Help - Food Obsessed Cat

[cryptic]

I adopted Java, a cute little tortoiseshell, about three months ago. She's young, about five and a half months. She's received a clean bill of health from the vet, has had all of her shots, fecal exams, etc. to date.
She's really a wonderful little kitten, very affectionate and loves just about everything and everyone. However, since I've taken her home, she's developed an INSANE obsession with food - to the point it's beginning to turn into aggression. I've talked to my vets about diabetes, hyperthyroidism, and worms - we ran tests and found nothing.
I have another cat at home, Jinx. I found Jinx in a storm drain when she was maybe 2 months old, and have had her for almost two years now. She's really great and I've never had one issue with her. (Except marking my clothing/towels that were on the ground before she was fixed) She is a mild eater, and very polite. I feed the kitten and Jinx on totally separate levels, locked in their own rooms. (otherwise Java eats all the food) They get along decently, although I've noticed Jinx has lately been more hostile than normal to Java. Mostly just warning growls to leave her alone, which I find strange as they got along grand when I initially brought the kitten home.
My question is, how in the WORLD do I deal with this food-obsessed kitten? I've tried everything, from calmly removing her from the situation or even giving her a spritz of water. She just doesn't care - if I have food on my plate, it's game. The fridge? If it's open, she's crawling in there. The food pantry, forget it - she rushes the door every time she hears it open, screaming and frantically trying to open the food bins. Once she's finished her meals (which I put in a slow-feed bowl or she inhales her meals at insane speed) she screams and screams until she's let out of her my room. I give her about 45 minutes to herself to go to the bathroom, relax and digest so she's not bouncing around on a full stomach. I can't even enter my office or bedroom (her typical meal time places) without her tripping under my feet to get into the room before I close her out. I've tried feeding in her in all different rooms about the house, it doesn't matter - she wants in.

Let me finish by saying rehoming this little baby is not an option (as it shouldn't be, rehoming wouldn't fix this issue) as I've grown immensely attached to her. However, every day I see a little more "spunk" in her food motivation. This spunk has slowly begun to turn into sassiness, which I fear will only turn nastier if I don't get this issue under control.

Yours truly,
Cryptic - a first time indoor cat owner (who seems to deal with dog behavior better)

 

[susanm9006]

What and how much are you currently feeding her, and have you tried free feeding her kibble?

 

[cryptic]

She's super small, maybe 5 pounds. She gets 1 tablespoon Blue Buffalo wet kitten and 1/4 cup of Royal Canin Spayed kitten twice daily. When she was younger she was getting a lunch too. Her weight seems fine, (according to the vet) maybe even a tiny bit overweight in comparison to my adult cat, but that could be because she's growing into her body.
Also yes, she ate herself sick with free-feeding, and then went back for more. Had a bloated tummy for a few days. I used to free feed Jinx before I got Java... didn't seem to work out well for me.

 

[susanm9006]

I think one of two things is going on, neither bad behavior. Either she is really hungry, which it honestly sounds like, or as a very young kitten she needed to fight for the food she got and it has left her anxious over having enough food. In either case, at her age she should have kibble available to her all day. I would usually do that until the kitten is a year old and her growing has slowed down. Then if she is overweight you can cut back on her food. I do not think she will eat herself sick and once she knows the food is going to be there she may slow down her eating.

One way you can slow her eating down if she is still eating too fast and she can have fun at the same time is by turning a water bottle into a food dispensing bottle. You use a sharp exacto or box cutter knofe to carve holes on different sides slightly larger than her kibble, fill it with kibble and let her and your other cat roll it around to shake out food . There are also commercial food puzzle dispensers.

 

[maggiedemi]

Can you increase her wet food a little bit to 3oz per day? That's what I feed, plus 1/2 cup dry per cat.

 

[cryptic]

Didn't think about a slow-treat dispenser. I'll try that, may keep her mind occupied between meals. I just noticed she wouldn't stop eating the kibble as it was out, and left her bloated and sick. And who knows what happened with meal time before she was adopted -
I truly do believe she'd eat herself overweight, I don't trust the kibble out all day. Plus Jinx has a grain issue, I wouldn't want her getting the kitten food.
Also, yes, I will increase her portions and see what happens. She's just a hungry little hippo, bless her heart. I don't have an issue with her liking food and being hungry, I have an issue with her crawling into my fridge, stealing off my plate, and door dashing.

 

[cryptic]

Also, if I have a plate of food or a snack in my hand, the little thing is crawling up my leg to get to my food. It's pretty crazy, I have some torn up legs right now haha.

 

[danteshuman]

I live with 2 crazy about food cats. 1, Dante, freaks out if he can see the bottom of his dry food bowl. He also gets aggressive with my other cat if he can see the bottom. 2, Not my cat but he lives here, Chester a semi-feral. If he is outside or can't get to his food, he over eats to the point where he will throw up. In both cases the answer was the same. Keep a bowl of dry food full and available 24/7. If your wee kitten keeps stuffing herself after having access to a full bowl of dry food 24/7 for a week, then I would try the puzzle toys. Also make it a rule to never feed her people food and to gently pick her up & lock her in another room while you eat, if she is being a pest. She will get the message eventually. Kittens if you are feeding only wet food I would feed 3-4 times a day.

 

[Ardina]

I think she just needs more food. My 6 month old kitten easily eats twice that amount. And they need all those calories to grow! Your kitten is probably gorging herself whenever you try to free-feed her because she thinks food is scarce. If you can't leave dry food down because of your other cat, I would feed her 3-4 meals a day (kittens have small stomachs and need to be fed more often) and let her eat as much as she wants with each meal. She may gorge herself the first few days, but will hopefully slow down once she realizes that there isn't a famine. You can also try giving her more wet food rather than dry, since wet is more satiating.

 

[cryptic]

I'll do additional wet. I'll give it a go but I hope she proves me wrong about her lacking food control. If she continues even after trying all this, I don't know what to do haha. I'm just tired of her clawing up my legs and generally being rude to get my food. I hope she doesn't gain weight, bless her heart.
Fingers crossed, thank you everyone.

 

[Ardina]

I'll do additional wet. I'll give it a go but I hope she proves me wrong about her lacking food control. If she continues even after trying all this, I don't know what to do haha. I'm just tired of her clawing up my legs and generally being rude to get my food. I hope she doesn't gain weight, bless her heart.
Fingers crossed, thank you everyone.

I hope she gains weight! I very much doubt that she's reached her full size at 5.5 months!

 

[cryptic]

Hahah this is true! I hope she fills out proportionally. Maybe she's destined to be on the chunkier side

 

[dustydiamond1]

I live with 2 crazy about food cats. 1, Dante, freaks out if he can see the bottom of his dry food bowl. He also gets aggressive with my other cat if he can see the bottom. 2, Not my cat but he lives here, Chester a semi-feral. If he is outside or can't get to his food, he over eats to the point where he will throw up. In both cases the answer was the same. Keep a bowl of dry food full and available 24/7. If your wee kitten keeps stuffing herself after having access to a full bowl of dry food 24/7 for a week, then I would try the puzzle toys. Also make it a rule to never feed her people food and to gently pick her up & lock her in another room while you eat, if she is being a pest. She will get the message eventually. Kittens if you are feeding only wet food I would feed 3-4 times a day.

 

[dustydiamond1]

How are things going?

 

[cryptic]

They've gotten a little worse honestly - she's now become obsessed with trying to steal human food. Yesterday she devoured my sister's bagel while she was rummaging through the fridge for cream cheese! A tiny, 5 pound cat managed to down half a bagel. She is still super obsessed with her and everyone else's food... she's fed in her own room still, and given some digestion time. As soon as she's let out she barrels straight for the other food bowls (the dog and Jinx's) to see if there's anything left. I'm trying to wait it out at this point.

 

[Mer.kitten]

how much are ypu feeding her now? at this point i dont think you need to worry so much about her gaining weight-shes just a kitten. if at some point you see it becoming an issue its easily deslt with by giving lowe calorie food, doing exercise, and slightly cutting down portions. like othersI said, shes just hungry!

 

[cryptic]

Not too worried about her gaining weight. Currently feeding 1/4 cup twice a day, with a 2 tablespoons of canned for lunch. Her AM and PM meals get a tablespoon and a half of pate or a generous helping of whatever topper I have open. Mind you, this is a small kitten, she's getting more than enough to eat. She is also given treats twice throughout the day. I don't think she's hungry all the time, I just think she really, really likes food. She's eaten herself sick a few times. (Free feeding didn't work well for the week or so I tried it, she ate herself bloated as well)
I guess being a little piggy isn't the worst trait to have, she's one of the nicest, most social, patient animals I've ever had the pleasure of owning. My concern is that I caught her a few hours ago chewing on the wall where I assume a bit of food at some point splashed upon. She also eats the mothballs under furniture. Anything is game if you're Java... again, I think she is just food obsessed and that's how it's going to be. I've tried it all, and the vet says my portions for her size are great, even a little generous. But again, like you've all said, she's a kitten, she's growing.
Maybe when she's done growing the obsession with subside. I hope.

 

[Mer.kitten]

i can relate-i rescued a kitty a few weeks ago, estimated by the vet to be 1.5 years old, and shes pretty food obsessed too. in her case im assuming its because she was living in downtown San Francisco and theres not much for a kitty to eat out there, so shes used to being hungry amd needing to just grab whatevers available. she literally stole a whole eggroll off my plate the first week i got her, would come up and eat off my plate, like just shove her face past my hand and start eating, ect. in her case i decided to feed her 3 meals a day, so she wouldnt have to feel too hungry. im probably slightly overfeeding her right now, but im not worried about it right now-i just want her to realize that food will always be available. she seems to be getting better and a little less frantic about food. if she starts looking pudgy im going to gradually cut back a little but so far shes fine-i guess she needs it cos its not piling up on her.

Hopefully as your kitty matures into an adult she'll settle down a bit too and realize shes always going to be fed