Need Advice!

I was wondering if anyone can offer me advice or help about my cat!
We've recently taken in a stray cat, approximately 18 months old.
Although we'd been feeding him every day for the last six months, it's only been the last two weeks that we finally brought him indoors, along with our other two cats.
The problem is, the new cat is just so greedy!!
I've never known a cat to be so frantic about food-he's worse than a dog!
I thought it could be worms, but he's been wormed a few times now and he seems to be putting on weight fine.
But it's getting to be a real problem-we have to fight with him to get into the kitchen, and if anyone is eating, he's a real pain and is all over you to get to the plate.
I'm starting to think it's a physchological problem-maybe he still thinks his food is limited and someone is going to steal it from him, but how do I break this habit?
It's a big problem now because someone only has to stand up and he's mewing and chasing us expecting more food, and whenever he does get his meals, he gobbles it up in seconds and just wants more.
Please help-he's a lovely cat but it's driving us up the wall!!
Thanks, Louise (and hungry Henry!)

Haha.. little devil!! Theo was a stray before i got him and he is a nightmare as well, although i think that he thinks that he is part human and so should have the right to eat whatever i am eating, it drives me nuts as well. I got one of those clicker thingys off ebay and i click it at him anytime he tries it now.. in fact, i only have to reach fo rthe clicker and he stops.. don't know if that will work for you

Is he neutered yet? If not, that may be the root of some of his aggression.

I think that part of it may have be because he was a stray. In my experience pets that were once strays are more possessive about food and eat very fast, because in the outdoors they had to be wary about other animals taking their food.

My friend has a cat that used to act this way. But after awhile I think he came to understand that no one was going to take his food and he eventually relaxed.

Others have said it well. The strays we took in are CRAZY when it comes to food. They did calm down over time, and the clicker idea is good too. Obviously, you may not be able to free-feed that cat! Something about strays...starvation or near-starvation seems to really affect them!

Garfield was like that over canned food at one point, he was just a crazy man, needing the treats! I would try to put hungry Henry on a very firm routine. And use a special call or special routine to let him know it is meal time. I would avoid food treats for him until he calms down, as with Garfield they just became a source of begging and him worrying that he was missing out on something. (Note it became a prob for Gar when we had a semi feral girl who loved food.)

I would make sure he has his own bowl, and gets plenty. By adding a signal other than "Meowmy walked into the kitchen" for feeding time, hopefully he will learn over time. Remember those behaviors are what helped him survive before, poor boy!

Hello again-I just wanted to thank you all for your replies.
I shall just assume it's because Henry was a stray that makes him so naughty when it comes to food.
I'm trying to be firm with him and push him away whenever he begs for food (although he is very persistant!), so hopefully he'll grow out of it.
Thanks again for the help!

Originally Posted by silverbook

I think that part of it may have be because he was a stray. In my experience pets that were once strays are more possessive about food and eat very fast, because in the outdoors they had to be wary about other animals taking their food.

My friend has a cat that used to act this way. But after awhile I think he came to understand that no one was going to take his food and he eventually relaxed.

Click to expand...

Totally agree. My Rocky was maniacal about food...He still meows constantly only as I am fixing his food though...that 15 seconds in the microwave is like EONS when you have a frantic whiny cat at your ear

And he would push Lovey out of the way for his food after he literally INHALED his own...

He has since calmed quite a bit.. and realizes that wow, this mummy does really remember to feed me...I swear it seemed like he thought he had to remind me every second before!

I have had my cat for nearly a year & a half, and since she was a kitten she would scoff her food down her neck that fast it wouldnt have touched the sides, her mother was the same, she also has a sister that is the same, everytime I go into the kitchen she thinks it feeding time, and it is now causing problems in the house as I have other cats, oh I should have mentioned that she had a litter of 4 11 weeks ago, but even before she had the litter she was still the grubber, it has nothing to do with her being a stray because we've had her since week 6, we have to lock her into the utility room for feeding time because when she is finished she is on the lookout for more food, oh and by food I mean cakes toast anything she can get hold off, I have been searching the net for some sort of supplement to try to bag her up, but at the moment we have to make sure ALL food stuffs stay in cupboards, can anyone advise me what I can do,

thx scint...