7 Spoiled Cat Signs: How to Recognize and Deal with Them

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Are you scratching your head? “How can I deal with a spoiled cat?”

While it’s fun to indulge your cat with luxurious beds and fun toys, there is such a thing as loving your cat a little too much!

It definitely stops being fun when your cat picks up some bad behavior along the way.

So keep on reading for signs you’ve got a spoiled cat, plus tips on how to deal with one!

7 Signs You’ve Got a Spoiled Cat

How can you tell if your cat is spoiled?

Cats are so hard to read that you’re right to wonder if your kitty is spoiled, acting like a jerk, or feeling under the weather.

So, here are 7 signs that will help you identify spoiled cat behavior. Check them out, then keep reading for our guide on dealing with a coddled kitty.

1. Your Cat Is a Picky Eater

I’ve often heard people complaining that their cats are capricious and won’t eat their food.

Usually, that’s the result of owners spoiling their cats with treats, leftovers from the table, or other delicacies.

It goes like that. Your cat turns off its nose in the food bowl, and you panic.

You go to the store and buy another brand until you find something that your cat likes. Then the cycle repeats.

In this way, you teach your kitty that they can get extra treats and delicious food if they wait long enough.

So, your cat will stubbornly wait for you to offer something better than the food in their bowl.

While there’s nothing wrong with indulging your cat’s appetite from time to time, it should be done in moderation.

2. Your Cat Is Demanding Attention All the Time

Does your cat follow you around all the time and seem obsessed with you?

Then you might have spoiled your cat a little too much.

Spoiled cats get in your way when you’re reading a book, working on the computer, or resting in bed.

They hate when you’re paying anything else more attention and might become jealous.

Still, clingy behavior can be how your cat asks for help.

You should talk to your vet if your cat’s behavior changes suddenly.

3. Your Cat Sleeps Wherever They Want

You buy a comfortable cat bed and expect your cat to sleep in it. But what does your spoiled cat do?

They steal your chair, take over your bed, nap on the laundry, or sneak in the wardrobe.

In fact, your cat sleeps anywhere but the cat bed, even on top of the door or between two chairs.

If that’s not enough, they jump on your lap and refuse to move, digging their claws lovingly into your leg.

But you can’t be angry with them. Your kitty looks far too adorable, and you won’t have the heart to get up and move them.

4. Your Cat Doesn’t Respect Your Rules

Your kitty knows that they’re not allowed on the counter or the table, but they don’t care about your rules.

They jump on the table without fear of any consequences, and you dare to look innocent when you catch them.

That’s a clear sign you’ve allowed your cat to become spoiled and reinforced their belief that they’re the master and you’re the slave.

5. Your Cat “Talks” Too Much

Is your cat driving you crazy with their chatter?

Then you might be dealing with a spoiled cat that expects you to jump the minute you hear their adorable meow.

For example, your cat meows at closed doors, and a minute later, they meow again to let them in.

Then this cycle repeats as long as human patience can last.

In general, you shouldn’t encourage your cat’s demanding meowing.

If you reward “talking” with extra treats and attention, your cat will quickly become spoiled and meow excessively for attention.

6. You Get Up in the Middle of the Night

Do you get up in the middle of the night because your cat is bored or hungry? That’s spoiled cat behavior.

Cats are crepuscular animals, meaning that they’re more active just before dawn.

That’s why your cat is awake at 4 a.m. and wonders what mischief they can do.

But if your pet wakes you up in the early morning, you’ve probably encouraged the behavior and spoiled your cat without meaning to.

Feeding your cat during the night when you go to the bathroom, for example, sets up a precedent.

Your cat knows it’s acceptable to demand food and expect you to get up and fill the bowl.

7. Your Cat Acts Out

Is your cat destroying more stuff around your house than usual?

Then your cat might be throwing a spoiled child’s tantrum.

Spoiled cats don’t like it when something isn’t up to their standards and find “creative” ways to show their displeasure.

You know what I’m talking about—torn toilet paper, clawed furniture, broken glass, etc.

Avoiding the litter box and leaving “presences” around the house might be another way for your spoiled cat to get their way.

But it can also be a sign of an illness, so you should investigate it.

How to Deal with a Spoiled Cat: 8 Proven Tips

Naturally, cat owners live for the simple joy of spoiling their fluffy furbabies. You can’t say no when Kitty looks at you with pleading eyes.

So you reach for the bag of treats and feed your cat as much as she wants. Before you know it, you have a cat with a weight problem.

As a result, you can’t do much work because Kitty constantly meows for your attention or gets destructive when she doesn’t get her way.

So, what can you do to prevent your cat from getting spoiled or deal with already-spoiled ones? Let’s find out together.

1. Set Boundaries

Before you bring a cat or a kitten into your household, you should decide what rules you’re going to enforce.

That’s because once your cat gets comfortable doing something, it will be twice as hard to break the habit.

Think about where your cat will be allowed to go inside the house and what the acceptable sleeping places are going to be.

While cats hate closed doors, they hate it more when they’re suddenly denied access to their favorite closet or cupboard.

In such cases, they will do almost anything to get back inside and act like spoiled brats.

As such, it’s better to discourage your cat from such behavior in the beginning by locking closets, cabinets, wardrobes, or your bedroom door.

You also have to make rules about walking on the table, sleeping in your bed, chewing on plants or wires, etc.

Once you decide what your cat is allowed to do and what not, it’s twice as important that you don’t give into your cat’s pleadings.

2. Stop Encouraging Your Spoiled Cat

You’re sleeping deeply when a persistent meowing brings you back to the land of the living.

Since you can’t sleep with all that noise, you get up and feed the cat at 5 a.m. Sound familiar? What you don’t know is that you’re establishing a precedent.

Your cat now knows that meowing long enough will get you out of bed and make you feed her.

Rewarding your cat’s meowing during the day also teaches her that you’re at her beck and call. As such, the cat won’t take no for an answer when you’re too busy to pay her attention.

What you have to do is painful and will take time. I’m talking about ignoring your meowing cat in the morning or whenever she is making noise for attention.

Only reward your kitty with food and petting when she is silent. In the first few weeks, your cat will probably cry as loudly as possible to make you comply.

But as long as you don’t give in, Kitty will understand that silence is what gets her food and attention.

In addition to this, to stop your cat from meowing during the night, you should exhaust her during the day.

That’s the only way to ensure that she will sleep until you’re ready to get up.

3. Learn How to Discipline Your Cat

Does your cat often do things she is not supposed to do? For example, jumping on kitchen counters or pushing things off the table.

Physical punishment is out of the question, of course, but you can still disciple your cat whenever you catch her misbehaving.

• Make sudden, loud noises when the cat jumps somewhere she isn’t supposed to be. A can with coins in it works perfectly.
• Give your cat a timeout by placing her in a room with no people for half an hour.
• Get a water spray bottle, but ensure that your cat can’t see that you’re the only one spraying her.
• Use spray deterrents to keep the cat away from places or objects that are dangerous for her, for example, cords. Placing aluminum foil on furniture also works because cats don’t like the texture.

I’ve heard cat owners say that it’s impossible to discipline cats and that they continue to do as they please, no matter what you do.

I think it’s a matter of who is more stubborn—you or the cat?

4. Train Your Cat

Another way to deal with a spoiled cat is to train the cat to behave the way you want her to. Sounds impossible, right?

Training a cat is challenging because they’re not pleasers by nature. Unlike dogs, cats aren’t very motivated by praise, toys, or attention.

However, they can be bribed to do your bidding with enough tasty treats and a lot of patience.

Choose something irresistible, such as canned tuna or shrimp. Use this treat only for training, because that will make your cat more likely to respond to whatever you’re teaching her.

Focus on one behavior that you want to change. For example, your spoiled cat is ruining all the good furniture.

Get a scratching post and train your cat to use it. Keep your training sessions short, and be patient with your feline.

5. Don’t Feed Table Scraps

A lot of owners think it’s all right to feed their cat table scraps. While a piece of chicken or turkey breast won’t harm your cat, giving table scraps to cats has its risks.

For once, not all human food is safe for cats. Garlic, onions, caffeine, and chocolate are a few of the most dangerous foods.

While you might think that your cat will stay away from these, some cats have strange eating habits and will chew on everything.

In addition to this, what we eat often has a lot of ingredients that don’t agree with your feline’s tummy.

Not to mention that we often salt everything, and the extra salt is not good for your cat’s kidneys.

Health issues aside, feeding table scraps encourages bad behavior such as begging for food or jumping right into the plate.

While it might be cute to watch as your cat sprints away with your chicken wing, it’s not going to be funny when it prevents you from eating in peace.

To avoid such behavior, you should never feed your cat around the table. Instead, give Kitty suitable table scraps in her bowl or try some homemade treat recipes.

6. Create a Routine

Cats are creatures of habit, and you can use this to unspoil your cat. Create a routine and follow it every day.

Provide meals and play sessions at the same time every day, and your cat will learn that you set the rules, not vice versa.

7. Reward Good Behavior

Whenever your cat does something you like, you reward them with food to encourage the behavior.

For example, give your kitty a treat when they don’t jump on the table or when they respect your privacy.

8. Compromise

Sometimes, you’ve got to find the middle ground so that both you and your cat can live in peace.

For example, if your cat insists on staying close to you, you might put a bed next to your workstation.

Adding vertical space (cat trees, shelves, and perches) enables your cat to keep an eye on you without being under your feet.

It’s easy to spoil a cat, but it’s not easy to live with a cat that thinks herself the boss.

So, avoid teaching your cat that she can get away with anything thanks to her cuteness, and you’ll save yourself a lot of future troubles.

Resources:

• WebMD.com
• TheDoorBuddy.com
• CatHealth.com