One of year old cats is obsessed with food.

[spineshade]

My girlfriend and I have 2 almost year old cats. We had one for almost a year that we rescued at about a month old. The other cat the one that is a problem at the moment we got a few months ago when her owner got sick and found out the owners family banished her to the basement. We took her immediately. The owner has passed a way. And we now have sweetie as our own. When we first got her she ate fine just like our cat Bella. They would run to the cabinets with the food when we walked in the door. And we're very interested in human food. We moved at the beginning of the month and now sweetie is relentless with food. She cried and squeals and steals anything edible. She stole a turkey neck out of the sink when I was prepping to roast a turkey. She sits in the kitchen sink and trays to eat crumbs that went down the drain. She won't stop. We try locking her up and she literallly climbs the door. Any time we walk into the kitchen she runs in there looking for food. When making dinner she keeps going i on the stove trying to get the food. We are at our wits end with her. I don't know what do do. We feed them a can each of fancy feast/sheba a day with a small amount of dry food a day. So they do eat. At first it was cute but now we are getting worried. I grew up with 6 cats and never had to deal with this before. Any advice.

 

[spineshade]

Let me correct my self. We feed them 2 times a day a full can of sheba/fancy feast and dry food. Not one can a day

 

[shadowsrescue]

Has she been to the vet recently?  What about a dewormer?  When was the last time she was wormed? 

I would start with a vet check up.

 

[spineshade]

She was given a check up when we got her around thanks giving time. ( I think that's when around when we got her) with moving I forget exactly when. And she got fixed in january ( she still has peach fuzz on her belly lol) and they said everything was fine then. Those were the last times she went to the vet.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Did you get dewormed? 

 

[spineshade]

According to the paper work that we got when we got her she was dewormed before we got her. My girlfriend talked to our very and they aid try putting foil on the counters and play with her more and see what that does.

 

[spineshade]

But the playing with her thing annoyed us cause we treat them both like babies and play with them a ton lol. Most of the time she wants to chase the other cat and run around her self

 

[catpack]

How much does Sweetie weight?

Am I correct in reading that she gets 2 cans of wet food daily with a small amount of dry as well?

 

[spineshade]

She is about 7 pounds and yes she gets 2 cans a day. One in the morning around 5am and one around 3pm. Sometimes they get treats as well

 

[spineshade]

The thing that is bothering me is i have had cats all my life. I'm in my 30s now. And never have seen this behavior. Even in my parents house where they have 6

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

i would suggest a vet check for sweetie. i would discuss sweetie's seemingly insatiable hunger with the vet then. a change in appetite or behavior, especially sudden changes, call for a vet check. it's always best to rule out possible medical causes first, and if there is a medical cause it will cost much less and the treatment/remedy will be much more effective if caught/treated sooner rather than later. you're right in thinking that sweeties behavior is not normal.

once/if your vet has determined that sweetie is in good health, no medical issues, i might then consider the possibility that sweetie isn't getting all the nutrition her body needs in the foods she's eating. when this happens, it doesn't matter how much a cat eats, their body won't/can't feel satisfied until it's getting whatever is missing that it needs. if this is the case, then trying more nutrient dense food(s) would be my suggestion. there are some very good high quality cat foods available that aren't overly expensive. yes, they cost more than some of the cat foods available in grocery stores, but the trade off is that your cat(s) will be generally healthier from eating the high quality foods (translates to less spent at the vet's in the long run) and they will have less waste in the litter box (saving a little on the cost of litter).

 

[spineshade]

Ok we will talk to the vet again. my girlfriend talked to sweeties vet this after noon and didn't seem to worried about it in just talking. that where she told us the foil remedy and to "play with her 30 mins a day: (like I said we play with them all the time)" so that kind of bothered us like they just passed it off. it's not like she isn't getting the exercize. her and Bella are running around like crazy and play fighting as i type this. she went to the bathroom and I didn't see anything different about her ..um droppings . I gave them a little extra dry food with the can of food and still a hour later she was right at the cabinet door went I went to get a snack for my self. the vet gave advice when she last went in and asked a question before we moved and the vet said something about the dry food making them little fatties ..

Bella we used to give her a bowl of dry food when we got her and she would eat some and then snack throughout the day. and what we called stress eat lol ( she would be told no or be taken down from something she wasnt supposed to be on and then she would run and eat)but the dry food would last all day until we got sweetie. it had me wondering if maybe from all the trauma she had being moved from home to a basement then thrust into a new place and a new playmate, then thrust into a whole new place totally, that maybe she is trying to get more food cause she is afraid or stressed out. although we have been here for almost 3 weeks. but that is just maybe over thinking

 

[spineshade]

Oh and thank you everyone for looking into my issue

 

[kittensmitten]

Hi there. The only time I have experienced the constant search for food with cats is when they have tested as hyperthyroid and or diabetic, although this was in older cats. I don't know if such a young cat can be either but It's worth talking to your vet to maybe screen out anything physiological. I am new to this forum so I don't know if posting links is permitted but I found something interesting at Cat Nutrition Center. Here is is:

http://www.petmd.com/blogs/nutritionnuggets/cat/jcoates/march/2013/cats-obsessed-with-food-29894#

Good luck in finding a fix!