Skittish Kitties with eating disorder. :'(

[dontlickthecat]

We got our two little kittens at 5 weeks old. I think the lady we got them from was some sort of cat hoarder or she was possibly capturing them outside and rehoming them for a fee. 

Anyways, they are two brothers. They were sweet but a little skittish when we first got them which was expected. I noticed they both ate aggressively and one, Sifl (AKA Cinna), was def more dominante. I thought maybe that would subside, but now they are 8 months old and have been neutered. Sifl, has seemed to have warmed up to us a little more and is no longer acting dominant, but his brother Oly, is behaving more aggressively and dominant since being fixed. He won't let us pick him up or pet him. He STILL runs from us when he sees us coming...unless we are feeding him of course. The only time he will get close is if I am laying in bed. He will crawl up on me and force me to pet him like he is displaying some sort of dominant behavior.

But the most peculiar thing about these two, Oly more than Sifl, is that they seem to have an eating disorder. They CONSTANTLY want to eat. Olive will wolf his food down so fast that he swallows to much air and will throw it up within 5 or 10 minutes. They also trash my house like little kids. If there is anything out they will get into it and tear it up. Like this morning, I woke up to a broken plate and spoon on the floor that had a little spaghetti sauce left on it and they had eaten through a package of bread rolls and ate a few of them. They also found a bag of (hidden and sealed) cat treats and was gnawing through the package when I woke up. This kind of behavior is an everyday struggle. They get in the garbage and drag out any little thing they can find. My house is constantly covered in trash because of these two. No matter how much love, attention, positive reinforcement or food I give them, nothing seems to work. 

Overall, I think Sifl will end up being okay, but it's been 6/7 months and Oly seems to have gotten worse. I don't know how to help him. My only other option is to rehome them (or just Oly maybe), but I hate doing that. I've tried all the suggestions from my vet information I have found online. Any little bit of help is appreciated.

 

[louann jude]

How much are you feeding them?  How often? What breed are they? 

A trick i have seen on this site to slowing kittens down is putting a golf ball in the dish then put the food in a ring around it. 

 

[talkingpeanut]

Have they been wormed? Can you try feeding them in smaller quantities more often?

 

[dontlickthecat]

Yes, they have been wormed, vaxxed, etc.
They are just little Gray "Mutt" cats. I used to feed them twice a day, but Oly kept puking his food up after eating so much so fast so I started feeding them 3 x a day in smaller quantities like you suggest...which has greatly curbed the kitty barf episodes. They just act rabid when it comes to any type of food. Sifl is not near as bad as he was, but Oly is really kind of crazy.
I bought them little treats to hand treat them. Sifl does really well comparatively, but Oly will bite a chunk of my hand just trying to eat the treat...and then bully Sifl for his if he can.

I'm more worried that they have some sort of psychological issue. I don't feel like there is much I can do for him that I'm not already doing.

 

[dontlickthecat]

image.jpeg

• dontlickthecat
• Nov 26, 2015

Oly is the one with the big eyes! [emoji]10084[/emoji]️

 

[louann jude]

I have a feeling you still may not be feeding them enough. Kittens are growing fast and need food to keep up. I find it amazing at how fast they grow. They go from newborn to an adult in one year. Imagine a human child doing that. My three year old goes through growth spurts and when he does he will eat like a horse. This child will eat twice as much as me. 

Anyway a kitten does the same thing. They are growing so fast and need food to keep them going. I have two seven month kittens and a three month old one. Before I got Mickey my 3 month old I fed them twice a day wet and free fed them dry kibble as much as they wanted. But Mickey had problems with eating that way. So now I feed them wet food 3 times a day and dry twice. And they still want more so I feed treats and sometimes more dry if they are really hungry. 

The link I added says you are supposed to feed a kitten twice as much as an adult. They get an ounce per body weight and double it. My little bit weighs 6 pounds so she would get 12 ounces of food a day spread out. She is the one of mine that is always looking for food. She even tries to get in the garbage to eat. When I see that I feed them all. 

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/281590/six-month-kitten-always-hungry

 

[talkingpeanut]

Yes, I wonder how much you are feeding them too. I think they might be hungry.

 

[dontlickthecat]

I honestly appreciate all of your input, and it may seem that I'm not feeding them enough if you do read enough my posts, but I've had cats my whole life...and believe me, they get fed plenty. If I leave a huge bowl of food out, they will eat ALL OF IT and then some. Which was the first thing I noticed about them after they were fully weaned. They also started to get pudgy which is why I originally started to monitor their food intake.

But they definately show signs of some sort of obsessive eating disorder including pica. They chew on everything. In all my years we've never seen anything like it.

Back to my original post though, I think the lady that rehomed them may have left some burdensome mark. When I got them she said they were five weeks old and already weaned and eating just dry food. I thought that was odd because they should have still been with their momma. She said she had two other litters and another on the way. Right away I thought there was something off about the whole situation, but I took the babies and got them proper supplements and my daughter, son, husband, and I fed them quite often throughout the day. Throughout the whole process they always remained skittish of us. Now, almost a year later, one has gotten better while the other has gotten seemingly worse. Also, I notice shortly after we received them, that it looks like the tip of Oly's tail may have been broke. The lady said she had to trap them in her bathroom to capture them. [emoji]128546[/emoji][emoji]128148[/emoji]So, I think they may have just been a bad situation...and I guess I came here more for somebody with experience in potential psychological issues in cats.

So, in short, they are healthy and are fed well. I just need better input on their psychological well being.

 

[talkingpeanut]

It does sound like they were in a hoarding situation.  Have you tried Feliway diffusers?  It sounds like they need behavioral therapy to feel confident in their surroundings.  I don't have experience with this myself, but have read some.  Maybe the vet could prescribe some Prozac or a similar medication to relax them while you rehabilitate?  

 

[dontlickthecat]

No, I've never heard of it. I will have to look into trying something like that. Thanks!

 

[talkingpeanut]

Worth a try! It can take a month to work, but could really help. Good luck!