New Kitty eating all the food

Hi - I'm new here!!

My Wife an I recently added a 2nd cat to our home. The two are getting along fine but we're having feeding problems. The new kitty (Corrado) never seems full!! As soon as he finishes his food he heads straight for our old cat's (Lester's) food. Lester is used to having his food out all day, so he can eat whenever. Our apartment is small and Lester doesn't really seem to want to eat on book shelves etc. where the kitty can't reach yet (also Corrado is a good jumper/climber already).
Is this behaviour typical of kittens? Corrado seems to think every meal will be his last - he wolfs down any food he sees and purrs loudly while doing so!! He's a rescue so we're wondering is he was malnourished previously.
Any ideas on organizing feeding to fit our two cats styles- the "Gorger" and the "Grazer"? Thanks so much!!

Neil P

Ah yes, we had this problem with Stuart. It's very tipical of kittens who grew up in a litter and more than likely a litter that didn't have very much food at their disposal. Stuart was EVIL about eating food and he litterally drew blood from me twice because my hand smelled like food. Farm kittens/outside kittens, or kittens who weren't given much food fight like crazy for their meal and do think it could be their last.

Suggestions.....you won't like them. The only thing that worked for me was what people on here told me "time". You might just have to wait it out until the kitten realizes that he will have plenty of food whenever he needs it. I don't know if you keep food out all day, I know that Stuart would eat so much and so fast that he would puke, so I had to give small portions to him now and again.

Could you make a sort of fence around your adult cat's food for now? That way he could jump over a box or something so he could still eat on the floor? Just a suggestion??? My mom used put the cat food dish in the bath tub so her dogs couldn't get it. It worked great for her.

Is it possible for you or your wife to feed Lester in an enclosed room every couple of hours or so, to mimic the feeding schedule that he was used to before Corrado arrived? I know this is very inconvenient, though...and if you and your wife both are both at work during the day it's pretty much impossible.

Any way to keep the kitten's dry food dish full? And I assume you're using kitten food for the new kitty? We had a problem with our older cats wanting to eat the kitten food - it's stinkier and higher protein, so more attractive. Maybe just put out more food dishes with kitten food in them?

Laurie

With time the problem will resolve itself. Feed them on a regular schedule so the kitten realizes that he will always get food at the same time each day. He'll stop gorging once he gains comfort that food will never run out on him.

In the mean time, can you feed your adult up on a counter or someplace where the kitten cannot yet get to? Your other option is to keep them in separate spots in the house at specific times. I know that is more difficult when you free feed, but you don't have a lot of options barring separating them permanently.

Thanks for the advice, It will be nice when he grows out of this.

Has he been checked for tapeworm? When they have a tapeworm, they're ravenous all the time no matter how much they eat, and it's not unusual for a cat/kitten to have it when you first bring them home from a rescue group. Two of my cats had it when I first brought them home.

If that's the case, the vet can treat it very easily.