Why Does My Cat Lead Me Around The House? (Food or What?)
If your cat is leading you around the house you may be wondering why it keeps happening and what can be done about it…
Why does my cat lead me around the house?
Some of the main reasons why a cat leads you around the house is because it wants to be fed, let out, wants to play with a certain toy, is bored, or just wants some quality time with you. The cat knows once it purrs, or meows gently you will be led wherever it desires.
Use these to stop your cat leading you:
Description | Image | My Rating |
01. Auto cat feeder (My Best) Click here for the price on Amazon #Ad |
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02. Cat Tree with Platform Click here for the price on Amazon #Ad |
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03. Cat flap Click here for the price on Amazon #Ad |
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So, now you know. But, what can you do to prevent it? How can I stop it waking me up to let it outside? What can I do to keep it entertained? Keep reading for these answers, and much more…
5 top reasons cats lead you around the house:

A cat looking up at its owner on some carpet.
Earlier I briefly mentioned some reasons why your cat may lead you around your home. Therefore, in this section I will give you more information on each of these:
01. Wants feeding
If your cat is hungry it will try to get your attention by any means necessary, and by running in front of you, and herding you in this manner, it can then lead you to its food bowl. And, it assumes once you are there you will get the hint.
If you find this is happening quite regularly you may need to consider a smarter way to manage your cat’s mealtimes (more on this later).
02. Boredom
Sometimes your cat may just be bored or lack entertainment. This can happen a lot to indoor cats, especially if their owner spends most of their time away, or at work (click here to learn how to keep them fed while you are away).
If you find that your cat is basically bored and just needlessly leading you around your home then you need to look into some ways to make them feel more entertained (more on this later).
03. Quality time
Following on from above, your cat is bored. Sometimes it’s not the actual boredom, it could in fact have loads of toys, it could be a lack of quality time with you.
If this happens you may find your cat doing this more repeatedly and you need to think about some simple ways to stop this from happening, I will suggest some later.
04. Wants to play with its toys
If you have toys locked away or out of reach for your cat, and you tend to get them out each time the chances are it will keep bugging you to get them.
I get it, it may be tidier, especially if you live in a small home that does not give you more opportunity to leave them out. But, even with that being said, there are always more options.
05. Wants to go outside
If your cat has no means of letting itself outside the chances are you will get bugged to let it out. When they have the urge to go out they are likely to cry for your attention and then lead you to the back door.
This may be OK if its once a day, and at a convenient time, like when you are near the back door while you do the dishes, but it can become annoying if it wants out at 6 AM on a Sunday, and you only got to be bed at 2 AM.
How can you prevent your cat from leading you around the house?
So, now you know a variety of reasons why your cat may want to lead you around the house. So, now, in this section, I will explain how you can prevent this from happening based on the root cause:
01. Keep it fed
If your cat is leading you because it’s hungry, you have to tow main options:
- Manually feed it
- Automate its feeding
Manually feed it
Manually feeding your cat is simple, in theory. And, it is really. The difficulty is keeping on schedule with its various feeding times. For some people, this is easy, for others they may get forgetful.
Automate it
Click here to see the price, on Amazon #Ad
An automatic feeder can help your cat keep fed, free up your time, and stop your cat from leading you all over the house hinting for food. If you struggle to be consistent with the timing, this is worthwhile, in my opinion.
02. Keep it entertained
If your cat is leading you around the house due to lack of entertainment, you can get around this quite easily using simple activities like a cat tree (Click here to see the reviews, on Amazon #Ad). This will help to keep them busy and happy.
This is not the only activity, don’t get me wrong, but it will help. Truthfully, the more variety that you have will make it easier to keep your cat from bugging you.
03. Spend more time with it
If your cat is feeling lonely, or just craving your attention it will try tricks like leading you around to get your time. So, if you invest some time upfront, and regularly, it will allow your cat to feel fulfilled.
Also, if they get into a routine and expect you to spend this time per day there is less chance of it approaching you to lead you around like this.
04. Make its toys more accessible
Earlier I mentioned that some cats may lead you around because their toys are tucked away, for whatever reason, remember? Well, this can be improved by keeping their toys tidy, but accessible for them.
This can be done using a simple box to hold them, but keeping it at ground level in a room they can get to, for example, a spare room, or under the stairs, etc.
05. Get a cat flap
Click here to see the price, on Amazon #Ad
Regarding your cat wanting to get out and coming to lead you to the door, there is a simple solution for this, use a cat flap. This will allow your cat to get easy access to the outdoors without needing your assistance.
Also, if you choose a good one, you can only let your cat enter and refuse entry to other cats.
Do cats use purring & affection to make you follow them?
Cats do use purring and affection to control you and make you follow them. They know that if they do these simple body language triggers you will do whatever they need.
The reality is, the cat is smarter than you may give it credit for. And, if you doubt this think back to the last tie your cat purred for you? What did you do? Exactly!
Why do cats lead you to a full food bowl?

A cat eating from its bowl.
Some cats may lead you to a full bowl because they want you to watch over them while they eat. this may be confusing, and seem unnecessary to you. The theory is, it stems from their survival instincts passed down from their wild ancestors.
Basically, they would watch each other while they eat in case of predators. And, some habits just stay through generations.