I immediately thought of the toys that hold treats. The cat has to work to get the treat. I don’t know if you have tried that yet but it would address his hunting for food instinct.
You could try, when you are home, a small mid meal between the other two. I don’t think that will address the feeling of hunting and eating as he feels the desire though. I believe there are some feeders that the cat can activate but I don’t know if they distribute wet food like the one you mentioned. I did have one other thought. It’s kind of unusual but might demonstrate to Finn that food will keep coming. Have you ever fed him until he just stopped eating? I did this whenever I started with a new feral. I had a few responses about the amount of food given at a time. Lol Whole plate full! It was something I did to get the cat very satisfied and to keep it from hunting. I didn’t want them wandering and I hoped to have them in good shape as I brought them in. I can a whole can of Shreds, a whole can of Fancy Feast and dry food at two feedings a day. I do know that’s a lot of food but it worked quite well. Most of the cats ate all of it in the beginning but after bulking up, they stopped and we began to have left overs. Lol Sometimes I had to continue after bringing them in but eventually all of them did stop gorging. You could try it! If Finn was full he would stop going for the food Charlie has and all gulping might end.
BJ would clean his plate every time at first. He also got treats that I was using to try and socialize him. He did lose the extra weight after coming inside. Keep in mind that ferals burn way more calories than indoor cats so they MUST eat a lot to survive. It’s going to take time for Finn to reset his body chemistry and instinctive habits.I do not think that the crying will continue forever. He still needs adjustment time. Genetics at work.
You could try, when you are home, a small mid meal between the other two. I don’t think that will address the feeling of hunting and eating as he feels the desire though. I believe there are some feeders that the cat can activate but I don’t know if they distribute wet food like the one you mentioned. I did have one other thought. It’s kind of unusual but might demonstrate to Finn that food will keep coming. Have you ever fed him until he just stopped eating? I did this whenever I started with a new feral. I had a few responses about the amount of food given at a time. Lol Whole plate full! It was something I did to get the cat very satisfied and to keep it from hunting. I didn’t want them wandering and I hoped to have them in good shape as I brought them in. I can a whole can of Shreds, a whole can of Fancy Feast and dry food at two feedings a day. I do know that’s a lot of food but it worked quite well. Most of the cats ate all of it in the beginning but after bulking up, they stopped and we began to have left overs. Lol Sometimes I had to continue after bringing them in but eventually all of them did stop gorging. You could try it! If Finn was full he would stop going for the food Charlie has and all gulping might end.
BJ would clean his plate every time at first. He also got treats that I was using to try and socialize him. He did lose the extra weight after coming inside. Keep in mind that ferals burn way more calories than indoor cats so they MUST eat a lot to survive. It’s going to take time for Finn to reset his body chemistry and instinctive habits.I do not think that the crying will continue forever. He still needs adjustment time. Genetics at work.