Overeating

[jrogers1985]

I put my cat on a diet for about two months. He did fine and lost weight. I just received a case of free canned catfood and a huge bucket of dry food. I started feeding him the new food and it seems his appetite is totally out of control. He acts like he's starving all the time. I feed him about a cup of dry food a day or one can of wet food a day. He is so obnoxious about feeding him now, I'm beside myself and find I'm feeding him just to calm him down. He's gained back all of his weight and more! What should I do?

[Former User]

Go back to the old eating habits, the ones that helped him to lose weight. And no matter how he acts that he's starving, ignore him. It's hard, but it will work out and he knows he can't get food except on his feeding times. Good luck! you'll need it...

[yorkster]

Yup, what Casper & Kitty said is correct. My cats are still a bit food-obsessed, but much better now that I don't feed them canned food anymore. They still get regular cat food (not the diet stuff yet), and maybe once a week I will give them a treat of tuna, but that is it. They gave me a hard time when I was weaning them off their canned stuff, but it's okay now- I think they have forgotten about it

[yorkster]

I forgot to add: For about 2 weeks or so, when I was cuttung out the canned stuff, they acted like they were being starved to death all the time. People would come over and go "hey! Feed your poor kitties. They look sooo hungry!" Little did they know that they had just devoured (spellcheck) a huge dish of cat food!

[tuxluvr]

We learned early that whatever food is left out, Ritz will find a way to eat it before sundown....cats as a rule don't overeat, at least not the same danger as dogs. Ritz seems to have a similar obsession with available food as her furless mommy

But we pared down the amount fed - a small scoop in the morning and one in the evening, but no new scoop until the dish is empty. She seemed to deal with this change....and did lose weight.

[tuxluvr]

One kitty household here - Ritz rules the roost - noting her behavior in unusual situations, I wouldn't risk bringing another kitty inside the walls (although I'm always tempted)

[yorkster]

If we take a 2-3 day weekend and go somewhere, we leave the cats with extra water (of course) and extra food.
One of the food dishes I sort of 'hide' because I know that otherwise my cats will eat ALL their food the first day. Even with hiding it, I am very sure that it's gone early-on the second day.

For some reason, all three of my cats have been piggys Maybe they learn it from each other?