Over Hungry Kitten!!!

[I Love My Sailor]

My husband and I took in a stray kitten one week ago. He is a little sweetheart! Loves being pet and sleeps with us every night. It seems like he had a home at one time (due to his personality) but he was skinny, flees were bad and he had a lot of crusty flee dust along his back side+ ear mites. He will see a vet soon for his shots and check up. The problem is..... he wants food all the time. We know how much he should be eating and we have measured his food but he cries a lot because he wants more!!! We don''t give him more but he is driving us nuts. He will eat himself to death if we let him. He is always crying in the kitchen when we eat or when it comes time for him to eat. One time I was eating cheese, I turned my head for a second and he had the whole piece in his mouth. The same thing happened with a piece of chocolate cake, we got it before he could eat it but CHOCOLATE?? who would have thought he would want C. Cake. Its like he still feels he has to eat everything he can because he doesn''t know when he will eat again. This makes me think he has been on the streets longer but I cant really tell. He eats crumbs off the floor!! Should I be worried or will he grow out of it? Has anyone gone through this before?

 

[Haven]

What did the vet say when you first took him in? If they didn''t find anything in his bloodwork, it just sounds like this little guy is just an eater!

We have three little boy kitties, and they get really hungry, too. They were driving us crazy for food at first so we switched from feeding them twice a day to feeding them three times a day. Our littlest guy, Geddy (in my avatar), still starts his screaming about an hour before mealtime, but it''s better than it was when we were feeding them only twice a day. Maybe that would work for you, too.

 

[niccia]

Poor kitty! I am so glad he has you now

My parents adopted a stray kitten when I was a kid, and I remember him doing this for awhile too. He would steal food off the table/counters, even try to lick plates clean. There didn''t seem to be anything he wouldn''t eat! He was also paranoid about his water dish; if we moved it, he would get very upset. The vet said it was because he had been very dehydrated and hungy and that, in time, he would realize he didn''t have to worry about that anymore. It probably took Bandit a month or so, but after that he refused to eat people food again. He was perfectly satisfied with his crunchies and tuna. He remained pretty paranoid about his water dish though, so we always kept it in the same place. So just give the little guy some time!
Good luck

 

[niccia]

I also agree with Haven about feeding him three times a day; my cats like to eat multiple times a day too. Also some cats need more food than others.

 

[radiantquest]

Both of my kitties are strays. I have always had the grazer policy with them. There is food available to them whenever they want it. Neither one of them are overweight and they still will steal food if it is something that smells good to them. That said I would give it a try. Once the kitty realizes that he will continue to get food and that it is there he may not cry for food anymore. I am not sure if a cat has the brain function for this thought, but maybe he always cries for food because he is afraid that you will go to bed or go somewhere else and he will be stuck hungry?

Dry food in their dish at all times.

 

[Selkie]

Has he been checked for intestinal parasites and treated with de-wormer? That''s important, because most strays have them. Do you feed him wet or dry food? If you feed him wet, you could also leave a small bowl of dry food available all day (kitten food). If you feed him only dry, then it''s OK to leave a larger bowl out all the time, and he''ll get used to having food available whenever he is hungry. Cats are different from dogs, they will generally eat as much as they need to and no more, where a dog would stuff itself until it got sick. He will slow down eventually, he''s probably in a rapid growing phase right now. We also took in a feral kitten back in July, when he was about 8 weeks, and he was a little pig! He''s definitely slowed down, but still eats about four times as much as our 13 year old girl cat. He will also go after anything that is vaguely food related...has even eaten spinach, Life cereal, pasta, anything that falls within his reach.

 

[movie zombie]

chocolate kills cats and dogs....thank god we humans are immune!

you did a good thing taking in this kitty. yes, it was on the street a lot longer than you think. personally, i''d leave food out....yes, wet canned food....24/7. in this way he will learn that food is NOT going to disappear.

mz

 

[CasaBlanca]

My vet said that stray DOGS will consume every ounce of food they missed while unfed (he worded it like the amount of every meal and every meal of everyday-gone for 5 days? 5 X 3 =15 meals

for example). And that it may take a few days to a week to level off to normal. That was the case with our rescue pups. Nothing satisfied them...not even mounds of high quality human food. Then one day...oh, is that my kibble? I will get to it later...perhaps after a long cozy nap. Hooray! They finally were satisfied...and secure that there would in fact be another meal to follow. They trusted us. They finally were home. I am all Puffy heart full just thinking of it!

Not sure if canine theory applies to your feline, but it is possible that your little guy also has a full meter too and hasn''t quite reached satisfaction level yet.

 

[Lynn B]

Oh, the poor baby! I''d guess that lack of food was an issue with him before he found you guys and he gets nervous when his food bowl is empty. Can''t you free feed him? Maybe with food available all the time, he''d feel comfortable and secure that he''s not going to go hungry again? I mean he might overeat at first, but eventually I think he''d stop. Kittens typically need a surprising amount of food, anyway -- they''re so energetic and still growing.

BTW, be sure to buy him a high quality premium food (like Innova, EVO, Wellness CORE to name a few) -- a lot of cat foods are mostly grains and fillers and these do NOT satisfy a cat properly, and they can always seem hungry.

Keep us posted!

And BLESS YOU for adopting the little sweetheart!!! xoxoxo!!!

 

[junebug17]

Date: 11/30/2009 8:58:07 PM
Author: Selkie
Has he been checked for intestinal parasites and treated with de-wormer? That's important, because most strays have them. Do you feed him wet or dry food? If you feed him wet, you could also leave a small bowl of dry food available all day (kitten food). If you feed him only dry, then it's OK to leave a larger bowl out all the time, and he'll get used to having food available whenever he is hungry. Cats are different from dogs, they will generally eat as much as they need to and no more, where a dog would stuff itself until it got sick. He will slow down eventually, he's probably in a rapid growing phase right now. We also took in a feral kitten back in July, when he was about 8 weeks, and he was a little pig! He's definitely slowed down, but still eats about four times as much as our 13 year old girl cat. He will also go after anything that is vaguely food related...has even eaten spinach, Life cereal, pasta, anything that falls within his reach.

I would definitely recommend this. I adopted a cat from a local shelter, and noticed that he was constantly hungry and ate all the time. He would purr while he was eating, too. I jokingly said to my husband that maybe he had a tapeworm. Well, turns out he did! Ok, this is pretty gross, but one day I was cleaning out the kitty litter and found a flat shaped worm crawling in it. I took the cat to the vet immediately (with the sample of the worm blech!!), he verified it was a tapeworm and treated my kitty. He was fine after that. I'm not saying that's the case with your kitty, but it's worth looking into!

ETA: Keep us posted!

 

[I Love My Sailor]

My husband and I have 3 other cats(which we adopted from a shelter) we keep the kitten separate from the other 3. They are on a special raw food diet, which I believe is much better for them given all the vitamins and minerals they need are added. We were unsure of what this stray cat was used to so we gave him wet and dry cat food. Day 2 or 3 of having our little stray he got a hold of some of the raw food, while our other cats were eating(sneaky little thing) but he loved it. We were hoping he wouldn't get sick and he never did....in fact, the raw food is all he wanted. The baby has been eating the same raw diet as our other kitties for almost a week and he responds to it well. That's why we cant leave food out form him, we cant mix raw and kibble. I think he will be okay, he eats almost as much as one of our adult cats, so I think anymore might make him heavy over time.

 

[zoebartlett]

I'm assuming, like Haven, if the vet says he's okay, then you may just have one hungry kitty on your hands. Here's our experience, and maybe some of it is something you've thought about as well.

We have two cats, both are three years old (they're from different litters though, and the male is younger by a few months). Our girl whines constantly for food, but she often eats a tiny bit and then walks away (hoping to save the rest for later maybe). Our male cat will sit and wait for her to leave so he can scarf down what she left behind. He eats everything in sight too, so we also need to be careful about leaving food around/out. We're actually going to look for better food because we're currently feeding them Iams, which I'm pretty sure is mostly fillers. Hopefully switching to better/higher quality dry food will fill up our male cat's tummy. Right now, we feed them four times a day each (1/8 of a cup per feeding, which is only 1/2 cup per day).

I hope that helped somewhat. Good luck with your hungry little guy!

ETA: Selkie, our male cat eats so much (if he gets into things or if he eats too fast), that he'll often get sick. I wish he knew when to quit!

 

[MishB]

I think this is fairly common behaviour with rescue/strays. Ours were adopted as adults, but I don''t think they''ve ever gotten over being starving/hungry. They both gulp their food and often end up throwing it back up. It''s annoying, but they are otherwise healthy and our vet says they are ''overnourished'' (ok, they are both chubby).

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Vet. Worms likely.

 

[Heidi137]

I have an eight month old kitten and he has a bowl full of dry food available at all times. He eats when he''s hungry...and he is not overweight.

 

[Smurfysmiles]

Date: 12/2/2009 12:39:28 PM
Author: Heidi137
I have an eight month old kitten and he has a bowl full of dry food available at all times. He eats when he''s hungry...and he is not overweight.

ditto, our almost 5 month old kitten eats ALLLLLLLL the time. And he''s still not overweight, he''s too busy burning calories by bothering the other cat or us! lol I did catch him eating potatoes the other day though ugh and he also stole a piece of cantaloupe from a big bowl of fruit i chopped up at thanksgiving, he''s such a butthead i''m hoping he grows out of that behavior too!

 

[Deelight]

When I found my 3wk old feral he was like that - also didn''t like being petted when he was at his food he was very protective of it (he would growl so stinking cute though). Once he realised that the food would keep comming he settled off and now he eats he and there whenever - I think it is a stray/lack of confidence thing it will eventually drop off.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Bravo to you for feeding raw - that''s a great diet. And bless you for taking in a sweet little stray who need a home

I''d echo what the others are saying - in my experience, kitties who have recently been rescued from food-limited situations tend to be very anxious about not getting enough to eat, and I suspect it is the same with this little guy. My mom took in a little Siamese that Gypsy on here had rescued, and she has been the same way - she will even go for loaves of bread or tortillas if my mom leaves them out - she has taken to storing bread in the microwave to keep it away from the kitty

But it does get better in time - once your little guy learns that food really will appear on a regular basis, he will settle a bit. One other thought though - since it sounds like he has some weight gaining to do, could you possibly supplement his diet with some high-quality treats or extras? Our kitties go nuts for plain, freeze-dried fish or shrimp.

Oh, and we''d love to see pics of the little one

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 12/6/2009 4:38:51 PM
Author: AmberGretchen
Bravo to you for feeding raw - that''s a great diet. And bless you for taking in a sweet little stray who need a home

I''d echo what the others are saying - in my experience, kitties who have recently been rescued from food-limited situations tend to be very anxious about not getting enough to eat, and I suspect it is the same with this little guy. My mom took in a little Siamese that Gypsy on here had rescued, and she has been the same way - she will even go for loaves of bread or tortillas if my mom leaves them out - she has taken to storing bread in the microwave to keep it away from the kitty

But it does get better in time - once your little guy learns that food really will appear on a regular basis, he will settle a bit. One other thought though - since it sounds like he has some weight gaining to do, could you possibly supplement his diet with some high-quality treats or extras? Our kitties go nuts for plain, freeze-dried fish or shrimp.


Oh, and we''d love to see pics of the little one

Ditto to the pics!

My two almost five month old kittens eat all the time too. I leave dry out for them all the time because they like to have a bout of playing then some nibbling, and then I feed them wet food once a day at night. One of mine in particular (the really small one) cries if there''s no food out for him.