8-month-old cat wants to do nothing but eat

Hi, I found a feral cat a couple months ago and took him home. He's been neutered, had his shots, and had two doses of dewormer two weeks apart (his gut was FULL of worms). The vet guessed he was six months old when I got him.

The thing that's odd about him is he's driven by a ravenous hunger... Everything he does involves the goal of eating more. When I feed him he sometimes knocks the bowl out of my hand, and he'll tear into any human food he can get his hands on. He once got into the bag of cat food, ate as much as he could and vomited TONS. I feed him two handfuls of adult cat food per day (same as my other adult cat), as per the vet's recommendations. It turns out a couple of our neighbors have been feeding him too, probably thinking he was starving based on the way he acts. I would worry about more worms, but he's gaining a lot of weight. I'm actually worried he's going to be obese soon.

Does he need to eat more based on his age? Or should I be feeding him kitten food? Or what's going on here? Thanks for reading.

I know worms can make a cat ravenous. And in such a case they can still lose weight despite eating a lot. Not sure if he still has any left in him, did they test another fecal sample to be sure?

But he's also a kitten still, so it could just be that. Although, it does seem a bit extreme. I have two six-month olds that have three cycles - eating, sleeping, tornado (running around the house so fast everything goes flying). And they eat a LOT still. However, they don't tear into bags of food.

For what it's worth, these guys still get kitten food. But, they have access to the "adult" cat food also (I have two older cats as well). Plus some canned food at night.

My girl was a little like this when I rescued her - she actually gave herself a pretty bad tummy upset from eating do much...to the point where she needed a veterinary diet for a while yo hekp rebalance everything! She was a semi feral/stray too. I think sometimes it tales their little brains a while to catch onto the fact that enough food is always going to be available

Stick to adult food and appropriate rationing. Giving more, smaller meals may help, as he won't have so long to get hungry in between. Wet food can be great for cats with big appetites as the portion size is bigger for the same calories. It's also great for hydration...cats often struggle with hydration on a kibble only diet, as their thirst drive just isn't strong enough to compensate. If fed an all dry diet, cats need around a cup/250mls of fluid a day.

In fact, you could make this work in your favour. A common tip to increase fluid intake is to make flavoured water (such as water chicken was poached in, or water you've soaked a can of tuna in spring water in). This could be served up as an extra course/treat - possibly tricking him into thinking he's had an extra meal in the process

Perhaps it's  got something to do with the quality of the food you're feeding him? Are you sure it's a 'complete' diet? It might be a 'complementary' diet? Maybe he isn't getting enough of the nutrients he needs from the brand you're feeding him at the moment? Does the food you're feeding at the moment have a lot of grains in it or?