Need advice on my kitty again

@Northwest when tosh was younger, she enjoyed a dripping faucet

@Kstrong oh yes. She hobbles around pretty gingerly. She can still jump into then onto the back of her favorite chair. She enjoys the vacuum cleaner. I believe it is the only thing she can hear.

@bijouxbroussard well, she found she preferred her drink iced. Is that so much to ask?🙃

@Soossie Yes, I didn't think of that, and now that you and @OogieBoogie have suggested substituting her need for love and security by seeking out food, her behavior makes perfect sense.

@Onestarlitnight DQ, because I started giving into her drama, started getting chunky, so I immediately went back to feeding her as recommended. Cats!

@Ontheroad I understand well. They never seem to learn from it though. I worked in animal medicine and this is a common trait for them, even in shelter cats.

@MoonlightLullaby Thank you. She was a shelter adoption and was found starving so that probably adds to her drama.

Never had a cat, so this is all a new experience for me.

@Ontheroad Yes, that's probably the biggest culprit. Breaks my heart. 😞 Thank you for being a good human by adopting.🩷

@Quimliqer I had many dogs and yes, they do beg, but when you say no or shoo them away, that's it. DQ goes on and on no matter what I do.

@Ontheroad hey...dont cut urself short 😂

I'm drawing on years of dog behavior study and training ....and even autism and human behavioral therapy .
i got taught from a professional how to assess adversive behavior and look for opportunities to use to adapt/retrain cognitive responses .
You've done an amazing job.

Your PURE CONSTANT patience has been the whole reason she has come this far.

It only takes one fuck up, one tiny break in that, one tiny push too far -.and all your work would have been trashed.
That's more than I can even express.

It's all about TRUST ....patience, gentle coersion, and gentle, passive, postive reinforcement .

You are building trust in an being that has had it destroyed and been hurt by it .

It can take years .
You've come so far so quickly 🤗

@MsSwan Yep, @OogieBoogie and @Soossie mentioned this and I think you and they have the answer. thanks!

@PepsiColaP So, I'm right to have changed her name to DQ (Drama Queen)... thanks!

@Ontheroad yes,she's being absurd

@Ontheroad If it works 😂

She might need more food? Does she gobble it all up instantly at meals?

@SW-User Yep, but when I tried feeding her more, she almost instantly started to... what do women call it? Get fluffy😁

@Ontheroad 🤣🤣🤣 Yeah she just wants to be a fluffy girl. She's working you 😂

@Ontheroad she eats out of your hand ?!? 👀

Oh dude ..... THAT'S EXCELLENT
Oh I'm so amazed how good you are at this .

I think she was meant for you .....or you for her .🤗

And to be honest ....one of my cats meows at me as soon as I get up, (or get home ....or for no reason what'so ever) ....and follows me everywhere, (even the toilet)....for attention and to be patted .
And not just one pat ....he needs quite a few to feel satiated.
So I put a little stool he can sit on next to my kitchen bench so I can stand there all bleary eyed and half awake while making coffee .....and pat him 🤗

He also does it when I'm cooking 🤷

If I don't .....he gets VERY vocal ....and VERY pushy about it.

I originally thought he was hungry ....or wanted to be picked up and cuddled .
But he just got fat and then didn't eat his breakfast .....and wriggled when I cuddled him .

It turned out he just wants to be scritched and patted and talked to and looked at ....(he has a thing about eye contact) -. Go figure 🤷

Someone moved the stool the other day and he was VERY put out about it and mewed till I put it back 😏

And it took me a week or two to work that one out . He wanted attention ....but a very specific type of attention - not too little....not too much 😂

@OogieBoogie Hey, can I be your cat? 😁 I promise to be good... that stool thing is the sweetest thing I think I've ever heard!

@Ontheroad It's incredibly cute .
He sits there while I talk to him about what I'm cooking ...or how my day went. And he sits there like he understands 😂

He's such a lovely boy .
He's not big on cuddles ...but he loves just to close, and touching 🤗

@bijouxbroussard Healthy and well fed.

@Ontheroad I ask because when my friends discovered one of their cats was diabetic, he had begun eating everything in sight: his food, the other cat’s food, the dogs’ food, and would beg for table scraps. They give him insulin shots now and while he doesn’t love that, he’s gotten used to it and his diet is being managed. .

@bijouxbroussard She had a full set of labs done about a month ago, but if this continues, I'll take her in to recheck. Thanks.

@Lilnonames Our dogs hover around the table waiting for a morsel to fall on the floor!!

@Lilnonames If you don't give her food, does she keep on begging?

@Ontheroad yup bout trip me lol so I put more in her bowl, the always leaves some

@NativePortlander1970 I like the water idea - I will get her one, but she prefers wet food... will leave dry food and walk away.