Behaviour issues/ picky eater

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LauraJN

Member Since 2017
Hi folks,

Looking for some advice on how to get my cat Willow to stop waking us up at 4 am!

Willow is:
-17 yrs old
-recently diagnosed but quickly went into remission after being on Lantus for a few weeks
-on a 100% wet food, low carb diet to prevent relapse
-a very picky/ moody eater
-very thin: she is a small cat, but lost even more weight before her diagnosis so we are trying to get her to gain

Willow has always been a very good self-regulated eater. She has never been overweight and usually just picks at her food throughout the day. However, this has become a challenge with wet food because once the food has been sitting out for more than a few hours, she won't eat it. But she rarely finishes what we put in her bowl either.

Upon switching to the wet food diet (which was easy because she was never a fan of dry anyway), we were feeding small amounts several (4-5) times per day, with big feedings in the morning and evening and more whenever she asked for it. This was in an effort to get her to gain weight. We are now down to 3-4 feedings. She usually gets fed about 1 (5.5 oz) can per day, but probably only eats about 4/5 of that because so much food gets left in her bowl and wasted.

The problem we are having in the past few weeks is that she has started waking us up several times from 4 am to 8 am (when we normally get up), asking for food. Or at least, she was asking for food at first. Now I am wondering if she is just bored. This morning I fed her at 4 am and she left us alone for a few hours but at 6 she was bugging again. My husband checked her bowl at 6 and she hadn't eaten a bite.

At first we thought she was just being picky and asking for a different food when we gave her stuff she didn't like (or just didn't feel like - her tastes change constantly) . But now I am wondering if we've been indulging her too much and now she just knows she can get us to react if she meows loudly (she's never been a vocal cat. This whole meowy thing is new since the diabetes happened, so turns out you can teach an old cat new tricks!)

She's generally not the most playful cat but I wonder if getting her a toy to play with at night might help? She has some catnip toys but does use them - anyone have recommendations for something that would not require action from us?

And my main question is: are we crazy in worrying that she will run out of food/ go hungry if we don't feed her when she demands food at 4-6 am? If we feed her 1/3 of a can at 7 pm and then top it up a bit around 11pm, shouldn't that be enough to keep her going until 7:30 or 8 ?

Any other general advice for feeding to avoid this?

Thanks!
 
Sorry- she *doesnt* use the catnip toys!

And followup / clarification Q: should we feel bad about ignoring her, even if her bowl is empty, from 4 am to 7 or 8 she always has water and everything else she might need). I want to train her not to ask for breakfast until 8 but I feel so bad hearing her cry outside the bedroom door!
 
Many people here use an automated pet feeder and set it to open multiple times a night. That might be something to try. :) If you ask for more information on the best ones, etc. I'm sure others will chime in (I don't use one).
 
I use an automated pet feeder for Leo. This has knocked out his 2:00AM pestering for food and has helped his IBD because he needs not to have an empty stomach for too long. He still wakes me up early morning though and I'm starting to think that it doesn't have anything to do with eating. He wants me up and wants attention. Early morning seems to be a very active time for cats and since he is an only child and does not have a companion I think I'm it. He has toys to play with and birds to watch at the feeder but for some reason it's me he wants at 5:00AM. Boredom may have something to do with it. Maybe a cat behaviorist would have some ideas. It is possible at the age of 17 your kitty is having some age related dementia. Does she have a cat tree to climb? or a window to look out of that would distract her from bugging you?
 
How does an automated pet feeder work with wet food? I did not know it was an option! We are also in a fairly small apartment so any feeding apparatus would have to be reasonably sized.

Willow has not been diagnosed with IBD - any obvious symptoms to look for that would indicate whether she has it? Don't want to spend money at the vet again unless there's a real issue.

I have also wondered about dementia. She meows extra-loud at her own image in the mirror...
 
I bought the Pet Safe 5 compartment feeder. It's not very small though but they do have two compartment feeders also. The two compartment feeder was awfully loud when the top opened and I didn't like how it worked as much as the other one. The Pet Safe 5 has a small space inside for a very small ice pack to keep things chilled. I place a small ice pack on top of the feeder when I fill it at night and this seems to be working ok. I don't fill all the compartments though, just one or two at night. I use wet canned food and Leo is fine eating out of these compartments. Howling especially at night is a classic sign of possible dementia with confusion. Maybe she has some hearing loss? Most of my previous indoor geriatric cats ended up crying or howling in the middle of the night at some point. It doesn't sound like IBD is an issue unless you see vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, weight loss, etc. Has she been checked for CRF? Hyperthyroid? Just touching all the bases here- I think because I've had so many elderly cats who've eventually come down with everything.
 
Hi Laura & Willow,

I'm new at this diabetes thing, but I'm an old hand when it comes to IBD and behavioural issues, so I thought I'd share some comments.

As to the main question at the end of your post, the short answer is that it's hard to say if she'll go hungry if you don't feed her early in the morning. This is probably a question for your vet, as different cats have different metabolic needs, based on health, size, etc., etc. The automatic pet feeder sounds like a good way to mitigate this potential problem; if she really is hungry, then she'll probably eat from this.

If you're worried about her being bored, the website foodpuzzlesforcats.com has some really terrific suggestions for making cats' lives more interesting. Visit foodpuzzlesforcats.com/wet-food-puzzles for (predictably!) wet food puzzles.

Regarding IBD, it's really a diagnosis of exclusion. Like Lillie said above, symptoms are variable: diarrhea, constipation, weight loss, abdominal pain, vomiting, etc. Since these symptoms mimic the symptoms of lots of other disease processes, she would need to be thoroughly checked over before a diagnosis (or presumptive diagnosis) of IBD could be made. As I understand it, the only way to confirm a diagnosis of IBD is to do a biopsy, and, as this is invasive, expensive, and rarely changes treatment options, few people opt for it (I certainly haven't). Anyway, I wouldn't be suspicious of IBD unless you're seeing changes in what's going on in the litter box.

I really feel your pain with regard to the picky eating... my cats are all pretty picky, and I've fallen into the trap more than once of buying lots of something I thought they liked, only to have them subsequently reject it out of hand. I think there's definitely a boredom component associated with picky behaviour, and food puzzles can help; if cats work for their food, they're more likely to eat it.

As for toys, you could try the Cat's Meow toy: www.yourenotstupid.com/cats-meow-toy-review/ The only thing with this is that the batteries wear down quickly, so you probably wouldn't want to leave it running all night. If Willow likes swatting at dangling things, you could try leaving ribbons or feathery things dangling in various places throughout the house -- you'd just need to make sure there was no chance of her getting tangled/strangled if you're leaving her alone with these toys. Also, I had a friend who would leave tissue paper out for her cat, and the cat absolutely loved it. One of my cats eats tissue paper, though, so obviously make sure she's not going to do that before you leave her alone with it.

As for the meowing in the middle of the night... there are a bunch of things that could cause this. My 23-year-old girl meows in a different way and at different times than she used to, as well. Like Lillie, I think this is pretty common behaviour for geriatric cats. It could be hearing loss, it could be her wanting you to come to her (rather than the other way around), it could be confusion, boredom... you name it. This page has some interesting comments (and suggestions for solutions) on this: https://www.catchat.org/index.php/meowing

All the best, and good luck with your little one!
 
I don't have any additional suggestions but wanted to say that even though it is heartbreaking when they meow at us at 04:00 o_O, she will learn it will get her attention from you both :cat:. Clearing any health issue, try not to give into it. Cats are great at training their beans :p. Oh, I guess I have one small tip! If you set her last dinner, I think you said 23:00, put an ice cube or two on top. This helps it from drying out as fast :)
 
Thanks you so much for the tips and ideas, Jennifer and Lillie and Yong! The more I read about feline dementia, the more I think this may be a big part of our problem. I will have to do some research into what we can do to calm her down.

I also think that we encouraged her to start asking for things vocally, by feeding her every time she asked. Now we need to break that habit. We are going to start feeding her on more of a strict schedule, and look into an automatic feeder for the overnights as well as maybe try a Cat's Meow toy. The ice cube idea is also a good one!

Thanks again!
 
Another thought is that if her kidneys are starting to show dysfunction (at 17 years they very well may be) she may be getting some acid/nausea and may not want to eat much at one time and with no food in her stomach for several hours over night she may be feeling some distress.
 
Thanks all! She had a checkup at the time of her diagnosis (February) and was tested for kidney issues - the diabetes was all they found. She has also always been a "grazer" - nothing new there. It's just that once the food dries out a bit she can't/ doesn't want to graze anymore.

She's doing a lot better now! Still waking us up early most mornings but usually not until after 630. a combination of a stricter food routine and trying to stimulate her in the evenings /give extra attention seems to be helping. We also started putting an ice cube in her food at bedtime, and also making that her biggest feeding. We are fairly certain she's not hungry when she wakes us up early, because often there is lots of food left (which is still moist bc of the ice cube). It also seems to coincide with her looking in the mirror when it starts to get light out... We are pretty sure it's either boredom or dementia/confusion.

Anyway things are definitely better!
Thanks so much for the great advice and ideas everyone!
 
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