Why is my cat eating people food from the counter now?

Cristie

I have a 5 y. o. female cat. She has always eaten dry cat food (and occasionally wet food, but very rarely). She has recently begun getting on the counter in the kitchen and eating people food. She has done this before in the past, but only if we leave something out, like a tasty meat. Now shes eating anything on the counter, such as last night when we caught her tearing a hole in the bread bag. I know shes eating her dry food because we have to watch her around the other cat and the dog. Weve not changed her food or started giving her less, so Im not sure whats up. We are doing our best to keep our food put up, but the bread incident was a first for us. Any thoughts about why she is doing this?



Kandis

Uh oh. Once she has found a new source of tasty treats, she will keep going there. I had a cat that tore open the bread bags, too. She only ate the crusts of a few pieces, but we had to toss the whole loaf. She needs to be re-trained to stay off the cupboards. This can be accomplished with a squirt bottle of plain water, a can of air, or you can rig up a tin can full of hard beans or pennies to fall when she gets up there to scare her. The big point is to get her to associate the correction with getting on the counter, not with you seeing her up there. You can also use double-sided tape or contact paper laying sticky-side up. Cats dont like that feeling. When you see her up there, try to get her with the water or air without her seeing you, and dont say anything to her. Thats why the can rig works so well; it scares her whether or not you are around. Soon, she will decide that the counter is a scary place, it makes noise, gets her wet, whatever, and she will decide to not go up there. Good luck!



Giselle

Maybe shes developed a taste for it. We keep our cats off the counters, but that doesnt stop them from begging when one of us is in there. Just dont let her eat chocolate. Thats poison for cats.



Alline

Your cat knows good food if its good enought for you its good enought for him



Isidro

She is responding more stromngly to her instincts telling her that her dry food doesnt meet her nutritional needs. Read this to learn why:http://www. catinfo. orgThen find kitty some good quality wet food.



Gabriele

The smells in the kitchen are just too tempting. People food tastes so good to them, but it isnt nutritionally sound for cats, so thats why they shouldnt have it. You will need to keep the food put away and discourage the cat from getting on the counters. Imagine kitty walking in her litter box and then on the counter where food is prepared. You can use aluminum foil or double-sided tape to help discourage her for awhile. I also use a squirt bottle. My cat once chewed open a package of crackers. She didnt particularly want to eat them, she just wanted to investigate the smell further. Cats dont have good impulse control.



Dell

Check her food, sometimes they do this when they are not gettin all the nutrients they need.



Andria

Cats are just so curious. They have to go up there and see what is there. Be careful with plastic bags. Cats have been known to eat them. There is some ingredient in the bag itself that appeals to them. An oil of some type that cats like. A friend of mine has a cat that will eat the plastic bags that the grocery store puts our groceries in. She has to hide them from Scarlet.



Adrien

It is possible she is getting tired of her dry food or isnt getting enough of a certain food group like Grains/meat etc. Look for a food that has all the food groupes the first or second ingredient should be a meat then a grain and a vegetable. If it has lots of weird stuff on it dont buy it



Anibal

The older a cat gets the more its nutritional needs change. The bread thing is a hoot. We had the same problem with Munchie. Right around 5 years old, we couldnt keep her away from bread. She would chew thru the bag and eat just the crust. Wouldnt do it now. Just adjust the diet for a young to middle-aged cat. Been there, done that bread and all. Not to worry. Catz! They were put on planet Earth to drive us nuts. Problem is: we like them and they like us.