# Newly adopted cat - food-obsessed and very vocal, advice please!



## kat115 (Sep 23, 2014)

Hi everyone,

10 days ago I adoped a beautiful 11 month old tabby cat from the local RSPCA shelter. She was initially very nervous and used to hide unless I was nearby, but now happily runs around, falls asleep on my lap purring and generally rules her domain 

The only problem I have is - she seems to have become obsessed with food, and she is very vocal about it  For the first day or so she ate normally, but now she wolfs down everything in seconds and miaows for food even if she has just been fed. When she doesn't get food she miaows even more. If I ignore her then she does go off and do something else, apparently quite happily, but any movement in the flat on my part will send her rushing miaowing to the kitchen or trying to shepherd me there. She was being fed crap food at the shelter, which I'm gradually weaning her off, but I'm still positive that she can't be hungry as even if she has just been fed she still miaows. She was wormed before she came to me; the vet gave her a perfect bill of health last week (just before the miaowing began!), and the rest of the time she seems quite content. 

I really want her to be happy, but I don't want to just give in and overfeed her, and the miaowing is starting to drive me a bit crazy :-S

I wondered if it's some kind of reaction to being in the shelter? When she was in there, I don't think she ate properly (when I went to visit, both times her food bowls were full, and she only ate something when I put it in my hand and gave it to her), so could it be that she has now gone to the other extreme? Or maybe it's attention-seeking? (she seems to be miaowing more in general to try to get my attention). If so, what can I do to calm her down and get her to realise that there will always be food and affection?!

What I'm more worried about, though, is that it might be because she's bored being indoors. I have to keep her indoors because I live in a first-floor flat, but I don't know what her previous history is (neither did the rspca). I make sure to play with her several times a day and fuss her as much as I can, she gets a good run around the flat and sleeps with me at night, she has toys to play with on her own, and a cat tree, lots of windowsills to look out of, etc - but maybe she's still bored and the food thing is an expression of this? I hope not, because if it's that then maybe she just won't settle with me 

Any advice, reassurance or tips would be very welcome!

Kat


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## flev (Mar 6, 2011)

Hi Kat, firstly thank you very much for adopting your cat. What's her name?

Do you have any idea of the circumstances that resulted in her ending up in rescue? If she was a stray or mistreated, she may be feeling insecure about her food supply, as in the past she may literally not have known where her next meal was coming from.

I know you may be trying to get her completely off dry food, but my boy (who was a stray) was a bit like this when he first came to me and what helped most was leaving him a handful of dry food on a puzzle board. It meant he knew there was food available, but because he had to work for it, he only ate a couple of pieces at a time. It also helped reduce boredom!

The board I've got is this one: Great deals on cat toys and accessories at zooplus: Trixie Cat Activity Fun Board - but there's a whole range out there.

Good luck!


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## Citrineblue (Sep 28, 2012)

Although I have never had these issues I have read on this Forum that those cats who have been rescued from situations where food was scare is that you should provide an unlimited supply of food. Keep topping the food up then eventually they realise that food will be available and need not be bolted persistently.


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

There's only one way to break the obsession with foody cats, particularly when you think their history might be uncertain.

Feed, feed and feed again. Never let her bowl go empty. Feed her until she can't eat any more, then fill the bowl again. It'll take about 2 weeks, during which time she'll eat so much that you'll think she's going to explode, but after that point she'll self regulate, and the yelling will stop when she realises that there is always food on tap, and she doesn't need to worry about where the next meal is coming from.


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## kat115 (Sep 23, 2014)

Thanks everyone for your replies!

Flev - her name is Klio  I was told that her previous owner had died and the family brought her in, so I don't think she was ever a stray - but of course there could have been a period of neglect or where food was scarce.

I have ordered one of those puzzle boards that you recommended; I hope it'll help.

As for unlimited feeding - my worry is that she'll make herself sick and/or get fat and not learn to self-regulate :S I already tried feeding her the entire daily amount at once and she just ate everything and still asked for more...


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## Citrineblue (Sep 28, 2012)

I think as Carly mentioned you are not going to do this perpetually but you allow her to gorge and have unlimited amounts until she realises that food is not a scare resource. It is a habit to break so people who have followed this method seem to only have to continue for a couple of weeks. Then she should get to self regulation.


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## huckybuck (Jan 17, 2014)

I agree with all the others - she's probably just worried about where the next meal is coming from and has got into a habit. Gracie was similar when we had her and would eat EVERYTHING, human food, cat, if it movedit's taken a few months but she is not quite so obsessed now - although she will barge the others out of the way to see if they've got anything better!

One question is she wormed? If not and she has worms that can make them REALLY hungry...


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## kat115 (Sep 23, 2014)

OK, thanks - it makes sense, I'll try that  (she has been wormed)

One question for those who've tried it - do I need to brace myself for cleaning up the gastrointestinal results of her unlimited feeding?


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

Depends what you feed her. When I've done this, I've always done it with very high quality wet, preferably raw. With that, I've never had a GI upset, but I'll admit that I've heard of it with others when they've had cats gorge when they shouldn't. If you're feeding her good stuff, I wouldn't worry too much.


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## cats galore (Jul 17, 2012)

carly87 said:


> There's only one way to break the obsession with foody cats, particularly when you think their history might be uncertain.
> 
> Feed, feed and feed again. Never let her bowl go empty. Feed her until she can't eat any more, then fill the bowl again. It'll take about 2 weeks, during which time she'll eat so much that you'll think she's going to explode, but after that point she'll self regulate, and the yelling will stop when she realises that there is always food on tap, and she doesn't need to worry about where the next meal is coming from.


I totally agree Carly. I have a rescue cat here at the moment, Daisy, who was so desperate for food she screamed the house down. I had her checked at the vets in case there was anything medical but he advised the same as you. She was found in a box that was about to be thrown in a crusher with her newborn kittens. She had obviously spent her pregnancy being without food most of the time as she was painfully thin and boney. She has now calmed down and is like any other cat - eats when she needs it. Time is important here and like Carly said, just keep the food flowing, she'll soon realise that she doesn't need to binge on everything


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## kat115 (Sep 23, 2014)

Thanks! I'm feeling a lot more hopeful now 

Carly, do you think I should maybe wait until I get her completely off the bad food and fully onto the good quality wet before I let her gorge? (she's still eating a little bit of Whiskas because that was what they were feeding her  but in another 2 days she'll be fully switched over)


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## cats galore (Jul 17, 2012)

kat115 said:


> OK, thanks - it makes sense, I'll try that  (she has been wormed)
> 
> One question for those who've tried it - do I need to brace myself for cleaning up the gastrointestinal results of her unlimited feeding?


i had to with Daisy i'm afraid but she's fine now and very settled. i used to feed raw as it really helped put the weight on the poor cats that arrived here but i've stopped now as sadly it caused some to be ill. It turns out that because a lot of the cats and kittens come from terrible backgrounds, their immune system isn't brilliant and some picked up bugs/infections from the raw. With rescue cats raw is not always a good thing until you know that they are in perfect health, so for me, raw is out from now on


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## kittih (Jan 19, 2014)

Just a thought...

Perhaps a slightly alternative approach to things but you mentioned she might be bored as she is an indoor cat. You could try clicker training with her to make her work for her food as she is so food orientated and obviously very clever.

Click and Laugh: Fun Cat Tricks! | Karen Pryor Clicker Training

Also hide food in toilet rolls and boxes or in scrunched up paper around the house to make her 'hunt' for her food.


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

To be honest, if she's shown no evidence of diar rear so far, then I'd carry on with your switch while she gorges. It's normally dry food that gives them explosions from both ends, so you should be fine. If she does get runny, then buy some Libbies 100% pure pumpkin (be careful it's not the one with the spices in) and add a heaped teaspoonful to each meal. Waitrose sell it, and so do many of the other big supermarkets, but if you really struggle, boil and mash pumpkin or butternut squash, then do the same thing re adding to meals.

Please don't panic at the amount you see her eat though. It looks horrendous the first time you do it, and I actually lost sleep when I did this with my first cat, as I swore her stomach would pop inside her or something when she jumped. She jumped a lot, didn't pop, and is still going strong. To give you an ide aof what to expect, I did this with a kitten who came to me desperate for food too. She ate so much that her tummy was distended and swollen, and she didn't even want to jump onto a low sofa.

Please understand, to anyone coming across this post on Google or similar, I'm not advocating that this is Ok, only that it seems to be part of the transition phase in getting them less terrified that there won't always be food.

You may have a little bit to clear up, but as I say, it's never been a problem with mine, so I'll send you some of my luck!


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## slartibartfast (Dec 28, 2013)

My lovely new daughter Mystique came from a bad place and had a terrible diarrhea. Vet recommended dry royal Canin food, but as a member of this forum I knew better, I've learned so much about feline nutrition since joining - thank you all!
So there wasn't any dry food, only boiled chicken. With Smecta (diosmectite).
Now I have a happy kitten with perfect poo, eating raw. 
But she is still obsessed with food, when I'm preparing meals she hangs on my leg...


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## nightkitten (Jun 15, 2012)

The rescue cat Cleo I had here a few weeks ago was the same. She constantly cried for food and at the time I was thankful that she didn't have a voice.

We just constantly kept a bowl full of food down. Once one was eaten, the next one went down. Yes, she was sick a few times but after 10 days she got used to the food being down all times and went back to normal.

Was I shocked when she ate 10 pouches of Katz Finefood a day? Yes, and so was my purse!


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