Sultan Of Herf: Spiralmonkey: My cat, a rescue cat who didn't know where his next meal was coming from becomes fixated on food when he finds a home? Unpossible! Must be an eating disorder...

We have one like that. He was a stray. Even though we have had him for almost 10 years he still gets very worried when the food bowl gets close to empty.

Side note...found out that the mother-in-law grabbed my favorite cat by the head and threw her the other day. Not sure if I should file charges for animal abuse, or let Mr .45 have a chat with her...

That is absolutly unforgivable. I would forbid that woman to ever come anywhere near my house again. And be stone cold serious about it. If it causes a big stink,then so be it, she could take her darling child with her. There's too many serious problems in the world to have to be tolerating sh*t like that.
/I'd like to grab her by the head and drop kick her ass out the door.

I always thought it was because my cat wanted a piece of juicy turkey instead of a bowl of dried chunks of rat and bark.

FTA: According to the researchers, who set out their findings in the Journal of Veterinary Behaviour, other symptoms can include "food-related aggressiveness" - taking food from other cats' bowls - and "context-specific excessive appetite" - jumping on the table to eat from the owner's plate.

So... These researchers have never been around cats? This is how they all behave.

I miss tidbits. Damn you Nabisco!

My last cat didn't like human food, but he'd pester me to smell whatever I was eating and then he'd leave me alone.

Spiralmonkey: My cat, a rescue cat who didn't know where his next meal was coming from becomes fixated on food when he finds a home? Unpossible! Must be an eating disorder...

Srsly.

Our cat was an abandoned pet (had been fixed, trained to a littler box, declawed(!), and then left in a parking lot when the previous owners moved). Dunno how long he lived out of dumpsters and the kindness of strangers, but even after being cared for by us for years now, he still panics when he sees his food dish empty.

Mister Peejay: Titbits is the original word.
It was turned into "tidbits" during a period of language "cleansing" in the US.

This was from the same time period where people used floor-length tablecloths because exposed table legs was considered to be obscene.

/not making this stuff up
/etymology geek

For an etymology geek, you sure seem to like the urban legends. t3knomanser covered "tidbit" rather well, and here's the rest:

1) ...there is a myth, started by Frances Trollope's "Domestic Manners of the Americans," and later applied to the British, that furniture such as tables were covered with embroidery and tablecloths so that table legs were hidden from view, but no historical evidence suggest that this was actually practiced.

2) Myth #23: Prudish Victorians "dressed" their naked furniture legs with fabric.

A lot of our origin stories are pure bunk - Be skeptical anytime you hear one, even a reputable source could be misled.

Take that all you silly people who research important things and don't get grants. You can get funding to write research by studying _one_ cat and saying that it likes food.

Chariset: Those are a lot of words to say "If your cat thinks she can get extra food by begging at mealtimes, she'll beg at mealtimes."

I don't know why mine thinks that. We NEVER feed her from the table, but despite all past experiences she always makes the round and begs on the hopes that we'll FINALLY give in this time.

So what this article is saying is that the pharmaceutical industry will soon infiltrate Veterinary offices too?

Never had cats beg for food they weren't already getting, or should but I've forgotten. My cat and my boyfriend's cat will meow in a specific spot if something's not right, which is usually followed by a few minutes checking the essentials before giving them a pat. They generally whine for their wet food (which they do get every night), empty dry food or water bowls (or just water that needs to be changed) or when the litter box isn't pristine.

Heck, I'd rather they do that than anything else!

according to a group of vets, it is a sign of a creature whose obsession with food has driven it to the edge of insanity.

They claimed that cats that show too much eagerness to be fed could be suffering from the newly-diagnosed condition of "psychogenic abnormal feeding behaviour".

And the attention-seeking behaviour is a symptom called "excessive solicitation of interspecific interactions".

Oh, ffs.

Meh, A bunch of vents realized if you can create a lot of bullshiat mental disorders in people and get them to buy drugs to 'help', you can probably do it for animals.

Next up: Does your dog want steak? He could be suffering from a food related anxiety disorder!

Spiralmonkey: My cat, a rescue cat who didn't know where his next meal was coming from becomes fixated on food when he finds a home? Unpossible! Must be an eating disorder...

Exactly. My rescue steals food from my plate. Why? CUZ IT'S MAYBE HIS LAST MEAL EVER.

Yep, my cat begs for food all the time. This includes dinner time. She does indeed gets tidbits from the table. And when somebody leaves a chair vacant, she will sit in it and hope somebody brings her a plate. Or doesn't push her away from whatever plate may already be there.

The thing is, though, she's a skinny old lady of eighteen. She wants to eat, more power to her. First breakfast (a portion of canned food), second breakfast (a portion of kitten chow with water), whatever. When she stops wanting food, then it's a problem.

/But yes, she's crazy.
//Dementia. It happens.

According to a group of vets cats that show too much eagerness to be fed could be suffering from the newly-diagnosed condition of psychogenic abnormal feeding behaviour

So... all cats are crazy?

Didn't we know this already?

/Mmmm, titbits.
//Now available in cinnamon and strawberry! ^_^