Help! Cat is eating everything

I had my cat, Rosie, spayed a few months ago. She's around 18 months old. I found her in my trash can on my porch last year and we kept her. She's a great cat but she's been acting weird since she got spayed.

A month after the spay, she had gained a pound. I was happy about this because she had been quite small for her age. I know they often gain weight after being fixed so I thought nothing of it. Then, she began to eat...CONSTANTLY. They have dry food out to eat at their leisure. Both my cats don't do well with canned food (throw up a lot) so the vet recommended dry food. She had previously been fine on that diet. Then, she started eating the food all the time. She eats the food and if she gets to the end of it (it's a large bowl of food) she heads out to find more food. She will eat anything left unattended. She's like a raccoon. She's eating out of the trash. She's ripping into bags of unopened cat food or people food. Today I caught her eating Beefaroni out of the kid's bowl at lunchtime. I put her down and gave her more of her cat food. Later, I found her trying desperately to rip open a package of GUM in my backpack.

I don't know what's wrong with her. Why would she be eating like this? She's now gained quite a bit of weight and is developing a belly that's hanging down. She's not obese or anything but she'll get there if she doesn't knock it off. What should I do? Has anyone had a cat like this?

My ?? is what dry is she eating and how much does she get a day???

She's eating Purina One. She's got a huge bowl of it. I was going to get one of those self-feeders. I had been told that it's okay to just give them a lot of dry food and let her eat when she's hungry but this cat is ALWAYS hungry. I've never seen anything like it. She eats crackers, potato chips, pasta, anything.

If I should change her food what would I feed her? I'm willing to change her diet or change the method of feeding. Maybe I should stop letting her eat when she's hungry and have feeding times? I'm clueless about what to do and she's getting worse. The gum thing totally got me today. Not only was she trying to get the gum but after I put it back in the backpack and zipped the pocket, she sat there clawing at the bag. It's like she thinks she's starving or something.

Take her to a vet...

she may need a higher quality food but the vet will have a beter Idea I can say it looks like she loves carbs

She needs to go to the vet next month and have a checkup so I'll discuss it with them. I wasn't sure if this was something other people were experiencing. It seems really odd to me. I've had cats all my life and they've never done this.

She does like carbs but she also likes everything else too. She eats dog food all the time if I forget to move the dogs bowl.

The good thing is that she is still really active. She's playing all day with the dog and the other cat so she's not slowed down but all that carb eating.

Please call the vet before next month maybe he/she can help you till the appt

I've heard that strays can have an eager appitite as they were programmed when little that you don't know when your next meal is your last and to eat when presented with food. Meeka also can eat everything in site. She will knock the trash over to get into it. I put a 10lb weight in the bottom and keep the lid closed so have eliminated that problem now. We have to keep our food dishes up and food in cabinets (even cereal boxes!). She gets food at specific mealtimes twice a day, only at these times she gets as much as she wants. She greatly looks forward to her meals.

Are you concerned with weight gain? Maybe in teh long run this could be a problem even if she is active right now. I'm not sure about Purina One but there are a lot of good foods available like Nutro, Royal Canin, Innova, Wysong, etc. She might eat for lack of nutritional value, but again I'm not sure about Purina so I can't say on that note. Try looking into Missing Link at petsores like Petsmart and Petco. This is full of nutrients in a powder form that you just add to the dry food (Omega 3's and 6's). A little wet food from time to time never hurts either.

She might be programmed to eat which just means she needs a strict regiment of meals which will eventually break her snacking on everything habits. This will help a cat who thinks they aren't getting food again to knowing exactly what time of day they can expect their meals.

I knew it was a possibility that she needed a different diet and I will look into that. I know Purina isn't exactly the top quality food but she likes it and the other cat likes it too. My other one, Oliver, is quite picky about food and we were happy to find one he likes. BTW, Meeka is beautiful. I love the bengals.

Rosie was a stray I guess. I did find her on our porch in the trash can and she was just a baby at the time--about five months. I found an apartment and the neighbors said that she came from there. She has some pretty specific tiger markings and she was wearing two collars--a flea collar and a blue collar. The neighbors described her perfectly and said she came from this apartment. I went there and put a note on the door that I had their kitty and if they wanted her to call me. They never called. So, I'm not sure how long she was out looking for food. That apartment was only one street over from me so I figure they just weren't feeding her. It wasn't a very nice apartment. The door was hanging off the hinges. I was glad they never called because when I took her to the vet a few days later, I found she had fleas, worms, and ear mites. I had all her tests and vaccinations done and she's been great since. She fit right in here. She sleeps with me every night and she loves our other cat and she even loves the dog. Of course, she also loves food.

I'll talk with the vet when I take my dog in for boarding in a couple of days. Maybe they can recommend a new diet plan for her.

Wouldn't this kind of behavior suggest a tapeworm?

Talk to your vet and rule out any health issues. If he doesn't suspect any, then I would suggest a dry food high in protein. I could not get my cat to lose weight but I started him an a high protein food for diabetic cats and he is loosing now. This high protein based meal seems to satisfy him more than a "lite or lo-cal" food did. You do have to stick to your guns about the proper amoutn to feed which you need to discuss with your vet, also.