Eating insanely fast

Erin80

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 19, 2018
Messages
438
Purraise
406
Some of you might have read my posts about our new cat, Tea. He was rescued from a hoarding situation, but doesn’t seem malnourished....he is 9 lbs and just under a year. Anyway, my cats eat solely wet food and he SCARFS his food like I have never seen a cat do before. A 3oz can of food is gone in about one minute. I have to sit with him because as soon as he’s done he goes to my other cats plates and pushes them out of the way to finish theirs off (which so far I have prevented from happening!). All my cats eat their full meal when served, everyone cleans their plates, but Tea just seems totally and completely starving and desperate. He gets 9oz of pate style food like the other two...7am, 2 or 3pm and 8:30pm. Should I add another 3 ounces for him? He will literally eat any food I present him with like this, he does. not. care. He will also eat pretty much any human food if he can get to it...egg, cheese, today I found him licking a butter knife with peanut butter!!! It seems like he was starved previously, but yet he’s a good weight...so I don’t get it? Would you increase his food?
 

lisahe

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
6,149
Purraise
4,968
Location
Maine
I haven't seen your other posts about Tea. I did a quick look and see that he's been with you for about two weeks, is that right? That doesn't strike me as a long time for a rescue cat.

I'm not sure if I'd increase his food or not. And if so by how much. Tea's still under a year so pretty much a kitten and oh, can rescue cats be hungry! (We adopted our two at ten months but they were undersized: they ate and ate and ate for months.) His age and appetite would suggest feeding him more. But how caloric are the foods you're feeding him? And how active is he?

One of our cats also has bad table manners: she'll push her sister away from her food so she can finish it. We have to separate them for meals. I'd strongly suggest doing that. I think it makes things less stressful for everybody!

It sounds like you're lucky in that he's just scarfing without barfing. Edwina does that, too. (In fact she did it just last night!) Even if Tea's not regurgitating, it might still be helpful to spread the food out on his plate.

I hope Tea is able to get over his food insecurity. Edwina's is still with her, though it has gotten a little better with time, despite being fed five regular/predictable meals a day! Good luck!
 

Pjg8r

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Oct 3, 2017
Messages
479
Purraise
638
There are puzzle feeder/slow feeder bowls that may slow him down. A square bowl where you can smush the food into the corners might also help. It’s good that he’s not making himself sick eating so fast.
 

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
22,429
Purraise
33,188
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
Does the vet think his weight is good for his age/anticipated size when an adult? It is possible he does need more food than your other cats, given his young age and despite his current weight. If that were the case, you could add an extra meal to the schedule for him - and the others as well - just reduce the amount you give the others for each meal so that it equals the amount you now give them for their 3 meal schedule.

Or, if you want to keep the 3 meal schedule, add another ounce to each of the meals for him.
 

SpecterOhPossum

spec's pet human
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 1, 2019
Messages
588
Purraise
722
To add to the other suggestions, if increasing the food doesn't help, or you don't want to / need to increase, adding some water to his wet food can slow him down and fill him up a little and also of course be beneficial in getting water intake. Just make sure not to add so much that he drinks it like soup and scarf and barfs. Like mine did a few days back!
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,270
Purraise
53,927
Location
Colorado US
Hi!
Granting that in a hoarding situation he likely had to scramble to get food, and that there's emotional stress he is now in recovery mode from, if this were me I'd add more food for him in a slow feeder bowl.

If he's a large breed cat he won't be finished with growing and maturing (--all of his systems, brain, bones, muscles, nervous system, digestive, et al) for as much as two or three years.

Can you feed him separately?
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

Erin80

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 19, 2018
Messages
438
Purraise
406
Hi!
Granting that in a hoarding situation he likely had to scramble to get food, and that there's emotional stress he is now in recovery mode from, if this were me I'd add more food for him in a slow feeder bowl.



If he's a large breed cat he won't be finished with growing and maturing (--all of his systems, brain, bones, muscles, nervous system, digestive, et al) for as much as two or three years.

Can you feed him separately?
I can feed him separately yes, I was just feeding him with my other two because I felt it was good for bonding. After he finishes, I scoop him up and bring him upstairs with me until the other two have had time to finish.
I might add another ounce to his feedings maybe. I have zero doubt that he could eat a whole 5.5oz can if I offered that! I’m afraid that might make him sick though.
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,270
Purraise
53,927
Location
Colorado US
Let us know how things go, if he improves/slows down, what happens with the increase of food ...:)
 
Last edited:

lisahe

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
6,149
Purraise
4,968
Location
Maine
I can feed him separately yes, I was just feeding him with my other two because I felt it was good for bonding. After he finishes, I scoop him up and bring him upstairs with me until the other two have had time to finish.
In Edwina's case, being fed separately actually seems to slow here down. I don't want to read too much into this (cats, you know!) but it seems like the old "out of sight, out of mind" comes into play because she's not watching Ireland. It's also important for Ireland not to have Edwina observing: Ireland's now much less nervous about eating. It may play out differently for you but separating them for meals means lots less stress for humans and cats! The first days may not seem too happy but they settled in pretty quickly.
 

GreyLady

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
May 23, 2018
Messages
398
Purraise
785
Location
Maryland
You're lucky he does't eat it so fast he pukes. My MIL's cat does this, years after she's been off the streets. The puzzle feeder is a good idea, I think. But what she does is just feed her tiny amounts of food through the day. She puts a paper plate on the ground and throws her a little handful of kibble spaced out so she cant eat too much at once. I think it's better if cats get some wet food too though. Maybe a combination of a puzzle ball for the dry food and a slow feeder for wet?

I would really not like having to separate my cats to eat but it sounds like you might have to if he doesn't adjust.
 

kittenmittens84

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Sep 30, 2019
Messages
618
Purraise
601
My cat is a speedy eater and we’ve had a lot of luck with this puzzle bowl/mat thing - Outward Hound® Fun Feeder Mat (COLOR VARIES) | dog Food & Water Bowls | PetSmart

It’s made for dogs but it’s actually reasonably cat-sized, and the pattern seems to be perfect where it’s not too easy to get the food out, but they’re not so narrow that he gets too frustrated. It took my cat 3-4 feedings to really figure out how to eat from it (and at first he was kinda pissed at me haha) but now he seems to look forward to it and he almost “hunts” his food while purring a ton rather than scarfing it down in 15 seconds and being hungry again 15 mins later.
 
Top