Okay guys I know this is a snake forum but so many of you have other pets I'm hoping for some advice or maybe just a place to vent.

Barney our 16 yrs+ neutered male cat is becoming vicious and I'm not sure what to do or if anything can be done. He's always been a bit moody but over the last couple of months he's becoming suddenly vicious around anyone eating. Attempting to claw the food from them and attempting to bite. He doesn't have very sharp teeth anymore but is fully clawed and on a big male like him those claws are impressive. I trim them back but he is still able to leave marks on the kids and is scaring our 4 year old. Other than when someone is eating he seems his old self. It doesn't seem to matter what the food is...he'll try this over a banana for heavens sake.

I've tried feeding him more often so he can't feel hungry but that doesn't seem to do a bit of good and he throws up if I feed him too much. He used to have dry kitty kibble to munch on thru the day but as he's aged he will only eat canned food (I think it's from teeth wearing out with age).

So we have to put Barney in a room everytime someone eats anything, which is not fun and he yowls like mad (driving everyone nuts here). Our other cat got a bit like this when she was 17 years old, but she just seemed to forget she'd been fed and would give a "food cry" but not become aggressive like this.

Like I said I don't know if there's anything to be done but I'm open to suggestions. We know Barney's time is short due to his age. I've prepared the kids (as I did when Puss Puss turned 16) to accept that old cats get suddenly ill and you do what you must but Barney's not ill, he's just seeming to lose his mind over food of any sort. I hate to put him down over this but am I doing the wrong thing to keep him going when he is acting this way. If we didn't have such a little child in the house I'd be less concerned I guess and just manage it.

Sorry for the super long post but I'm just lost as to what the right decision is for the family and for Barney. I don't want this wonderful old cat to spend his last years being shoved away in a bedroom everytime someone wants a snack in this house but darn it all, I hate putting any animal down for what amounts to a behaviour problem!