Other animal food aggression?

[xxshaelxx]

Okay, so my new kitten, Theus, is food obsessed to a fault. He is constantly trying to steal the dogs' food. This is causing numerous problems, because Ryou and Kuso are showing signs of food aggression towards him. It's not towards me, at all, because if I tell Ryou to drop his food, he drops it and waits for me to give him the okay. However, Kuso will not. Tonight, I literally had to pry the food from his mouth (yes, I took it from him, because I'm not going to let him get away with growling and snapping at the kitten). I set the food down and made him wait, however, anytime Theus comes near their crates, both of them start to growl, no matter whether they're eating the food or not, or whether the kitten can get at it or not. I make both dogs work for their food, so I already do the "nothing in life is free" method, so I know this isn't going to work for animal on animal food aggression. How would I go about keeping them from trying to rip Theus's head off if he tries to steal something from them? I mean, sometimes Ryou is in his crate already when I drop the food, and Theus runs in there and tries to snag it. I don't want him doing something in that split second it takes me to grab the kitten. I know I can lock Theus up and all, but I'd rather train the boys not to be food aggressive towards the kitten. He already eats first, right in front of Ryou, to try and show Ryou that he's got priority, that he's got a position higher in this pack. I just don't know what else to do.

[chowder]

Sometimes there's nothing you can do. I'm lucky right now that I have two that aren't food aggressive with each other. For most of the last twenty years I just never let any two animals in the same room with food at the same time. I had a chow that was extremly food possessive and there was just nothing I was going to do that was going to stop that in her. Even a giving her a treat would cause her to turn and snap at whoever was standing next to her.

If your kitten has a food obsessive trait and always tries to steal food, it's just natural for the dogs to become irritated with her and to start protecting their food. It would be like a kid having a little brother and being told they always have to be nice to the little brother while he gets to be a pest all the time. Eventually the big brother is going to snap and smack the little brother when "Mom's" not looking! I think the best thing would be to just always keep the kitten away from the dogs whenever they have food. I would feed the kitten in another room all the time and put her in there first. Then feed the dogs. That way the kitten is already occupied and not ready to leap after the dogs food. Maybe she will quit associating them with an easy meal and they will quit seeing her as a pest.

My cats and dogs used to sleep together and snuggle up together so maybe they can get to that point if they are not competing for dinner and just kept apart. It's harder but sometimes the only way.

[DaneMama]

Lock the kitten up when it's time to feed the dogs.

[CorgiPaws]

I agree, in a situation like this, you need to lock the kitten up when it's feeding time for the dogs, it's too dangerous.
It's natural for dog's to growl to protect their food from other animals, it's part of communication. That being said, there's also a fine line.
Just as someone with a people-aggressive dog has no business having them out among people, if you have a food-aggressive dog (with other animals) you shouldn't even put them in that situation, not for the time being anyway.

[xxshaelxx]

So there's basically nothing that I can do to stop their animal food aggression? Shucks. I was hoping that there was something I could do, rather than just locking the kitten up while they eat, because sometimes they take a while to eat if they have big bones in their dinner, and Theus eats quick then starts bugging to get out if he's locked up. I'll just have to feed him in the second bathroom, though. Thanks anyways, guys.

[RawFedDogs]

So there's basically nothing that I can do to stop their animal food aggression? Shucks.

You are looking in the wrong place. Stop blaming the dogs. You have a cat problem, not a dog problem. The fault is entirely the cat's. If it takes putting the cat up to keep him away from the dogs that are doing nothing except protecting their food that will get stolen if they do nothing. This is natural for any animal.

If it takes putting the cat up, and looks like thats the only solution, then so be it. "Nothing in life is free" and the cat has to pay the consequences for his behavior.

[StdPoo Dad]

As RFD said, it's not food aggression that you're talking about. It's simply food protecting.
Chowder put it very well, if the kitten keeps being annoying to the dogs, they're going to snap, just like you'd do with a pest of a brother. The difference being that you probably wouldn't kill the brother, but a big dog could easily kill the kitten. And it would *not* be the dogs fault, IMO.

So there's basically nothing that I can do to stop their animal food aggression?

[xxshaelxx]

Okay, so here's a question, anybody know how to train the kitten? XP

I've started locking him up at feeding time, and I will continue to do so. Still gets highly annoying when he tries to get into the other cats' food rather than waiting for his... -.-

[MollyWoppy]

I'm new to cats and know stuff all about training, but I think if it were mine, I'd stand guard over the dogs whilst they were eating and either shoo the cat away or use a water pistol each time he approached too close. You'd have to be very consistant, each and every time he starts staring at the food and approaching, give him a squirt. It's only a matter of time before he gets hurt if he continues this behaviour. I think this way the dogs can relax and eat knowing you are in charge protecting them and their food.

[chowder]

I've had cats for 30 years. You can try to convince a cat to see things your way, and if you are VERY VERY lucky, he may decide to agree with you.

. As far as stealing the other cats food, feed the kitten in a crate. Leave him there until he is done with his food and the other animals are done with their food. There's not much he can do about it if he can't get to their food. I see a lot of the plastic style crates on Craigs list real cheap. Make it just for his feeding times. He'll learn to love it. Then the whole thing will become a non-issue.