Cat has eating disorder maybe :x

I recently bought a cat from the shelter, about 2 months ago. He's a very large male, who they found as a stray, they say that he's probably between 3-5 years old. Anyways, like I said, he is a big cat. maybe 15-20 pounds. he doesn't really look fat, but he doesn't look skinny either, he's pretty stalky, but he's beautiful. When wI first got him, he was very playful, and loved to get attention, and would follow me everywhere I went and try to snuggle or play, no matter what I was doing. When I got him, I figured I'd limit his food intake, because I wanted to see if he could slim down a little. I started feeding him about 2.5 cans of food a day. It was kind of weird though, because when I fed him wet food, he would only lick up the gravy, and leave the solid parts. I began feeding him dry food, and he seems to really like that. But for the past 3 weeks or so, he has been such a hassle. today I found out that he was fed 6 times throughout the day by different members of my family, and he was still bothering me like he was starving. He will not stop bothering me about food. he doesn't do anything else besides nag me about feeding him. and when he eats, he takes to it like he hasn't eaten in days.
The only time he settles down is when I fall asleep. he will cuddle then, but once I wake up he just follows me meowing until I pour him some food. Could I somehow be feeding him wrong? or is it something with his temperment?

Any help or ideas would be awsome

When was the last time he was wormed? They don't always worm cats when they leave a shelter and worms do make a cat very hungry.

As for him licking the gravy off, its a quirky thing, some cats do and some don't. The same goes for 'fibbing' about not being fed to other members of the family. This christmas, the record amount my greedy cat got was four breakfasts! I've also had cats who think that if they go out and come back in their foodbowl magically fills up - bless!

If it's not worms and he's not loosing/gaining weight and condition continue to feed the same (quality cat food makes so much of a difference though - less rubbish in, less rubbish out!) but in structured mealtimes. My greedy cat is very happy with her breakfast of a tiny can of wet, snack of 15gm dry and dinner of 30 dry as its a consistant pattern she can rely on even though she would like to eat more.

The same goes for playtime, I always fuss my cat for ten mins or so when I come in - and she approaches me now. Hope that helps you a bit.

Mrs Mog provided some good advice.

I agree that structured meal times are a good thing. Some cats do well with free feeding (food out all the time) but some will just eat and eat and eat.

As far as the soft food goes...I am a big believer in the benefits of feeding it. Of course, there's no benefit to a food that a cat won't eat, though. You might try some different flavors, brands and textures to find a canned food that he will eat reliably. Since he's just licking the gravy types, I would try something different.

I'm curious, what type of dry food is he eating now?

If you think he needs to lose some weight, I would talk to your vet about that, to help determine what his ideal weight would be and at what rate he should lose...as it can be dangerous to allow an overweight cat to lose weight to rapidly.

Once you figure out the right food, and the right schedule for him, I would talk to your other family members about it. Let them know that it is important that he get the right amount of food, at the right times.

Thanks so much for the replies! I will definitly put some that advice into play.

Umm, When I got him, it was in February from MSPCA angell memorial in Boston, and I guess he had been in the shelter since January. got all of the papers saying all the medical procedures that took place during his stay, and they said he was wormed, and vaccinated.

Right now I have been feeding him friskies dry food. I tried to feed him wet food again this morning, and he just made a huge mess (picked all the hard stuff out of the bowl, and just licked the bowl clean) At first I thought the problem was that his teeth were bothering him when he ate because of the way he ate, he wouldn't eat anything he had to chew, and when he did eat it, he'd tilt his head back when he chewed. It looked really odd. But he doesn't seem to struggle with the dry food when he is eating that.

As far as him gaining or losing weight, It's hard to tell. His stomach looks bigger for sure, because he's eating more than I do

It will be hard to make a diet because he really bothers the heck out of the rest of my family if I'm not there. The second anyone enters the kitchen, he'll start to go nuts, and it's hard to believe that he has been fed the way he complains, so they think a little food wont hurt.

I'm going on vacation for next week, so I will bring him into the vet first thing when I get back.

I would suggest a better quality dry food...and keep working on the wet food. There are some good suggestions at www.catinfo.org on how to get a kibble eating cat to eat canned food. One thing I'll add is that my cats prefer a flat plate or saucer for canned food...they don't like to have to get their face down in the messy food when it's in a bowl.

I'm not sure which dry to suggest. Perhaps Sharky will catch this thread and make some specific suggestions for you.

As a general idea for dry food...You want to see the first 2 (?) ingredients be a real "named" meat item. I can't recall exactly all the "rules" to follow, I'm a little rusty on my dry food facts.

Friskies Chicken Dry: Ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, chicken by-product meal

It starts off with corn (not very digestable...and it's not meat) ...then corn gluten meal (more corn) ...then chicken by product meal (chicken parts, but which ones??...I prefer to steer clear of "by products"). The food looks to be very light on meat.

A better quality food will be healthier and more satisfying for your boy.

If you can afford it I would get an automatic feeder, that way your kitty will not associate you with food. Our cat was the same way and it really was a bother. Now that we have the automatic feeder he hasn't ever meowed at us for food again! He even know's what time the food will spill out and bothers the machine by tapping on it. He's a charactor and I love the feeder! You should be able to find a feeder for around $50 at your local farm store. Pet stores add another $25, I found out the hard way..... Good luck to you!