Food obsession.. HELP !

My 8yr old tabby, whom I adore, is becoming more and more food obsessed , he races into the kitchen the minute I appear, he cries and cries despite having been fed his own food just before, if I take raw chicken out he goes completely mad, this is not helped by the fact that every now and then I allow him to have  the 'juice/water'  from the raw chicken once it has defrosted... I try not to but sometimes he goes so mad that it is the only way I can shut him up.... I know that this is not right and that it isn't helping his obsession, but I am at my wits end and have no idea how to stop this behaviour

I have approached a Cat Behaviourist and the 'team' said that the lady concerned wanted to come to our home  and see the conditions and interactions between the humans (my husband and me) and Zorro my tabby, but she wants to charge a staggering £300 !!!! which I just cannot justify or afford... the team also more or less suggested that Zorro could be  suffering from insecurity etc .. we moved house a year ago and he did manifest changes at the time, but he was food obsessed in our other abode too, so I am not so sure that this could be the problem, but there again I am afraid of making him worse IF this is one of the reasons he is behaving like this.

He is overweight as well which makes the situation much worse and worst of all he is teaching my female  tortoiseshell to behave the same way, she isn't as vocal as he is, but she sits by her bowl and just watches me all the time if I am in the kitchen....   H E L P please if you have any ideas or have the same problem ??

THANK YOU 

BLACK SNOW 

I have a cat similar to tabby. And it's gotten worse recently.
What are you feeding tabby? Dry food isn't as satisfying as wet food--and it usually has a lot more of (wasted) calories.
In so far as insecurity, etc., can you get Feliway where you live (you stated currency in Pounds Sterling so I assume you live in England?) You might also try playing more with your cats, to get any tension, stress out.
Has tabby had a general checkup at the vets? Eight years old is when you might start seeing some age-related illnesses, involving the thryoid or pancreas.
BTW: I've used an animal communicator and homeopathic vet, both of whom consult by telephone, and they charged a lot less than 300 pounds! Though I realize animal behaviorists are different breeds from animal communicators.

Hi Ritz  Thank you for your thoughts and reply... yes I have a Feliway I also make a point of playing with him almost every morning unless I have an earlier than usual start.. we play with his favourite ball he plays tennis with me beautifully and has a great right !!  he also catches this ball in mid air nearly every time unless lying down and that's when it turns into tennis, when we moved here I phoned my vet and said how bad he was, my vet said to up the food dosage a little he may still be hungry, but I have done this and worse than this is that I give them 'snikels' which are little treats of the same biscuit which they are mad about... I do this far toooo often ... and I believe that this is part of the problem, I give him wet food at least once to twice a week, he loves it, but I have noticed that he has a pooh problem if I give him too much, he seems better on the dry.  I give him a good quality one of the best and most expensive.. I just don't know what else to do, I am convinced it's me, the minute he sees me he associates me with food !!! which is normal I suppose because I feed him more than anyone else ... also when I contacted the Behaviourist it was with the explicit intention to have a telephone consultation which was affordable, but they came back to me to say that this particular situation requires a visit, I have now today sent an email to a vet who works with Medicanimal which is a website here in the UK, I am hoping that she will help me with advice or suggestions, but I am going to keep trying....

Oh and I almost forgot to mention, since this started and we moved to this area, on the edge of a forest I take them for a walk, both cats, into the forest, they love it but only when it is dry, we have had the wettest and worst winter yet so I haven't been able to walk them for at least 6 months but now that the weather is better I will be doing it again, they are very good while out and occasionally when a dog or dogs are in the forest they know long before the dogs do and completely disappear, which takes a while to find them again, but they eventually reappear and we carry on, as my vet says cats are on Broadband  and dogs are on Dial up !!! anyway I try to distract them, I try to exercise them, play with them, I just don't know what is missing...

Black Snow

Yes, it seems every time I go into the kitchen, Ritz follows me--even if I'm simply washing my hands.
If I were you (and I'm not, but this is what I would try): I'd look for a different wet food, with a different protein, and see how his poop is. I'd slowly transition him to wet food. This is a good article about how to transition from one food to another.
I'd cut out the biskets (much harder than it sounds). You might try giving him instead a few treats of freeze dried chicken or any protein really; this treat is 100% chicken, protein, minus the liquid.
I'm glad you contacted Medicanimal, perhaps they can direct you to an animal behaviorist. He/she may give you tips on how to resist your cat's meows. I'm not always successful, I have to admit. You might try literally leaving your home/apartment for ten or so minutes. If your cat simply has a big appetite (psychological) rather than hunger (physiological), then he might be quiet upon your return.
Also, I'm kind of learning that not every meow means FEED ME; sometimes, it's because Ritz is being talkative, wants attention, or, well, it's a cat: who knows!