food obsession

my cat Toby is absolutely obsessed with food. I feed him twice a day and he practically knocks the bowl out of my hand before I can set it down. While eating he pushes the small bowl all over the tray and has been known to flip the tray over if a single kibble gets between the tray and the wall. Once he's done he tries to steal Havoc's food so I have to watch Havoc like a hawk and take up the bowl as soon as he stops eating. Toby is usually laying down next to Havoc's bowl this whole time and will occasionally stick a paw out to try to snag a piece. If Havoc drops a piece of food outside the bowl, Toby is on it like a cat possessed. When I come home (that's their dinner time) Havoc wants some attention so I love on him on the way to the kitchen. Toby wants attention too so he's rubbing and loving all over the cabinet the feed is stored in. In fact every time anyone gets up and walks down the hall in any direction Toby runs to the cabinet and starts meowing. And god forbid I want to enjoy a snack in front of the TV- he's in my face as soon as my butt hits the recliner. I gently place him back on the floor and tell him "NO!" but he's soon inching his way nearer trying to see how close he can get without getting yelled at.

Toby is a rather stocky cat, not starving by any means, and is healthy overall. Any ideas on how to curb this behavior? It is rather annoying and he gets stepped on or tripped over any time we are in the kitchen, even if we just fed him.

My Coco Puff is the same way. There are times when I have to put him in the basement, especially when I'm cooking dinner because he jumps on the countertop and tries to grab and run w/the food. If it's shrimp, forget about it; he's all over it. I don't know that he's obsessed w/food so much as he just has to be into everything. He's just got to see what's going on. Maybe that's the case w/Toby, too?

fortunately Toby has not discovered that he can jump onto the counter yet, but I can tell he's working on it by the way he stares and stretches to reach as far as he can. I know he'll eat everything he can get his paws on if he does get up there or figures out how to open the cabinet. As it is now, he tries to devour just about anything that hits the floor. Cat food, people food, bugs, random fuzzballs on the carpet, etc.. It's not like he was starving at the shelter either. He was already a solid little chunk o' cat when I adopted him. Adding to the problem is the fact that I am trying to get some weight on Havoc but he tends to pick at his food and eats only a few bites at a time before he gets distracted and wanders off. I have to offer him the bowl of food several times before he eats it all. Of course every time I give Havoc any food Toby starts begging so I have to give him a few kibbles too. Maybe Toby is training me to give in to his begging, but until Havoc eats more at one sitting I'm not sure what to do, since he starts fussing at me as soon as he realizes he's still hungry. Havoc is one obnoxious little dude who will not shut up when he wants something.

Today I was unloading groceries from my car. I set the first few bags on the floor inside the house and went out to get the rest. The car was right outside and I was gone less than a minute. By the time I got back in Toby had found the bag of cat food in one of the bags on the floor, ripped a hole in it and was trying to drag it off. He's a determined little bugger.

so my epic struggle actually involves 2 cats: one who barely eats enough, and one who can't seem to get enough.

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Originally Posted by aTailOf2Kitties

Today I was unloading groceries from my car. I set the first few bags on the floor inside the house and went out to get the rest. The car was right outside and I was gone less than a minute. By the time I got back in Toby had found the bag of cat food in one of the bags on the floor, ripped a hole in it and was trying to drag it off. He's a determined little bugger.

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What a little stinker!

Pinot was like that when we first got her, but she's calmed down a bit on it now. How old is Toby? You might just have to be careful with food and put up with it for a while. I'm sorry, I don't have any sage advise! Pinot's food is in a cabinet with a piece of wood blocking the handles (so she can't get in) and the food is in a bucket with a snap on lid (same reason). Before we did that, she got into that cabinet, pulled out a bag of Science Diet (and for those unfamiliar, that comes in a TOUGH bag), dragged the bag halfway across the basement and finally ripped into it. Cats can accomplish anything it seems!:)

Toby is a year-and-a-half to two years old. Right now he knows the food is in the lower cabinet and occasionally tries to open it. He'll put his paws on the top of the door and pull but he's blocking the door with the rest of his body. Someday he'll figure out to open it from the side. The food is in an old Tidy Cats bin with a tight lid to keep out the bugs. That might stump him for a little bit if he figures out the cabinet door. At that point I guess we'll just rubber-band or tie the two cabinet knobs together

He's a clever little devil, that's for sure. You can almost hear the gears turning when he's trying to figure something out. When I had Havoc in a big cage after his leg surgery his food bowl was in the middle of the cage and out of direct reach from the outside. Toby kept contemplating the situation until he figured out he could reach the edge of the towel the bowl was sitting on. Then he would just grab the towel and inch the whole thing closer to the edge of the cage until he could get a paw in the food bowl and scoop a couple kibbles out. I kept blocking the sides of the cage with boxes until it looked like Fort Knox in there. Then I just started putting the bowl directly on the cage floor (at that point I was letting Havoc out of the cage a few times a day, and he ate while he was out running around. I just kept the food bowl in there during the day when I was gone)

Yeah, Toby's a few months behind Pinot, who is just two, so he might calm down a bit. Pinot gave up once we put the food in a sealed plastic pail. She still gets VERY EXCITED about food, but at least she's not digging in the cabinet any more!

Patience, it'll probably resolve itself! :)

yesterday I caught him gnawing on my soft sided lunchbox and there wasn't even any food in it:rolleyes:

Wow, maybe your vet should check him out?

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Originally Posted by aTailOf2Kitties

He's a clever little devil, that's for sure. You can almost hear the gears turning when he's trying to figure something out. When I had Havoc in a big cage after his leg surgery his food bowl was in the middle of the cage and out of direct reach from the outside. Toby kept contemplating the situation until he figured out he could reach the edge of the towel the bowl was sitting on. Then he would just grab the towel and inch the whole thing closer to the edge of the cage until he could get a paw in the food bowl and scoop a couple kibbles out. I kept blocking the sides of the cage with boxes until it looked like Fort Knox in there.

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I'm sitting here just chuckling to myself over that one. Where's the video cam when you need it? :D

I had two cats that belonged to an ex whom i was with for 6 years. We used to leave dry food out all day. They would snack when they wanted and have their wet food at dinner time. Neither of them were over weight or food crazed and it was convenient for us because we could go out of town for a few days, leave a couple full bowls of food and not have to worry about having some one check in on them twice a day.

Those two stayed with the ex and now I have two new 9 month old cats that are obsessed with food, which appears to be a common behavior. I adopted Casper and Jinx 2 months ago and had been feeding 2 times a day, each a 1/2 cup dry food in the morning and a 1/2 can wet in the evening. I recently switched to 1/4 cups 4 times a day thinking it would help them realize food is always going to be there and that they didn't need to be worried about a next meal. This adjustment still doesn't appear to be helping and I'm not sure how to correct their obsession. I want to be able to leave food out all day and not have 2 obese cats that cant move or clean themselves.

Reading other forums, it appears no one tries to correct the behavior or be proactive. Every comment I read is reactive or ignores the issue all together.

I had a theory that I was going to try and wanted to get some feed back. In feeding smaller portions to the cats, they never get to know the feeling of being full. What if I fed them their normal portion only this time when they finish, I give them another cup, and another, and another, until they stop eating it because they do not want any more. Continue this for a few days until they realize the bowl is not going to be empty and hopefully they will adjust their behavior and calm their fear. (kind of like the old cartoon with Porky Pig in the Donut Factory, the villain forced him to eat so many donuts that he didn't want to see another donut again) Only i wouldn't be forcing my cats to eat just training them to know the feeling of full so they become less obsessed. This way they will still be excited for their wet food in the evening and pick at the dry throughout the day. Any thoughts????