Animal Quills

Since this topic is not often mentioned in the therian community, I think it is worth filling this gap. I have always experienced food aggression. I have no idea where it comes from, it has just been there for as long as I can remember. I don't think it is related to any childhood trauma - even during the hungriest times in my country's history, I always had food on the table.

Even as child, I almost never ate at the same table with my mother. I usually ate in my room. My feeding usually looked like this: my mother brought me a plate of food (mostly meat), put it on my table and left. If she disturbed me while I was eating, I would always get angry, but until my teenage years I did not allow myself to growl at her, but I took it out on our dog, who learned that when I was eating, it was better not to even look in my direction. If growling didn't save me from my mother, I would simply leave the food and never return to it, as I couldn't calm down for a long time and specific food would start to be associated with stress, which would completely destroy my appetite. However, when the feeding was over, I would become kind again.

Over time, we were able to come to an agreement, although it was quite difficult. From a moral point of view, my behavior was absolutely not beautiful: she got this food for me and brought it to me, and instead of thanking her, I snap at her. But this is the case when human morality is powerless when faced with animal nature: after she gave me food, it is already my food, which she cannot just take back. Condemning a person (or an animal) for something they cannot change only makes things worse. In any case, I don't remember it ever helping.

So, the problem of feeding me at home was solved, but feeding me in public places turned into an even bigger problem. In the school cafeteria, I usually took a place, at a safe distance from the other children, or, if there were no such places, I simply grabbed a bun and ran into the yard to eat it alone. If other children came too close, I got annoyed and either ran away with the food, or ran away leaving the food, or tried to gobble it up as quickly as possible, growling angrily. And since such situations happened almost daily, I ate rather poorly.

When I started regularly communicating with other therians outside the Internet, it was a big discovery for me that they do not have such pronounced food aggression as I do and can eat relatively calmly even near strangers, without experiencing at least too much discomfort. The way they allow their dogs to beg for food from them was completely unthinkable for me: if my dog ​​came close enough to me while I was eating, believe me, it would not want to do it again. By adopting their behavior, I learned to restrain myself quite well, albeit at the cost of colossal stress.

When I went to my first job, the situation became a little better: I just took takeout food from a local cafe, and went outside, hiding in the bushes nearby, and sometimes dragged it up a tree to eat it in a calm environment lying on a tree branch, like a real wild leopard. I can imagine how strange it was: a person in office clothes gnawing on meat lying on a tree branch (good thing people rarely look up). Of course, I didn't growl at my colleagues, I learned to carefully hide it, but the stress and discomfort didn't go away. Yes, I can control the manifestation of my emotions, but I can't control the fact that they arise.

Once, by the will of fate, I had to live in a dormitory. The rules prohibited eating in the rooms and this became a problem again. Usually, I ate in the kitchen at night when everyone was sleeping, or again took food with me outside, or ate in my room secretly, breaking the rules. If my presence at the common table was necessary, I simply avoided eating, saying that I was not hungry. The day before my departure, I (or rather my roommates) were unlucky: the administrator invited me to the common table. I couldn't get out of it and I couldn't hold back, snapping at someone who extended his hand in my direction to take a slice of bread. I remember the frightened faces of my roommates and the administrator's cry, "Alia, what's wrong with you? I don't recognize you." Fortunately, after that we parted ways forever.

After many years of studying and observing this topic, I have come to some conclusions for myself. The level of stress from interference in my eating directly depends on how much I trust the interfering person. We never had a trusting relationship with my mother, and I trusted our dog even less. I don't trust anyone enough, either people or animals. There is only one exception - my cat, whom I perceive as my cub. The trust between us is almost endless: she does not feel discomfort when I disturb her during her meal, and she is allowed to eat from the same plate with me. Although, of course, I try not to give her food that could be harmful to her.

The same goes for the neighbors' cats and dogs, as well as the animals at my work: they don't growl at me, but they clearly show nervousness if I bother them. Some cats can even snatch food from my hands and run away, snapping at other cats - I used to behave exactly the same way at school. Usually they can just run away, dropping the food - no one is ready to fight to the death for food; any predator can be driven away from its prey if it decides that messing with you is more expensive for itself. Picked-up stray cats are especially prone to this, rather than those that grew up at home and are well socialized. I understand their feelings and just don't bother them.

In my case, it also depends on who is "encroaching" on my food: if it is my friend, it is easier for me to cope with my emotions. If it is someone who can pose a danger to me (for example, my boss or a large dog), it will be more difficult for me, but I will restrain myself as much as possible. With people, in general, I will hold back more, but for a small dog in such a situation, safety is not guaranteed - there is no fear factor and there are no moral brakes. Much, however, depends on the subjective value of food: I will gladly share my cookies or chips even with a stranger, but even the closest people are not allowed to touch my meat. Drinks are not perceived as food at all.

There is no need to explain why animals behave like this. In my case, it clearly has similar reasons. But what about humans? I asked ChatGPT, "Is food aggression common in humans?" - and the neural network answered me that... no. However, I remember well how we were instructed when I was getting a job as a waitress that customers should not be disturbed when they are eating unless absolutely necessary, because it is unpleasant for them. Most likely, food aggression does exist in humans, but it is weakly expressed and suppressed by socialization and upbringing. I have been pretty bad with these things since childhood. However, we should not exclude the fact that if the tendency to it is genetically determined, deviations in one direction or another are likely possible within the population.

Is there any way to fix this? Veterinarians I know say that in the case of dogs this can be fixed by training and socialization. In the case of cats, especially those who have not had the proper socialization experience in a cubhood, things are pretty sad: their instinct is too strong and you can only create a situation where such behavior will be minimized. If you also face a similar problem and consider yourself a canine, perhaps you should seek the help of an animal trainer - there is nothing shameful about this, after all, I once even had to receive medical help from a veterinarian.

But since I am not a dog and it is too late to train me, I do not think that a psychologist or animal trainer will help here. Therefore, I solve this problem in this way: I simply avoid eating near other people, preferring to take food with me, eat in my car or at home. If this is not possible and you need to eat in a crowded place, feeding in the presence of a person you trust can help (if, of course, he or she is aware of this). His calmness is transmitted to me and in this case I can eat even at the food court in the mall, albeit sitting with my back to the wall and looking around restlessly.

I do not insist that my solution is universal and will suit absolutely everyone. But we have to admit that the possibilities of (zoo)psychology are not limitless and not everything can be changed. If you can't fix your issue, just try to build your life so that it stops being a problem.