There’s two things, maybe both, that are going on. One is a problem of perception, and the other is sincerity.
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When a cat is hungry, they do not pretend they are hungry. They might pretend they are starving, to make a point, but they are trying to convey a true feeling of hunger.
If our cat is already overweight, we might think we are having our leg pulled. But overweight cats eat too much food when that food does not have enough protein and fat to fuel their impressive metabolic engines. So they have to eat more.
We can consider a meal change if our present cat food doesn’t measure up, as outlined in The Cat Food Calculator.
We might also be mistaking prey behavior for hungry behavior.
Cats get wild-eyed and happy when we mention food. But they also get wild-eyed and happy when they play, and we can also ask them if they want to play.
Sometimes, that’s all they want.
The misconception occurs when we make the wrong decision about what is motivating the cat. We might not realize the cat’s nature is driving them as much, or more, than hunger.
We have to remember that there is no animal which is not food obsessed. It is a consequence of all of us being biological creatures. If someone kept us as a pet, we would be thought of as beings who “go nuts” over pizza and pastry and other human treats.
But cats are also complete predators who are used to being on alert for possible prey. We must remember that cats do not go to their favorite field and sit there nibbling on grass when they are hungry. They do that, but not when they’re hungry.
When they are hungry, they know they have to hunt something down.
And this is, aside from the biological drive of hunger, very interesting to them.
So this is why cats are always up for a snack. If they are not really hungry, they can be dissuaded.
If they are really hungry, we need to know that, too.
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There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.
When our female (Annie) wants to be fed, she finds our male (Charlie) and gives him “kisses” until he comes to let us know it is time for supper. It would just not be lady-like for her to do it!
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How adorable. I suppose Charlie is a willing volunteer.
Heehee. My cat pretty much ignores me (she’s for sure a gamma!) and if her food bowl isn’t completely full she will start meowing at me when she does see me. There’s a lot of times when she’d meow at me when it was full and I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. I finally realized one day that (I think) she’s getting on to me because her “baby’s” food bowl is empty. Her baby would be….. the dog. I suddenly remembered a time when I had feed the cat and hadn’t gotten to the dog yet and witness the cat nosing her bowl over to the dog – this was when the dog was still just a little puppy.
And sure enough – I’d feed the dog and she’d stop yelling at me….
My female cat does this (except for the dog part), plus she also talks to me about the water fountain when it is empty enough to gurgle.