how much do you feed?

[OsnobunnieO]

My crew is driving me crazy! They act like they are starving all the time and go NUTS when food is around.

There are three of them at the moment. Meals either consist of a 13oz can split in half, then 3 ways between them (meaning 3 cats go through 13oz in two meals) or a 5.5-6oz can split 3 ways, or they each get a 3oz can. They usually get 1/4 cup dry split between the 3 as well on top of their canned food.

None of them are overly big cats. Carson is full grown at 8lb. Tristan is probably 8lb now and close to being a year old (he was getting FAT too for a while but I think I have finally managed his weight) and Logan is right around 6.5-7lb and 6 months.

The girls are fine but will eat whatever is in front of them. Tristan is my maniac. Crying crying crying when I prepare meals, then screaming down the hallway to where he eats. As soon as he's done he's got his head in Logan's bowl. Then he's on the counters looking for whatever else he can find. He's also been really bad about eating any left over wrappers or plastic material he can find that's been left in the sink and smells of food. I also can't leave any raw meat to thaw for the dogs in the sink or they will eat through the package and have a feast. They went through almost a pound of chicken one day AFTER they had been fed!

I know they aren't starving as all maintain or are gaining weight (growing kittens and whatnot). Nobody is thin, nobody has lost weight, etc. Is it just his personalitiy? I've never had a cat so obsessed with food!

[Susan]

I think it's personality! My girls eat 5.5 oz plus 1/4 cup of dry food in a day, not each...that's what they eat in total. So, about 3 oz of wet and 1/8 cup of dry each per day. And, you'd think I were force feeding them to get them to eat even that. They turn their noses up at food half the time. Maybe they'll eat, if and when they get around to it, but they just never seem all too interested in food. Muffs is 8.5 lbs and Abby is 7.5 lbs, and they're both full grown.

[MowMow]

Mow is like that about Kibble. He can NEVER get enough and he only gets its very occasionally.

I feed between 1 and 1 1/2 cans a day 'cause my guy is pretty good about stopping when he's full. I start with one can, half twice a day and in the evening if he's licked the bowl clean and wants more I'll give him another half. Dry food, he gets a little palmful every so often.

[Carmel]

Yes, cats can indeed be obsessed with food. Mine aren't, they just meow at a little while I'm getting their food or they'll meow by their empty bowl to say they want more, haha. Pretty standard behavior. They each get a smaller tin of wet food a day and have a bowl of kibble sitting out for whenever they want some.

[Smirkitty]

My 2 boys are both 10 lbs each and were recently declared by the vet to be "perfect" in terms of body condition/weight (yes, I am beaming proudly).

Between them both they eat 1 6oz can of Natural Balance (1/4 can per cat, twice a day). They also get about 3/4 cup of kibble between them both, though many times they don't each it all.

On occasion they also get erm.....well....people food. We feed them turkey, chicken or roast beef when we have sandwiches, or if our meal doesn't have a lot of spices on it.

[Caturday]

My male kitten does that too. It was amusing at first, but now annoys me to no end whenever I prepare food for the cats. Yowling, jumping at the tray, screaming, etc. Whenever I walk into the kitchen, he is instantly there looking at me, seeing if I have any food. If I let him eat more, he'll binge eat to the point where he makes barfing noises or throws up. Talk about lack of self-control! My female kitten doesn't do this. Anyway, he's at the right weight and I think maybe it's just a growing boy thing? I'm sure growing human kids constantly beg their parents for more food too.

[Kobster]

I think its a personality trait, but I think sometimes its learned. I never had an issue with food obsession until I got Sully. When I first got Ninja, he wasn't a bit bothered about food, now he's ravenous all the time. I maintain Sully taught him that.

[dweamgoil]

I think you may be right, Kobster. When I had Azalia and Egypt alone, Egypt was the only one obsessed with food. At feeding time, she was the only one trying to jump on the counter and get a chunk or two ahead of time while I prepared the food, and of course, meow incessantly. Azalia would simply wait patiently, very quiet.

Now, Lacey is also food centered. She's now the loudest one of all and Azalia has also begun meowing and acting all impatient. It's like a circus now at mealtime. Egypt is fed separately so she gets her portion first and Lacey runs in to try to steal from her bowl. I don't set the bowl down until she runs out and then she resumes her meowing in the kitchen, but every day she tries anyways. Again, Azalia is the last to be fed, but she is now noisy about it...not as loud as the others, but she is no longer entirely silent.

When I used to prepare the food when we first got Lacey, she would cling to my pants as I prepared it and sometimes would dig her little kitten claws into me, which of course was not encouraged. I began the exaggerated 'ouches', but she wasn't getting the message and then Egypt would start doing it too so I had to resort to the squirt bottle. I have got them now to no jumping on the counter and no climbing up my leg as I prepare the food, but it's still kind of crazy . They definitely do watch each other to see what works and then emulate the behavior is they believe it's successful.

[OsnobunnieO]

Glad to know I'm not alone here. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the other cats. Logan used to be very quiet and has started meowing at meal time now. Not nearly as badly as Tristan... but it could get worse. Carson actually used to be my loud kitty at meals. She just sits back quietly and watches the chaos, knowing she'll get fed either way so why bother putting up a fuss?

I've been trying to scoop the litter boxes when I feed them. Mostly because I'm bad about scooping on a regular basis and also so I can watch Tristan to make sure HIS food is the only food he eats. When he tries to nudge his way into someone else bowl I give him a tap and shoo him out of the room. What gets me is most of the time he hasn't even finished his food before he's trying to get into Logan's.

The down side to this is he's learning even more bad habits... as soon as I get him out of the room I shut the door. I have a baby gate on the other side to keep the dogs out, so when he's outside of the room and knows the others are still eating, he climbs the gate and bashes against the door hoping to find a way back in.

He really becomes a completely different cat when food is around.

They were fighting over green beans the other day. GREEN BEANS! (the youngsters have eaten anything... literally the only food they refused to eat was onions... and even then they licked them completely clean of the flavor they were cooked in first)

[Alpaca]

You do know that onions are toxic to cats, right?