He is a piggy little guy and as of a few days ago he wont eat his own dinner, instead he will literally swipe my food off my plate and enjoy that! I'm not fussed about the stealing food afterall he's an old man, but is he just being spoilt???
He loves to steal whatever I'm eating, chicken, cheese, sandwiches..
I should mention he is very attached to me since his mind changed, he has to be with me at all times or he gets upset. I am more than happy to do this but I'm confused about the food thing???
Why will he only eat what I eat?? Does he not trust his own food?
Answer:
Valleycat: What kind of cat food had he been eating before? If dry, it could be that he is having trouble chewing it so is going for yours. Talk to the vet if you think that is the issue. If a major brand of canned foods, you might try switching to a brand that does not have a lot of filler in it. Make sure the cat food is in pieces he can manage and that the bowl is clean. Cat's tastes change over time. FWIW, one of my parents has dementia and as it has progressed, food is becoming unrecognizable - first mistaking mashed potatoes for ice cream, and eating them happily once covered with chocolate syrup; now not really knowing what to do with food presented on a plate.
Kein: Dementia does not always mean lack of cleverness, and it sounds like your guy is using his "poor old dear" status to get away with some rather naughty behavior! :)
Old man or not, he needs to steer clear of most people food. As a cat, he can't understand that some of those foods can upset his stomach, or cause uncomfortable gas, constipation, or diarrhea. Garlic and other seasonings in our food can be toxic, leading to organ damage. It's the person's job to limit him to healthy foods.
If you want to give him some "people food" treats, try giving him his own little servings of these:
-Unseasoned, cooked, shredded chicken or salmon
-Meat flavored baby food
-Unseasoned scrambled egg
-A small portion of banana or cantaloupe
-A small portion of cheese or yogurt
-Salt-free, unseasoned meat broth
As to why he will only eat what you eat, it is hard to say. His sense of smell may be diminished and he may be taking visual cues from you that the things on the plate are food. You can try warming his canned food to increase the odor - just be sure that it isn't too hot to eat when you give it to him. You could even try showing him that it is food by taking a small nibble of shredded chicken or another of the foods listed about and then placing it on his plate to offer to him.
Also worth asking - he is on canned food, isn't he? If he is being fed dry food, it may be too hard for his old teeth.
Most likely of all, though, is that he has become hooked on people food because he can get away with it, and if the food source dries up, he'll get hungry enough to go back to his old standby - cat food.
Skycat:If it is the end of his life, he is probably giving himself a treat. Besides, before the invention of cat food people fed their cats table scraps or leftovers because they also had no refrigerators until the invention of ice boxes! People fed their cats leftovers and table scraps for centuries before the invention of electricity and canned food from the store, you know. Let the cat have some chicken and gravy if it wants.
Just be sure to try and remove as much fat from the meat if you can, and maybe before you add salt or seasoning make a serving for the cat and then add the salt and seasoning. I try to scrape the meat off the bones for my cats and my dogs and whatever leftovers such as cooked peas and corn, the skins from baked potatoes (the dogs love the skins, but the cats like a taste of the cooked potato bits left inside) I have to split up the leftover salmon skin into equal bits and the cats get the specks of cheese stuck on the cheese grater.
The thing to do is to remove as much fat as you can from your human food, so plain bread bites without any mayo or butter, try to make homemade gravy without using a pre-package mix, and no hotdogs or salami or pepperoni as the spices tend to be unkind to their digestion. But if it will eat lean cooked chicken meat with a touch of cheese or cooked potato (But no more than a teaspoon of either!), that should be fine.
Be aware that human food gives them bad gas and the feces may come out, uhm, more runny and less firm But a spoiled cat is far more picky than yours. Let an old guy have some last enjoyment in his golden years and good for your for keeping a cat alive as long as you have! Pet him for me because I do love cats, too.
Lucius: My idea would be, he has toothache. At his age, that would be no surprise, and his confusion that he rejects his regular food and turns to yours also strongly hints to a bad tooth.
Now I'm not a vet, but I'd not pull a 16 year old cat's tooth without
giving him anaesthetics, because he's still a predator who will bite,
but giving him anaesthesia could mean putting his life at risk.
