Helping kitten with food anxiety?

I've had my three cats for a few years and I just adopted a new one around Halloween. We don't know much about her history or exactly how old she is. She came to us very scrawny from a shelter that, despite what they initially claimed, had never gotten her vaxxed, tested, or gotten her any vet care whatsoever (as evidenced by the fact that they told us she was a boy--we didn't find out until a while later that she was a lady, and by then the name Lincoln had stuck...). Luckily, all her tests came back great, and she's now vaxxed, spayed, a very healthy little girl. Playful, affectionate, clearly very smart, just an all around great little girl. We're not sure how old she is--she was about five pounds when we got her and is now seven, though she doesn't seem to have really grown, just gotten to a healthy weight. She's very smally but has adult-like proportions. She's incredibly active and playful like a small kitten. She had her adult teeth when we got her but we had her for about a month before she was spayed and she never went into heat, so...really, she's anyone's guess. 

She is also food crazy. 

She eats plenty, and she's not skinny anymore. (Not fat, just nice and healthy--and I have a 17 lb cat, so I know what fat looks like!) When we feed them all, she scarfs down her food and immediately pushes the others out of the way to eat theirs. We isolate her and she ends up waiting by the door until we finally let her out, then running out and licking their empty bowls. If we're eating, she's there, constantly trying to steal bites or look for crumbs. We find her rooting through the trash in the middle of the night, trying to find scraps.

We're in New York City and we know she lived on the streets, so we figure she had a hard life before we got to her and she's just anxious about getting enough food. But it's confusing because she's SUCH a happy cat generally--and she doesn't SEEM stressed about food, just very excited about it--and we know that she can't really be hungry. We have a Feliway diffuser because one of my other cats is just a generally anxious little thing, but all four of them get along well for the most part,w hen the others aren't annoyed by a kitten trying to play with them all the time! 

I'd love any advice anyone has on how to get my little girl to realize she doesn't have to scavenge anymore!

This is pretty common for cats who had a rough start early in life. Unfortunately I think it's something that gets really hard wired into their system and they may never really get used to having enough food, although I've only had experience with these cats on a short-term basis in shelters, so maybe someone who's had more experience with former strays has some thoughts.

I did notice that those cats tend to overeat as they aged, so you may have to watch that she doesn't gain to much weight when she gets older. 

Perhaps making sure she feels as full as possible would help. Higher protein, lower carbohydrate foods keep cats fuller longer for fewer calories. 

As an alternative to digging through the trash in the night, maybe you can give her one of those puzzle balls that treats fall out of to keep her busy? Otherwise I think maybe keeping her to a really strict feeding schedule would be good just to get her used to the concept that she gets food from certain places at certain times and nowhere else.

This is very common with cats who've been living rough, and it can take quite some time before they relax and realise that food will never be scarce again.

Keeping to a strict schedule will help enormously, and feeding smaller, more frequent meals might help too - she'll be less likely to get really hungry that way.

With the bin - can you put something heavy on top so she can't get into it? It the issue is that she's pulling it over, then weighting the base (before the trash bag goes in) should make it more stable.

Have you tried one of those food bowls that make them slow down when they eat? This one is for dogs, but the same thing works for cats too. If she takes longer to finish her own food it will give the other cats chance to finish theirs. I'd also recommend one of those puzzle ball treat dispensers to keep her occupied at night. She'll get treats as she pushes the ball around, so she'll be less likely to bother with the bin.

 

Thank you, everyone! Super helpful. She's on high-protein low-carb already (she and one of my other cats eat wet, the other two will only eat dry...these guys are the worst ) and we actually have one of those food balls around I think, so I'll dig it up for her!

ShadyLane, it sounds like we have the same cat! Edwina is also the happy cat of our two (they're littermates) and she was very scrawny when we adopted her at ten months: both cats were small and from a minor hoarding household, but we suspect Edwina was the runt of her litter. Even two years later, she still eats too much and vomits sometimes. She generally does okay eating five or six small or medium-sized meals a day but we've recently had a few incidents of her gulping down her night food (her favorite: Nutro Natural Choice) and then, oopsy, projectile vomiting.

We also separate our cats for most of their feedings and Edwina waits for the door to open, hoping for leftovers or dropped bits. Sometimes I think half her problem is that she still gets anxious about food, despite the fact that she gets fed regularly. Our cats are also on a high-protein, low-carb diet of canned and raw foods and Edwina's on the heavier side of "normal" weight for her frame. I've been looking at dishes that slow cats down...

As for the garbage: that's our other cat's domain! We have the bin inside a cabinet with a magnet on the door and run the garbage disposal constantly because Ireland loves to fish things out. Lemon rinds, pineapple pieces, bits of pasta... you name it, we've found it!

All of which is to say that I know what you're going through and hope you're able to make progress. We certainly have but it's hard to get to a 100% resolution! Good luck!