My Siamese Seems Food Obsessed

So I have a male Siamese, about 4 years old (he was a rescue). His name is Crispin. He's neutered and healthy, except he is on a prescription diet for urine crystals. He's fed Royal Canin Urinary SO twice a day. I also have a 5 year old male cat (Lester) who gets the same diet. They get along swell and Crispin is generally super affectionate and sweet. BUT...he is obsessed with food. He cannot control himself when food is around. He has eaten an entire tray of baklava, chewed through a cereal box, and regularly chews on non-food items like a special piece of rope we gave him. Recently he has started pacing in tight circles in the kitchen...sometimes crying, sometimes not. He does this more and more frequently, and it is upsetting because I can see that something is wrong, psychologically. I don't want to give in and spoil him, although I do give them both treats sometimes.

I'm wondering if maybe this kind of food causes excess appetite? Or is he O.C.D.? How can I help him to feel less stressed and desperate for food?

Hi! is there a way, --for example with freeze dried treats or if those are bad/off limits something that would work, that you could give him food puzzles?

Pintobean126 said:

Recently he has started pacing in tight circles in the kitchen...sometimes crying, sometimes not.

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This is concerning. Can you talk with your vet? There are over the counter as well as vet prescribed calming products, and there's even CBD oil that can help.

Also, can you try some music for him? There's MusicForCats . com, and also you could try low volume classical harp music, or George Handel compositions.

I don't know, but maybe there's something in there that might help;

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I'd take the cat to the vet just to rule out any other medical issue that may be causing excessive hunger such as diabetes.

How much of the SO food are you feeding daily? Is it dry or canned?

Prescription food often isn't needed at all for urinary issues. Any canned food only diet often helps. There's info at Cat Urinary Tract Diseases: Cystitis, Urethral Obstruction, Urinary Tract Infection

Alternatives to SO do exist:

Alternatives to Royal Canin SO
Alternatives to expensive Urinary SO food

I would certainly start with a vet visit and ask for bloodwork just to make sure he isn’t hyperthyroid or has some medical reason for his hunger . I would also discuss whether based on his weight there is room to increase his food and what could be added.

I would ask the vet if you can feed him an axtra meal a day of canned or raw food; if nothing is wrong with him. If you switched him over to a wet food only diet would he feel full longer (without the empty carbs of corn/peas/potato/rice in dry food.) I'm curious what the vet says. I'm concerned about the pacing, chewing & eating an entire tray of dessert. Obsessively eating may require a medication (?prozac? ?cbd oil?) but again I would rule out all health issues first. Any sudden change in your cat's behavior is a warning sign. I'm hoping it is just psychological and not a physical issue.

If the vet finds nothing consider that there is a chance that before you got him he was starved or close to it. This can leave a cat desperate for food, all food, for a couple of years.

You can find storage containers of various sizes for food at the grocery and on Amazon. Some are large enough to put cereal boxes in. They are see through plastic, like Tupperware, and will not protect from mice, but might discourage kit.

If you want to see what Amazon has put plastic storage containers with lids for food in the search. There are really pricey ones and inexpensive ones. Our grocery has similar ones, yours might too.

Agree with the above about the vet visit. If nothing proves to be wrong, and you are only feeding Royal Canin SO in dry, replace one of his feedings with the canned version of the same product. Feeby has been on RC SO (and Hill's C/D) for years, and for a long time only the dry. Two-three years ago I added the canned version of both to her diet. She is a grazer, eating a little bit at a time over the course of the entire day, so she still gets dry in the AM feeding. But, at the PM feeding she gets the canned food (1/3 of a can), and she seems to go for a longer period of time without wanting to graze as much.

Furballsmom said:

Hi! is there a way, --for example with freeze dried treats or if those are bad/off limits something that would work, that you could give him food puzzles?


This is concerning. Can you talk with your vet? There are over the counter as well as vet prescribed calming products, and there's even CBD oil that can help.

Also, can you try some music for him? There's MusicForCats . com, and also you could try low volume classical harp music, or George Handel compositions.

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I will definitely look into food puzzles. That's a good idea. Today he started peeing in the cardboard box we usually leave in the kitchen next to his food bowls (other cat likes to sit in it). We threw one box out but he just did it again to the new box. I think he's trying to tell us something.

We have a 12 year old tuxie who is very similar to this, except she does not eat cereal boxes or binge on human food. She will try whatever is left out, but sometimes does not like it. We switched to an all protein wet food brand, called Earthborn at the suggestion of many on here (both cats love it), we've tried dry food, we've played with her, we have tried food toys, we have tried automatic feeders (she tricks them all), pretty much nothing worked. In our case we are a two cat household and I think that tuxie was part of a large litter when we got her from the shelter as a kitten and never got enough food. So it seems that she is concerned she will not get enough to eat. We found this out sort of by accident. Once when we were away for a few days, she knocked over the automatic feeder and could have all the dry food she wanted, did she gorge herself, nope, she ate as needed because she knew she was in control of her food source. But if we are here and put food down, even two days worth, she gobbles it up as quickly as possible. we have had her tested, nothing is wrong health wise. She will do pretty much anything to get to her food, including opening cabinets, and ripping holes in food bags, eating what she wants then closing the cabinet, we had to get child locks. We are feeding her enough, I have spoken with the vet and done the math myself. She does sit in the kitchen and yeowl sometimes, but we just ignore her. I wish I could tell you there was some solution, but oftentimes this is just how a cat is, just like it's how some humans are. Yes play with her more, yes give her a more fufilling food, yes don't allow her to be in control of feeding and put all food away and out of reach when you leave. But at a certain point it may be that's just how your cat is, and you can do what you can to mitigate it, but it's unlikely to change. Trust me I've been working changing her for a long time.