Hello all!
My 18 month old female orange tabby is a tiny piglet. Growing less tiny every day. She constantly wants to eat and has no ability to self regulate. Yesterday I didn't realize my partner had given her her breakfast, so she wound up w a 2nd bkfst... which she devoured as though it was her first, and probably would have kept going. I've tried letting her have all-day-kibble (instead of meal times) to see if she'd stop when full and she doesn't. She will eat until whatever is in the bowl is gone. She gets Nutro brand kibble; 1/4 cup in the am, 1/4 cup in the pm. She'll have her morning kibble and immediately afterward, if I offer her a treat, she goes at it like she hasn't eaten in days. So, she always wants food, she always seem like she's famished and she never gets full. I've just never had a cat so completely and utterly food fixated. She's a bit on the big side now but it's not an issue as she's an active young cat. But I'm worried about a couple of things: is there something wrong with her health? I wouldn't think so, but...? what about her future? I don't want a cat obesity issue, which I can control via quantities of food she gets, but I also don't want her running around hungry all of the time. What if she's just a big eater?
The other thing that concerns me is that she doesn't chew. Kibble goes down the gullet whole. I've tested larger size kibble pieces and it's the same... she swallows them whole. The only things she will chew are her freeze dried salmon and chicken treats.
I have the added problem of a multiple cat household. If I don't pick up the other cat's bowls the second they've finished eating, Rose is all over their leftovers. Any suggestions on how to deal w a problem overeater when other cats are involved?
I'm including Rose's backstory in case it's relevant? I don't think it is, but who knows.
Rose was brought to a shelter I was volunteering at when she was about 6 weeks old. She had an horrific wound on her upper back/neck; one theory was that she had been hiding in a car engine for warmth and didn't realize when a pipe started burning through her fur? Again, just a theory. She was underfed and dirty and had fleas, but no one really knew her history. She was otherwise healthy, though would need a lot of vet visits which required a foster. A year and a half later, yes, she's still with me. Her first few kitten months were different in that she had to have her back paws wrapped up so she wouldn't scratch at her wound (couldn't use a collar due to the wound itself), and she went to the vet a lot. When she was spayed at around 12 weeks, the vet also did some surgery on the neck wound. POINT IS, she had a rough start. She also had a couple of colds during this time, which I'm sure was due to an exhausted immune system. But she also had doting "parents" and my older boy, Jack, took right to her as a momma cat figure. One of the quirks this whole experience left her with is that she has no confidence in her jumping abilities. She actually doesn't think she can. She's the most earth-bound cat I've ever seen. And mercurial as all get out. And we love her madly.
So, I know that's a lot. Curious re any feedback you might have about essentially these 3 topics: what (if anything) is wrong with her? should I worry about her not chewing? how do you control one cats diet when two other cats need to be fed as well.
Thanks all!
My 18 month old female orange tabby is a tiny piglet. Growing less tiny every day. She constantly wants to eat and has no ability to self regulate. Yesterday I didn't realize my partner had given her her breakfast, so she wound up w a 2nd bkfst... which she devoured as though it was her first, and probably would have kept going. I've tried letting her have all-day-kibble (instead of meal times) to see if she'd stop when full and she doesn't. She will eat until whatever is in the bowl is gone. She gets Nutro brand kibble; 1/4 cup in the am, 1/4 cup in the pm. She'll have her morning kibble and immediately afterward, if I offer her a treat, she goes at it like she hasn't eaten in days. So, she always wants food, she always seem like she's famished and she never gets full. I've just never had a cat so completely and utterly food fixated. She's a bit on the big side now but it's not an issue as she's an active young cat. But I'm worried about a couple of things: is there something wrong with her health? I wouldn't think so, but...? what about her future? I don't want a cat obesity issue, which I can control via quantities of food she gets, but I also don't want her running around hungry all of the time. What if she's just a big eater?
The other thing that concerns me is that she doesn't chew. Kibble goes down the gullet whole. I've tested larger size kibble pieces and it's the same... she swallows them whole. The only things she will chew are her freeze dried salmon and chicken treats.
I have the added problem of a multiple cat household. If I don't pick up the other cat's bowls the second they've finished eating, Rose is all over their leftovers. Any suggestions on how to deal w a problem overeater when other cats are involved?
I'm including Rose's backstory in case it's relevant? I don't think it is, but who knows.
Rose was brought to a shelter I was volunteering at when she was about 6 weeks old. She had an horrific wound on her upper back/neck; one theory was that she had been hiding in a car engine for warmth and didn't realize when a pipe started burning through her fur? Again, just a theory. She was underfed and dirty and had fleas, but no one really knew her history. She was otherwise healthy, though would need a lot of vet visits which required a foster. A year and a half later, yes, she's still with me. Her first few kitten months were different in that she had to have her back paws wrapped up so she wouldn't scratch at her wound (couldn't use a collar due to the wound itself), and she went to the vet a lot. When she was spayed at around 12 weeks, the vet also did some surgery on the neck wound. POINT IS, she had a rough start. She also had a couple of colds during this time, which I'm sure was due to an exhausted immune system. But she also had doting "parents" and my older boy, Jack, took right to her as a momma cat figure. One of the quirks this whole experience left her with is that she has no confidence in her jumping abilities. She actually doesn't think she can. She's the most earth-bound cat I've ever seen. And mercurial as all get out. And we love her madly.
So, I know that's a lot. Curious re any feedback you might have about essentially these 3 topics: what (if anything) is wrong with her? should I worry about her not chewing? how do you control one cats diet when two other cats need to be fed as well.
Thanks all!
