Their OBSESSED with food!

First let me get the "ooohhh ahhhh" and "aww their so cute" out of the way with pictures




They are brother and sister... Lloyd (black) and Lois (gray). Their about 1yr and couple months old... I've had them since they were about 7months old. When I first got them I was able to leave out a days worth of food and they'd pick at it throughout the day. But a couple months ago they start wholfing down TO MUCH food and got chubby. I'm feeding them Weight Management by Nutro. They each have their own bowl, I feed them 1/2cup each for the entire day... half a 1/4cup at 10am (when they wake me up), half a 1/4cup at 2pm and 1/4cup at midnight (I work 3:30pm-midnight).

Within the past couple months they've been obsessed with eating. I keep the food in a closet in my kitchen, when I walk close to that closet or even motion like I'm going into the kitchen they both come running. They will both meow continuously (I'd consider it more like whining) and Lloyd is now standing on his hind legs and pawing at the door knob to the closet where the food is. Now they do this when its feeding time and they do it 10min, 30min, 1hr, 2hr etc... after being fed. No matter what time of the day it is or how long after they've ate... if they think I going into the kitchen they come running thinking I'm going to feed them.

Please help...

They're probably bored. Do they have enough activities to do other than looking for food?
Also, if they are not gaining or losing weight even though they keep eating, it could be worms.

Oh they've definitely gain some weight since I got them. They both have a belly now that I'm trying to get rid of.

I assume they have enough to play with... they have every toy under the sun. What kind of "activities" can you suggest?

I misread the amount of food you posted. In my experience, half a cup/day is not enough, unless this is only temporary until they lose weight?
I give my cats, half cup wet food for breakfast, 1/4 dry mid day, 1/4 dry late afternoon and 1/4 dry before retiring. They do come running when I am near their food container but that's about it.
For activities, they have the toys, each other and lots of climbing and running. The vet said they are okay weight wise even though one or two have round, stuffed tummies.

Oh wow... I guess I am underfeeding them! The Nutro bag has a chart of how much food you should feed, I was using that. They both have a belly that hangs a bit, but I think what I'll do is feed more and play with them more.

They have small cat "tree" thing (those carpet things Petco/Petsmart sell), a 5ft tall one and all sorts of toys. They are always chasing each other... but they don't seem to like the toys unless I initiate the playing.

Plus it's difficult to get Lois to play... she's been shy and skiddish since day one... and when I'm playing with her with some toy Lloyd usually comes over to play and she just runs.

You might try a crazy circle to get them playing. It is a circle with a ball in the track that they can't get out. I have yet to have a cat not like it. My cats fight over (playfully) the toy and play with each other as well as alone. Even my snotty 13 yr old plays when she thinks no one is looking.
As far as the food, that seems like a very small amount a day. Maybe feed a little more and see if you can get them both playing more. Also, if you have spayed/neutered them that could also account for some of the belly hanging. None of my cats weigh in heavy but they all have a little pouch which the vet told me is very normal for fixed cats.

You might also try adding a wet meal. It will have more bulk and less calories (more water is always good too!). It does sound like perhaps you are feeding too little. My cats maintain their weight with a 1/3 cup each of dry (wellness) and 3oz each of wet per day.

I was going to say add some wet too. A grain free wet preferably.
My cats do that sometimes because they want some treats. When I am in the kitchen they never know if a treat may be coming their way.

I have the same problem with one of my cats. I used to be able to leave food out for them and suddenly one day Tulip starting chowing down all her food and then eating Pansy's food too. She gained some weight so I started feeding them different food and following the instructions on the bag for how much to feed her to lose weight. When she kept gaining weight, I took her to the vet and discovered the I was underfeeding her so every little bit of food she got, her body was storing it as fat because it thought she was starving! I felt so bad. So the vet put her on a weight loss plan and I invested in some automatic feeders that I can set to rotate every 6 hours so I only have to get their food ready once a day.

Lucky for me, Tulip is kind of clumsy and can't jump up on the shelf where I put Pansy's food!

You might consider taking your cats to the vet just so he/she can tell you how many calories they should be getting per day, then you can use the bag to figure out how much to feed them .

I am in sort of a similar situation.

It's been almost 6 weeks since we brought home cat #2. He had been in the shelter for four months and was brought in as a stray.

The current cat was free fed--one because he was under the age of one and two he didn't gorge himself.

However new cat being a stray is ravenous and will eat and eat and eat.

So life changed here--scheduled feedings. It has made the both of them somewhat antsy about food--and they are sure to make sure I don't forget its meal time.

They are about 8.5 pounds each and are eating about 1/3 c dry in the morning about 2oz wet in the evening and 1/8-1/4 cup before I go to bed.

Leslie

Thank you so much for all the info and tips!!!

Originally Posted by kat89447

You might try a crazy circle to get them playing. It is a circle with a ball in the track that they can't get out.
Also, if you have spayed/neutered them that could also account for some of the belly hanging. None of my cats weigh in heavy but they all have a little pouch which the vet told me is very normal for fixed cats.

Click to expand...

They do have that crazy circle. The one with the scratching cardboard on the middle. They played with it for the first month they got it... now it's old news to them and they barely look at it. I'm think of taking some toys away and hiding them for sometime, then after a month or so taking them out to see if I can make it like "new toys" to them.

Also they are spayed and neutered. You described their "belly" they best... they both have a little "pouch", it's not like you see it and say "OH my god their fat!"

For wet food... I have some extra Nutro pouches:
http://www.petco.com/product/104132/...ood-Pouch.aspx
Are these OK? I've been told that all the food types Nutro make are good.

Again thank you soooooo much for your tips and info! These are the first cats I've owned and they've made me such a cat lover! I spoil them more than myself.

Your kitties are gorgeous, I can see why you're in love :love2:

Nutro pouches are a good food. If you poke around the health and nutrition forum you'll see that lots of us spend plenty of time thinking about cat food . That's Ok it's just because we love them

I can't say anything about the food because my cats are free fed so I really don't measure it out.

For the toys, taking them and hiding them for a while is a great idea! My cats have so many toys (as long as the dogs don't destroy them) that I HAVE to do that. I invested in a big container of cat nip, and when I pick up a toy to up away I put it in the zip lock bag with the nip. That way, when I take it out they go extra crazy on it!

Also, I would recommend a laser pointer. I have yet to see a cat that doesn't go crazy over one of those, and the best thing is you can sit on the couch and play them out without wearing yourself out! You can usually get them pretty cheap. Check any hardware store or even Ebay. I've started many friendly fights by shining it on one cats tail so the other will attack him. Yeah, I'm evil! Just make sure you don't shine it in their eyes.