Kitten overeating and getting very fat

[ana_qi]

Hi!

I have a black long haired kitten called Georgey and he is completely obsessed with food to the point where he's getting overweight.

Georgey is 9 months old. We adopted him from the RSPCA when he was a young kitten. He didn't have the best start in life. He was brought in from a cat colony with cat flu which reactivated when we brought him home. He made a good recovery but now suffers with sinus problems. He sometime sounds snuffly but it doesn't seem to affect his quality of life. He has always had loose stools and we have experimented with different foods until we found a supermarket brand seemed to suit him. He has been treated for worms and fleas and he is neutered and vaccinated.

I have another cat, a three year old short haired white and brown tabby called Mollie. She gets on pretty well with Georgey. She likes her dried food but it doesn't agree with Georgey so we have to feed her biscuits separately. The problem is Georgey is obsessed with food. He will try and steal Mollie's biscuits, he will steal any food we leave on the table, he will steal any food he can get his paws on. If I put two pouches of cat food down he will eat his and then push Mollie out of the way to eat hers too and then mug her for her biscuits. He has eaten the corner off a loaf of bread, stolen a packet of pancakes and regularly gets his head stuck in empty crisp packets the kids leave in the waste paper basket.

If he can't steal food he will try and lick the dirty plates waiting to be washed up. He licks me a lot, he also likes to lick Mollie. When he was a kitten he liked to bite a shoe box we gave him as a toy. We thought it was just him teething but he still likes to bite things, tissue boxes, book covers, magazines, even my Sony tablet! He is a mostly indoor cat but he has plenty of room to get exercise, running up and down the stairs, jumping on his cat tree, playing with his toys (catnip mice, jingle balls, tunnel, boxes, fishing rod toys, scratching posts, etc.)

I'm not sure if he has a physical problem or if it's a behavioural thing. He is over eating but he is gaining weight so I don't think it's hyperthyroidism or diabetes. His tummy is very rounded and he feels flabby by his back legs. Apart from the sensitive tummy and snuffly nose (which the vets know about) he is otherwise healthy. He is active, loves to play and he grooms himself properly. If I go in the kitchen he will sit by his food bowl and meow like he's not been fed in a week.

Is there anything I can do for him? I thought I'd ask here before taking him to the vet. I've had cats for over 20 years and I've never known one be so obsessed with food.

Thanks!

Clair

[lilynmitz]

Sorry, I don't have any experience of this, but I'm just bumping this up in the hope that someone will be along soon to answer your queries. You've obviously got a pretty good handle on this, apart from the solution! It's obviously behavioural (hyperthyroidism only affects cats over around 10 years old), and given his background it's understandable. He was left to fend for himself and fight for his food, so this got ingrained early on. But his success in getting that food in a colony would relate to his position in the heirarchy. Now he's effectively top cat (or at least has no serious competition), so he's grabbing all the food he can get, not because he's hungry, but because it makes him feel safe and superior.

So I wonder whether the thing to do might be to distract him and give him lots of attention when he's scrounging, stealing or begging, so that something else displaces his need to find food. Do it with play, cuddles, anything really, to break the cycle. If this works at all it will take a long time for the new cycle to bed in, but it's worth a try.

[ana_qi]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not sure if it's behavioural or if he really is hungry all the time. He literally will eat anything! On Saturday he was sinking his teeth into a cardboard box after we went to Ikea, then he stole the loaf of bread, tore the packet open and ate half a slice before he was discovered.

Today he has chewed both ends of a loaf of Warburtons bread. That's after having a pouch of meat for breakfast and stealing half of Mollies cat biscuits. If there is any food around anywhere he WILL try and and eat it. It doesn't seem to matter how much attention he gets, he is super cute and fluffy we we're always playing with him or giving him cuddles. He is just totally obsessed with food.

I'm going out shopping later for a bread bin. I'm sure eating white bread can't be good for him.

Clair

[lilynmitz]

This does sound pretty extreme. Have you spoken to your vet about this? If there's nothing physical going on, then he might be able to suggest a behaviourist who can help out. You might find some of the advice on this link helpful.

http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/cat-be ... -disorders