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????