Study: Cats That Beg For Food Suffer From Mental Illness

[dkf]

WASHINGTON (CBSDC) – A new study put out by a group of veterinarians finds that a cat begging for food suffers from an eating disorder caused by a mental illness.

The study, which was done by veterinarians at the University of Padua in Italy on an 8-month-old cat, concluded that felines suffer from “psychogenic abnormal feeding behavior” if it rubs against its owner’s legs during a time they usually eat. The cat also showed signs of jumping on the owner’s table and eating from other cat bowls, indicating a type of eating disorder.

Veterinarians treated the cat by reducing exposure to stress and modifying its behavior through desensitization of food, according to the study published in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior.

“The cat did not show any abnormal behavior at the sight of food and it remained relaxed when present at the owners’ meals,” the researchers said.

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/08/28/study-cats-that-beg-for-food-suffer-from-mental-illness/

Weird.

[Incitatus]

1. So it's officlal.

All cats are crazy.

[dkf]

2. Haha. Too funny.

[LisaL]

3. Most of them, anyway.

[silvershadow]

19. ha ha

[Liberal_in_LA]

80. lol

[CatWoman]

84. if mine are any indication

you're right on the money

[reformist2]

4. There's something wrong with a cat who *doesn't* go crazy at the smell of tuna.

[frazzled]

5. My cat will not eat tuna

Whether canned (we buy the expensive Italian stuff) or fresh (poached, grilled, or sauteed). If you happen to have a French fry, however, she will hound you till you give her one. Even if it burns her tongue.

My cat is truly crazy.


(PS: She will eat only one kind of very expensive organic special dry cat food and nothing else; she doesn't like most any kind of kitty treat. She eats like a little bird. She's always interested in what we're eating, but when given a taste, will almost always reject it.)

[LadyHawkAZ]

29. I used to have a Maine Coon mix

He ate tuna. And french fries. Tacos. Asparagus. Cheeseburgers. Bread. Anything that was edible, he ate it. He would actually stalk us while we ate, wait till we put the food down or got distracted, then steal it and run away. Oddly enough, he never seemed to get fat. He'd just pack on more muscle.

[Behind the Aegis]

31. I miss my Maine Coon kitty,

Actually, he wasn't mine. He lived across the street but he came to my house all the time. He actually learned to knock on the door to get my attention. His human moved away and took him.

[LadyHawkAZ]

34. the ex got kitty custody when I moved

But I get regular photos and sometimes he squeaks at me on the phone (22 pound cat. Itty bitty squeaky mew. Go figure)

[hifiguy]

70. The bigger the domestic cat, the smaller the voice

seems to be the rule. A couple I know has a 27 pound Maine Coon. You practically expect him to roar. And then this tiny little "Mew" comes out of him.

[LadyHawkAZ]

75. Mine was a great big chicken too

First one make a dash under the bed when there was thunder, or someone dropped something and made a thud, or the tiny feral kitty came in the house.

[Aerows]

48. I had one for 17 years

He was gorgeous and HUGE. He was a pure Maine Coon. He was the most gregarious, loving and playful cat I've ever had. He could fetch. We would play fetch until he got tired. He always brought it back.

[PCIntern]

53. My cat used to play fetch with twist-ties from the old Baggies...

The game was that I would place it in hard to get to places and she would figure out how to get it and bring it back. I miss her terribly...and she left us,so to speak, 37 years ago.

[Freddie]

45. My Maine Coon had a sweet tooth

Ricky (now at the Bridge and greatly missed) would make a real pest of himself for donuts, muffins or cake. Took 2 or 3 bites and had enough.

[DesertFlower]

30. my cat drinks the juice i drain from

the can of tuna, but won't eat the tuna until i put mayonnaise on it. go figure.

[Aerows]

49. My two LOVE that

I love tuna salad sandwiches with cheese, so they get spoiled with tuna juice at least once a week

[TexasProgresive]

50. Sounds like ours except

they would suck the mayo off and still leave the tuna.

[Aerows]

43. One of mine

goes absolutely bananas at the smell of corn. If I make corn on the cob, I make her one, too, because I know she absolutely will not leave me alone unless she gets some.

[graywarrior]

81. Mine hates tuna, but loves the juice from the can

He also goes nuts over cantaloupe and watermelon, oatmeal with cooked bananas and steamed veggies.

[rDigital]

6. I've got one of those mentally ill "feed me" cats. He's also obsessed with drinking straws.

[rDigital]

12. One of these cats made a video...

[justabob]

20. Henri is great

I love his videos. I wish his keepers would do part 4.

[barbtries]

41. that was great!

why i love DU

[PCIntern]

59. Wonderful! Thanks! Nt

[CatWoman]

85. LOL

Henry is a hoot!!!

[blkmusclmachine]

7. -1:

[Behind the Aegis]

8. Based on ONE cat?

I wouldn't call this a "study" in the least.

[Incitatus]

11. After 5 months, they were able to train a cat to not beg.

I wonder what they did to the cat.

[kestrel91316]

17. They just quit rewarding the begging behavior with food.

It's more a matter of training the HOOMAN as opposed to the cat.

[FightForMichigan]

9. Well, great.

Now, not only am I the crazy cat lady, but I've got a crazy cat.

[lunatica]

56. LOL!

Welcome to DU! We love cat ladies!

[hifiguy]

73. You are in common company

A large percentage of DUers are crazy cat people. Myself included.

Welcome, and have a great time. DU is a wonderful place.

[flvegan]

10. One cat?

[abolugi]

13. Both of my cats

rub my legs when its feeding time. They just love their food. One loves the wet food and table scraps as a treat and the other is completely addicted to dry and wont eat anything else.
I doubt they are too mental. Just happy kitties!

[kestrel91316]

18. Rubbing legs and begging is retained kitten behavior, which

6000 years of human intervention has selectively bred for. We LIKE our cats to interact with us this way.

Some researchers are complete morans.

[pinboy3niner]

14. If they REALLY want to pinpoint the crazy, they should be looking at cat owners

[Luminous Animal]

26. Yep. I have 4 and would be happy with 8 but to have 8, I'd have to get a divorce.

My kitties are named... His Name Is Corneeeeelius, And He Invented Long Division. Another is named Hello. My Name Is Inigo Montoya. You Killed My Father. Prepare To Die. Another is named Count Olaf Von Bubbletush. And then there is Zig Zag DeSkinny Funcoot. I really wanted to name Hello. My Name Is Inigo Montoya. You Killed My Father. Prepare To Die... Ned The Pie Man but my daughter is right... he is better suited for Hello. My Name Is Inigo Montoya. You Killed My Father. Prepare To Die because he has a soul patch.

[gateley]

76. Fabulous names!

Wow, up until my current cat, mine all had one syllable names -- Spot, Nero -- short and sweet -- but I'm LOVING yours!

[Luminous Animal]

88. I had a Spot! He was all white with a small black spot in the middle of his forehead...

Cooler still he revealed himself to be a fetcher and very comfortable on a leash. Throughout my life, my cats mostly have had two names... Stanley Ralph was my first at age three and then Ben Huuuurman. The long names started in my 20s with He's A Two Tone Mover, A Ska Kinda Guy... A Door Bell, K.C., The Talking Horse, Press Here For Your Bowler's Aid, My Seagull Liked It... I did have two cats with one name... Thumbs (7-9 toes on each paw) and Steve because a girl friend of mine had had three successive boyfriends named Steve but was at the time, currently dating a guy named Mark. I came home from work one day and someone had left that cat in a carrier on my door step with a sandwich bag of food and a note that said, "His name is Hobo". So, I renamed him Steve because I missed having a Steve in my life. I took him to the vet a few days later and found out that he was a she but the name Steve stuck anyway.

I had 8 cats (I was not married at the time, thus no need for a divorce), three of them would go on walks to the beach with me and would only cross the street when I told them it was okay. While it was great going for walks with them, it did lead them to think that every time I walked out the front door, it was time for a walk. I often had to employ subterfuge to leave for work.

Did I mention that I love cats?

[gateley]

89. I'm totally a cat whack, too.

My Spot was solid gray, not a mark anywhere. He used to go on road trips with me, and when my boyfriend was doing the driving, he'd sit on my lap, paws on the windowsill, watching the world pass by. If we got out at a park, he'd romp around, but would come running and jump back in the car when I whistled for him. Great little guy.

I did have a two-namer, McChord because I found him at McChord AFB.

I usually only have one at a time because every time one dies I'm so bereft I vow that was the last one, but then some little darling finds me.

Again, your lucky cats have the coolest names ever!!!!

[murielm99]

15. My cat screeches at me when she wants food,

then she ignores the food. She likes to let me know that she is in charge.

[kestrel91316]

16. Utter BS (in this cat vet's opinion). Begging can be annoying and a problem in

some cats, but I think it's just basic conditioning.

Now, exactly who is conditioning whom, cats versus humans, is not certain, lol.

If any clients come to me wanting head meds for their begging cat, they can go pound sand.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. My cat doesn't beg.

Begging is asking. He doesn't ask; he just helps himself to my food. Once he stole a whole pork chop right off my plate. I don't think he's crazy; he's just doing a normal cat thing: hunting for food.

[DesertFlower]

32. my cat took a hamburger off my plate.

[Skip Intro]

22. The pic with that article - ROFL!

Look at that cat - the whole expression, the eyes - some serious munching going on there.

Cracking me up.

[dkf]

23. OMG that is hilarious!

The article was odd enough that I didn't notice the pic.

[leveymg]

24. They're not mentally ill, they're just dogs.

[Luminous Animal]

27. Cats. Are. Not. Dogs.

[leveymg]

28. Literalist . . .

[Raine]

25. My cats don't "beg" begging would be degrading ... they demand. nt

[coalition_unwilling]

33. Give my cat a choice between salmon (fish of kings) and cantaloupe or musk melon

and she will invariably select the cantaloupe.

Now that's batshit (or should I say 'catshit') crazy.

I am thinking of other dastardly experiments to run on her involving other foods that share the same color but I think they need to have a special section in the DSM-IV (Feline ed.) just for her.

[Luminous Animal]

36. I had a cat that was crazy for beans.I rescued him from a dumpster and I still can't believe I heard

that feeble 3 week old squeak. (His four siblings were dead). I fed him liquids with an eye dropper but when it came to solids, all he would eat was figs and lentils.

[coalition_unwilling]

37. OMG, I cannot imagine my cat on beans. (Her owner on beans is bad enough :) - n/t

[Luminous Animal]

38. I had to ween him off beans. Sometimes he'd be up to his elbows in runny poop!

But I would give him a half teaspoon of bean treat now and again throughout his life.

[coalition_unwilling]

64. Only acceptable response: Aww! :) - n/t

[vanlassie]

60. I used to find cantaloupe rinds ridged with cat tooth marks.

Cantaloupe was catnip to that cat. But the mentally ill part? I wonder. That cat was killed by a blue jay. Pecked in the head and neck several times. Until an abcess got to him.

[arely staircase]

35. alternative headline - study: all cats are mentally ill

at leats mine is

[sibelian]

39. This is the stupidest study I've ever heard

They psychologically distort the behaviour of a subject and claim that the resultant distortion is normal and the previous behaviour is abnormal? Based on what?

[aquart]

40. Onion, right? A ONE-cat study?

And what kind of torture desensitizes a cat to food?

[joeybee12]

42. As others have noted, this study is phucked up...nt

[MagickMuffin]

44. None of my kitties are crazy

I have had a lot of cats over the years and they are / were NOT crazy.

2 of my current wild feral cats (Inuyasha & Songo) that I tamed, sing for their supper. If I bend down they give me nose nibbles. Nothing at ALL crazy about that. The others just wait for me to fill their bowls. I do sometimes have to hold a lid from their food containers as a shield so they don't nudge the scooper making the food spill.

I've had some cats that loved papayas, watermelon, mangoes, grapes if you peeled them. Spoiled perhaps, crazy nope not at all.

One of my current kittehs (Kohaku) loves to fetch toys I make for him. He would have died if we had not found him the day that we did. It had rained extremely hard the night before, the next day I heard him crying for help. He was lodged between a storage shed and our chain link fence and lying on his back. He could not turn himself back over. We rescued him and his sister (Kagome) that day they were probably 4 or 5 weeks old. We took in their sister (Kikyo) a few days later when she ran up to me wanting to come live with us and be reunited with her siblings. We almost lost them because they did not want to eat. I had to force feed them. Now they love to eat.

[gollygee]

46. My cat acts a bit crazy but never begs for food

So I'm not sure about this.

She acts OCD - she won't actually step in her litter box, but perches on the edges, and then won't touch or bury anything. Then she scrapes her claws a million times like someone with OCD washing their hands 20 times in the sink. She's just an odd cat. It's nice she's so clean, but she's definitely quirky.

[Freddie]

47. A lot depends on your feeding pattern

With most of the cats I've had, I've used the always-filled bowl of dry food with 1 can wet food per day. They get happy for the can but aren't real pests about it.
I had one cat who totally refused to eat dry food and he got 2 cans per day. He would wake me up in the AM and follow me around meowing until he was fed. Then if someone else was home after I went to work he'd pull the "no one fed me!" trick and get an extra can. He'd do the same thing at supper time too. Lived to be 18.

[Enrique]

51. i have a name for that mental illness

they should call it "being a cat".

[Siwsan]

52. My cats have little interest in cooked 'human' food

I can leave a plate full of food sitting anywhere and they ignore it. Sometimes I can get them to eat a little cooked chicken, and they will clean out a tuna can but for the most part they are content with a little wet food and a dish of dry, along with the occasional kitty treat.

My brother's cats would circle us, like sharks, when we ate, and if you weren't always on guard, would snag the food right off of your plate. If you WERE watching them, they would attempt to meow you into submission.

[cherish44]

54. From my experience then, 100% of cats are mentally ill

nt

[rbrnmw]

55. The humans conducting the study may have issues but the

kitty is sane IMO

[meow2u3]

58. Not just projection, but also hasty generalization

The researchers were accusing the cat-- one cat! -- of their own insanity.

Kitty is sane but humans are nuts is right. Those vets are generalizing the behavior of all cats based on that of merely one. It doesn't take a kitty shrink to see that you have to study more than just one cat to come to the conclusion that felines who beg for food are crazy cats.

[rug]

57. One of my cats growls and runs off with his food.

[reformist2]

61. This reminds me of that horrible couple that trained their dog to resist cupcakes.

[rainbow4321]

62. My cat will find one of my socks and drag it over to her bowl to hide her food

The first time it happened I felt bad cuz I thought that I had dropped my laundry on her bowl and blocked her from getting to it. I do the free feed thing with the cat and the dog, just leave bowls out for each all day.

After finding one of my socks repeatedly on her bowl, I realized that the cat was doing it to keep my *dog* from eating all of her *cat* food. Somewhere along the line she realized that if she "hid" her food bowl, the dog wouldn't go to her bowl and eat ALL of cat food.

I don't know why the dog has a preference for CAT food but she will down the whole damn bowl in one "sitting" no matter how full the her own dog food bowl is. Problem is, the cat will not touch the dog food so it's not like I can interchange the two's food.

[reformist2]

69. What a smart cat!

[vanlassie]

74. Yep We ave a cat who drags a paper towel over and onto the food before leaving the house.

The dog WOULD eat it, otherwise. We keep a paper towel on the floor just for him.

[Riley18]

63. Great! My cat is seriously disturbed.

He uses his paw to tap my arm at dinner. He has been hungry ever since he was lost for a few weeks years ago. Of course, now he is pretty chunky and his flea medicine is for "husky" kitties.

[DippyDem]

65. Pshaw...mentally ill cats is a myth.

I have a 3 year old bengal cat named Kiki. She's a wild thing with a mind of her own and we have grown to love each other. Every day at 5 pm or very close to it... Kiki will jump up on my coffee table, do all kinds of shit to get my attention and tell me it's dinner time. She will either paw me till I look at her, run across my laptop messing up the screen, mew at me or sit and stare at me. Sometimes I'd just talk to her like "What do ya want". Kiki..."mew". Me.."What?". Kiki ..."mew". And on and on. Then I ask 'Do you wanna eat?" Kiki just perks up, widens her eyes and freakin MEOWS loudly and shows her fangs and jumps off the coffee table headed straight for the kitchen with her tail held straight up high! She pauses now and then on the way to the kitchen to look back and make sure I am following her. I give her a can of wet cat food and that's gone in a few minutes. She always has dry cat food.

[BeHereNow]

66. Utter crap. Cats train their owners, if allowed.

Having raised many, from feral to domestic- kitty behavior is based
in an innate sense of survival.

If a cat learns that certain behavior result in reward, food, snuggling,
and other desirable results, they do the same thing infants do.

They have a need, they learn that certain behaviors result in that reward-
it is up to the human caretaker to enforce the behavior or ignore it.

My cat are all very well behaved in making requests, because that it the way
I respond.

Cats are not mentally ill- they are survivors.

People who encourage unhealthy patterns of behavior are the
ones who need examining. IMHO.

Routines are very effective; just as with young children, if a cat
is fed on a regular schedule consistently, there is no problem.
The same goes for treat feeding- My kitties know what time treats
are given, and they show up as if attuned to an inner clock.
This study is crap and much more revealing about the humans who
conducted it than the nature of cats.
BHN

[Matariki]

67. That group of veterinarians lose any right to the claim of being "Scientists"

[Lone_Star_Dem]

68. How about cats that sit on your chest at 5 AM tapping your face with their paw for food?

Crazy?

Personally, I've always thought he was just a dictator.

[dkf]

77. Crazy smart. Lol.

I think it's hubris on our part to not realize who is really in charge. Haha.

My cat even got me to buy her hamachi sashimi in a quest to find what she wanted to eat. She was just sick though so she didn't have an appetite. . Loved that cat.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

82. Cat's are master manipulators.

They know how to show a little love at just the right times to lure you into being willing their slaves.

[LadyHawkAZ]

79. I was amused that the article referred to humans as "owners"

No human owns a cat. The cat owns YOU. You are there because you have opposable thumbs and can operate a can opener.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

83. When cats evolution finally produces opposable thumbs, they're taking over the planet.

I'm thoroughly convinced of that fact.

[Fawke Em]

71. My cat must be insane, then.

Of course, it doesn't help that the dogs usually eat his food, so he's always begging me for food at night when they're asleep and he can eat in peace.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

72. Some cats don't like the food that's proffered..like this one.

[meow2u3]

78. In lay terminology, the kitty is spoiled rotten

Enough of this fancy-schmancy psychobabble about "psychogenic abnormal feeding behavior." He's a rotten cat, plain and simple.

[NNN0LHI]

86. I have to agree with this completely because I witnessed it before. Recently

Had a cat that was perfectly fine until his best friend Frosty the Keeshond had to be put to sleep. Not long after that the same for the cat. We thought we experienced a pack collapse here after the alpha dog Frosty was gone.

The cat completely changed after Frosty was gone. This cat never even had to even clean himself ever because Frosty took care of that for him. Frosty and the cat were closer than any two animals I have been around before.

After Frosty was gone the cat began doing exactly what the article describes. Among other bad habits.

Great article and thanks for posting it.

Don

[WooWooWoo]

87. so....the crazy cat lady takes on a whole new meaning now

[TNLib]

90. I have a cat that loves eating Vick's Tissues

but doesn't like tuna