Need some cat behavior advice!
 

So I don't know if this is the right thread but I need some input on some cat behavior and correctional advice. We adopted a kitten several months ago, and he is now about 7-8 months old. He is great in every aspect except he is food crazy. And I mean crazy. He dives for his food when the animals get fed ( both morning and night). He actively seeks out any food containers or dishes in the sink and tries to open them or rummage through the sink for scraps. He tries to take food off your plate when you are sitting down eating. He visibly changes when he sees food or hears food and becomes almost feral like.



We have tried various ways of trying to change this behavior from something like spraying him with a water bottle when he tries to steal someone elses food, or just making him wait when we feed him before he rushes to his bowl, but nothing seems to work or make any difference and now as he is getting older he is getting into more and more things and it becomes increasingly difficult to keep him from getting into things. IE - he can now push open the trash can lid and will try to get food out of the trash. If you catch him he will run and hide because he knows he isn't suppose to be doing it, but as soon as you aren't around he goes right back to it.



We really don't know what other things to try to get him to calm down with his constant need for food. He gets plenty of food for his age/size and none of our other 2 cats or dogs have any of these issues. Any advice/input would be helpful. I've not been able to find any good research on changing cat behavior like this so I thought I would ask. Thanks.

Why does my cat want to eat all the time?
Common medical reasons that may cause a cat to be hungry all the time are worms, diabetes mellitus, tumor, insulin shock, and many others. Very troubling is when a cat eats excessively, but loses weight simultaneously. ... Kittens and lactating female cats might also have an increased appetite.Feb 6, 2015

I found this info that might help
I would love to see a photo of your pets
I have a cat named Gabby and there a thread of her photos .

Hi noxx1724 - welcome!

Low tech solutions are the best.
When you eat, for now, put kitty away in a locked room.

As for other issues - Gotta ask some basics first -
[I]He dives for his food when the animals get fed ( both morning and night).[/I]

How many other pets do you have?
are they all fed together?
How many times are they fed per day?
What food? and how much does the cat get fed per day?

I'd love to hear the answers to these questions - but maybe...just feed kitty separately in a closed room for now. That way maybe kitty will feel the comfort in eating alone and not feeling the 'evolutionary' stress of gobbling everything up quickly so that others don't get to it first.

My moms previous cat Brady was somewhat of a food mongrel. Mom feeling guilty about not feeding enough kept feeding when he cried and carried on. After several pounds later the vet said lets try something a bit different. He said we are going to use some psychology on the cat LOL.

He told my mom every time he finishes eating you pick up the dish and put it away. It cannot be visible. It took about a week of crying for him to literally stop. It was because he was seeing the bowl empty all the time. After not seeing the bowl anymore he didnt cry for food as often.

Sounds crazy but it did work.

I wonder if your kitty feels the need to be food motivated due to other cats being around....

Also what are you feeding and how often, maybe he needs something a little more filling...

Marko I like that idea of separate feedings as well and then slowly reintegrate into feeding with the others.

Best of luck
Cindy

I should try that with Gabby too!
She always telling me she dying and to feed her. I have her food bowl out all time.

I would recommend trying a feeder ball or food puzzles. You kitty will be entertaining and hunting, and won't be bored.