My cat has a bad habit of eating leftovers or any type of food that gets left unsupervised. What can I do to deter this bad habit?

Question

His previous owner would feed him leftovers, if that's of any relevance. I have to keep the butter out of his reach, as that seems to be his favorite, but he seems to like anything that gets left out for a significant amount of time. He DOES eat regular cat food as well. I'm concerned that his bad eating habits could lead to serious health problems. He's an older cat (not elderly, but getting up there). What can be done to deter this bad habit of his?

Update:

I have parents who don't care about leaving food out. So I seriously doubt that they will be willing to keep it out of his reach.

Anonymous · Answer

Have you ever smelled a can of cat food? Give him real meat to eat. And, clean up your mess. Don't expect him to do it.

pamela · Answer

Just make sure that no food is left around, move your parents food out of the way!

Maxi · Answer

Pick up, put away will stop the cat having the opportunity........ so stop being lazy

Anonymous · Answer

Cover your food. Food covers also keep flies away. The only thing you can do to deter it is if you catch it in the act and you hit your cat softly or pound the table near it hard with something like a rolled up piece of newspaper. It will only get the message that it is not supposed to do that if it gets punished while being caught in the act,. If you hit your cat after the act, when it is not in the act of stealing food, then it won't work. The cat cannot associate after the act punishment with what it did.

Tavy · Answer

Don't leave anything out.

TB12 · Answer

Put away the leftovers where he can't get to them.

Trending News

My cat has a bad habit of eating leftovers or any type of food that gets left unsupervised. What can I do to deter this bad habit?

6 Answers