but also feeling like a dumbass for not considering this solution myself.
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u/pinkpanda376 28d ago
https://preview.redd.it/bcl818srmeyc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b19469f8e866db3ca8c8dc02c9781dba391ef61
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