Can't break the bad food behavior

Last September I took in a stray that had showed up outside a friends house. I feel like I have done a pretty good job assimilating her into my house and life. The one fairly typical stray cat issue i just cannot control and have not yet found a good solution for in all my research is how to get her to stop focusing so much on food. Her mind is on food all day...she trips you when you walk into the kitchen, she wakes you up scratching at the door at 3 am, she spends 90% of the day near the food cabinet, she gets moody around the other 2 cats if we dont feed her right away. She's miserable and we're miserable when she's on a regulated food diet, but when we give her full access to food, her weight skyrockets and is SO hard to bring down.

Any creative suggestions? I'm reaching my breaking point with this...

Kimm

I love the idea of the those cat food balls...where would i get one of those? I have a petsmart near me, I can check there. I have seen them for dogs.

She was checked for worms back in Sept, she tested neg. She is on Science Diet Sensitive Stomach, which is just what I have been feeding my other two for a couple years because they both had a very resilient form of Coccidia when they were kittens. Just dry food right now. I was told to feed her 1/4 c a day but that just seems outrageously low so I have been feeding her 1/4 c TWICE a day, once at about 4 am (she wakes us up!!) and again at about 5 pm. We were also feeding her a small amount before bed at 10 pm to try to get her to sleep in longer but dropped that. Not sure about the calorie content, the bag doesn't have that info.

Possible diet food so we can feed her more? Wet food to keep her feeling full? More fiber? Spray bottle when she meows for food?? automatic feeder to feed her more times a day?

Yeah, I def don't think I want to go any lower than 1/2 c a day. She's very inactive, besides running into the kitchen constantly. I have talked to two different vets about this. The first vet told me to get an automatic feeder but was really unconcerned about her weight gain. This cat came to me as a stray, with barely any fur on her body, a raging ear infection and flea ridden, at almost 12 pounds. I thought she was pregnant! She was very unhealthy yet still overweight, and I didn't feel like that was normal. After the unconcerned vet appt I noticed that she was also peeing a lot more than my other two cats so I took her to another vet to do testing for diabetes and thyroid...both came back neg, but she did have a urinary tract infection. We dealt with that, and the questions about her diet went on the back burner again...

Thanks for the suggestions about the auto feeder, I was wondering how they worked and did hear about cats being able to stick their paws in and get the food out. I will look around, I'm willing to put the money in for better quality if it will help.

I did look at that petsafe 5 meal feeder. I dont mind having to fill it each day, my concern is really more about getting her fed more times a day. Thats a great price too. I'm tempted to try it, but I have a feeling that if it didnt work for your cat, it won't work for mine. You aren't kidding about the expense of the Ergo system though...I don't know if i WANT to put down 130 dollars! I wish there was an in between, but almost all the feeders are max 3 times a day and min 1/4 c feeding. I want like a few pellets every few hours

I think if I was to feed her 4 times a day it would be 6am, 12, 6, 12am. I could do like 1/8 c feedings, just a small handful. Then maybe a can of wet right before bed at 10 get the canned food in.

Robin - I checked out the Wellness Healthy Weight food...I love it!!! I actually really like that you say it doesnt taste as good. I read a lot of reviews from people saying their cats didn't like the taste but I feel like I could eventually wean my cats into it and if it doesn't taste as good maybe she wouldnt be as obsessed with eating it. And this brand is almost exactly the same as Science Diet in terms of price. Awesome.

We've been looking for new food for a while now...I have so much trouble finding good sales/coupons for this particular Science Diet (sensitive stomach never goes on sale!) and it has been 3 yrs since the boys Coccidia problem so I feel like its time to get them off the Sensitive Stomach. Thanks for the tip!

Great, I'll check out the Wellness website to sign up.

I like the idea of changing wet foods consistently, that seems like a decent idea and might save on money. I'm heading to petsmart tonight to check out their selection, look at food balls and auto feeders.

This is a great start, thanks for all the helpful suggestions guys!

I'd consider switching to wet completely, but I'm a bit concerned about the smell. I know a few people who use completely wet and their house always smells like cat food. They leave it down all day though, that might be why. I did read that it should only be left out for 30 mins at the most. Also would not be excited about having open wet cans sitting on my fridge all the time.

I agree with you there, but I am finding that the evidence is substantial regarding the benefits of a wet food diet, so i'd probably try to incorporate it into my other 2 cats diets too...and they eat ridiculously slowly. I like the idea of the can covers, great suggestion. i'll look for those.

I have a vet appt set for this cat tomorrow, but I did weigh her myself...she weighs 17 pounds. When i took her in 8 months ago she weighed 11 and last time i weighed her it was 13. I feel so discouraged at this point. I truly can't stop her weight gain. I'm hoping all this helps. I cleared out an entire bedroom for her to have to herself, with toys and her litter box and places to sleep. I'll let her roam the house during the day but at night she's going to have to stay in there. while i rehabbed her i had her every night in our bedroom, but i just can't deal with being woken up anymore, and nighttime is pretty much the only time my other two cats get to eat at their own pace.

So at the vet she weighed 15.6, but still thats pretty high. the vet agreed with wellness healthy weight, the food ball for exercise and 4 times a day feedings, with 1/3 c being her max amt for the day. She said to try the petsafe 5 meal because its cheaper and i loooove that idea. I can return it if she can get into it right?

Its strange though, she was completely against wet food. I've heard so many good things about wet food.

She also asked that i bring her in once a month to weigh on their scale and I love that idea. Overall I'm feeling pretty good. As long as I have a plan I'm happy!

Hm...interesting. Well first of all, she did gain all the weight on 1/2 c...um kind of. For the most part we kept her on the diet, but if we were really getting frustrated with her in the middle of the night or when she gets belligerent in early evening and around bedtime, we sometimes gave her more. We have childproof locks on our cabinets now because she can get into them, but she still scratches at the door to get in, and scratches on our couch for attention. And i know, i can trim her nails but...easier said than done for the most part. i would say no more than a cup on the worst days but for the most part we REALLY tried to stick to 1/4 c twice a day.

But yes, this is the third different vet i've spoken to about it. the first said the behavior is just stray cat behavior. the second tested her for a bunch of things, all came back negative except a bladder infection which she was treated for, but at the follow up for that the vet said that 1/2 c/day should be fine and the problem is probably that shes getting into my other cats food (shes not).

I have the bag in front of me...are we talking kcals? it says it contains 450 per cup. So 250 would be about a half cup a day? i could try that instead. it would be easier to do 1/8 c 4 times a day

i havent even put her on this new food yet, im not sure how to switch her over. how long should i mix the food before i switch over completely? do i do like a 50/50 thing?

Her name is Cira