food obsession

[aTailOf2Kitties]

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.

[Medusa]

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.

What a little stinker!

[Pinot's Mom]

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!

[aTailOf2Kitties]

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)

[Pinot's Mom]

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!

[aTailOf2Kitties]

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

[Medusa]

Wow, maybe your vet should check him out?

[pomtzu]

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.

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