Cat eating food too fast, anything to help?

For as long as we've had him, Henry eats his food super quickly. He puts our 1-year-old labrador retriever to shame, and that's saying a lot! It doesn't matter if it's wet food or dry, or if it's in a bowl or not, it's gone within 5 seconds of putting it down for Henry to eat (if he doesn't knock it out of your hands first). The good part about it is that he isn't picky about what he eats, unlike our other 2 cats who turn their noses up at many of the premium/healthier wet foods.

Is there anything I can do to help him? I know they make those bowls for dogs to help them slow down, that have little barriers in the bowl that dogs have to eat around. I don't think they make a kitty sized one though. Some people put things in dog bowls to slow down the eating, but I can't think of anything that would slow Henry down.

We feed him twice per day, the morning meal usually being dry food (1/4 cup of TOTW) and the evening meal being wet food (3 oz of Authority or Natural Balance). He weighs about 8+ lbs. He's a big cat but I think he really is just big boned...he doesn't seem to have flab anywhere (i.e. stomach area). He's almost 1 1/2 years old I think.

I'm worried about him hurting himself.

We've had him since he was about 7 months old. Since we've had him, he's always been on the 2-measured-meals-per-day routine. Before we had him, he was with my SO's sister and I think that she might have free fed him dry food. I know he was in a foster home as a kitten so it's possible that he was bottle fed and weaned too early.

Anyway, does anyone have a cat like this? Do cats have the same risk as dogs of injuring their stomach (bloat?) from eating too fast? I am inclined to just switch him to wet food only, which I know is healthier anyway, because maybe he's just super addicted to carbs?

Poor guy. He gets crazy frantic about food, it's sad. Kind of cute, but in a sad way.

Easy fix- elevate his bowl. You can do something simple like put it up on a fairly thick large old phone book, or buy elevated food dishes. If you buy the dishes, just be sure there is enough surface area that his whiskers don't hit the sides of his dish when he is in there cleaning the plate. Sometimes when you feed in small bowls, the cats eat quickly because their whiskers become irritated bumping the sides of the eating bowl. But some cats are just gulpers- so elevate his feeding plate and see how it goes.

You can add water to the canned portions, that will slow him down some.

My cats are schedule fed too, but smaller meals more frequently. Two meals in the morning, two at night, and two snacks

My Jennie inhales food, too.

I add almost 1/4 cup of water to her canned meals (usually 1/4 of a 3 oz can at a time with the water). To slow her down on her kibble, which she seems to inhale, I often feed her one piece at a time. Tossing it to make her chase it down, while the other two eat a a normal speed.

I don't think cats can get bloat, but they can form a scarf and barf habit, does he vomit at all?

I'll be interested in seeing what other ideas people may have. I've heard good things about those dogs bowls, have you searched to see if they ahve them for cats? I wonder...do you think putting something like a ping pong ball in his bowl would slow down the kibble gobbling? I'm not sure if I like that idea, just thinking out loud...

Originally Posted by otto

I wonder...do you think putting something like a ping pong ball in his bowl would slow down the kibble gobbling? I'm not sure if I like that idea, just thinking out loud...

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So many people recommend this, but I have to wonder.. How does the ping pong ball not just get pawed out of the bowl and played with?

Originally Posted by Foofy Cat Lady

So many people recommend this, but I have to wonder.. How does the ping pong ball not just get pawed out of the bowl and played with?

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LOL! I'm with you on that. hehehe thanks for the chuckle.

Look what I found!!! Brake fast cat dishes!

http://purfectcatsupply.com/p-322-br...-cat-bowl.aspx

Originally Posted by hissy

Easy fix- elevate his bowl. You can do something simple like put it up on a fairly thick large old phone book, or buy elevated food dishes. If you buy the dishes, just be sure there is enough surface area that his whiskers don't hit the sides of his dish when he is in there cleaning the plate. Sometimes when you feed in small bowls, the cats eat quickly because their whiskers become irritated bumping the sides of the eating bowl. But some cats are just gulpers- so elevate his feeding plate and see how it goes.

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This is what I had to do and it worked for us. I never new about the small bowls and whiskers thing though. Interesting.