my cats are so obsessed with food!!

[Candees]

I have two cats, Terrence and Gurtie, who i adopted about 4 years ago. They don't usually get on unless there is food concerned, they cant even bare being on the bed at the same time.
I moved in with my boyfriend and other housemate about 5 months ago and even since then they have become obsessed with food. In my previous home, which i shared with 5 other people, they were never really bothered with human food before and never tried to steal food off plates. Now, if a plate is left in the kitchen with a bit of food on one of them will gobble it up, and they even ate my housemate's turkey breast which he left out over night!

I havent changed their eating habits, other then cutting down on their dry food as the male suffers from bladder infections caused by them (they still get a handful as a treat in evenings).
Every time i go into the kitchen they are there waiting to be fed and its beginning to drive me insane. I dont know if its my fault and i began a habit with them, but it's now gotten to the point where i have to shut them out of the kitchen else they climb all over me or try jump on the table while we are eating. I cant even make a cup of tea without them whining for food! i believe i am feeding them enough and they aren't thin. They definitely dont have worms as i have dewormed them a few time as i thought that was the cause.

Please help as i have no idea what to do and worried there is some other underlying problem.

[meriad]

how much regular cat food are you feeding them and how often? and how big are the cats. Dry food fills up loads so unless you've adjusted the wet food amount accordingly then it could well be that they are hungry. When they had dry food were they free fed or did they have food at set times only?

Also another thing to consider; how much attention are they getting now that you've moved in with your boyfriend? Just wondering whether it could be an attention seeking thing?

Obviously if you're worried there may be an underlying issue, then a vet visit won't go amiss

[Candees]

Thanks for the reply!

The cats are probably around 3.5kg to 4kg and currently i feed them twice a day, morning and evening. They get half a tin between the two at each meal time. I do give them a handful of dry food before i go to bed too.
Unfortunately i dont think there is any thing 'free-feeding' about my two, they will sit and eat till its finished, even when i was at my previous house. They did get the same amount of wet food as they do now, before i took them off the dry food a few months back, but that was months before my move.
I was also concerned this was making them greedy and fat, having around 4 meals a day (dry and wet).

My boyfriend gives the cats as much attention as i do, unfortunately my house mate does really care for them at all. I do wonder too about it being an attention seeking issue but i give them as much of my time as i can when i am home with them.

[meriad]

have a look at the side of the tin and see what the recommended feeding guideline is.... I'd have thought that 1/2 tin each in a day may not be enough but not sure?

Also what food are you feeding? If it's not a very high meat content (which quite a few tinned foods aren't - most are about 4%) then again it could be that they're simply not getting enough to keep them going. If they're not fussy eaters, try Butchers Classic (orange plastic wrapping and usually just under £3.00 for 6 cans). it's a very high meat content and cereal free food so that may fill them up a bit more

[Candees]

Thank you for all the advice.
I will give that cat food brand a go and start feeding them a bit more at eat meal and see how that goes.