Cat Chat Feline Forum

I've just adopted a stray boy but whenever he's in the house he eats everything he can find, and I mean everything! My other 3 cats are quite upset, as they're used to free feeding and there's dry food down for them at all times. I'm having to put the stray outside overnight, so as to give my other 3 a chance to eat in peace. Don't wanna go down the route of microchip feeders. Any tips?

Other than the cost what's the issue against microchip feeders?

At the moment he's probably still in "eat what I can, not sure when the next meal will be" mode. There's a chance he'll calm down when he realises he doesn't have to fend for himself anymore - how long has he been like it? If no-one is getting obese you might just let him keep eating until he calms down.
You could also put food bowls in other spots around the house. That way whilst greedy-guts is scoffing everything in the kitchen, the others can nibble in peace on the landing.

Thanks for your replies. What he does is come in (through a faulty catflap which i'm currently trying to fix), eat everything in sight, then fall asleep on the sofa for hours! He's only been around a few months, and I think I agree he's still in "stray" mode & not sure where the next meal is coming from. He does the same to my neighbour. However, I've just taken him to vets and they say he's put on 1.3 kilos in 2 months, so am a bit concerned about him getting obese. He's now 5.1 kilos. But I'll just have to move food about & see how it goes...

Have you ever read Inga Moore's delightful children's book 'Six Dinner Sid'? The cat in question visits every house on the street and pretends to be their pet and is eating his fill at every house. You might find that your 'Sid' is playing this game. If so, careful monitoring of his food intake won't help if the neighbours are feeding him salmon every day.
A few years ago we had an neutered tom cat visit us, we though he was a stray and he too ate everything in sight then fell asleep on our snooker table. We decided to take him in, and get him neutered. However, we wanted to make sure he didn't belong to anyone. We put paper collars on him, but they always vanished by the time he returned. So we ended up leafleting the area, including that we were going to neuter him. Suddenly, his owners wanted to speak to us! We had a good laugh about it and I learnt his name was Salem. They asked us to stop feeding him, because he was well known for doing this.
If your lad wasn't emaciated when you adopted him, you might want to check who else he's visiting beyond the one neighbour who has let you know.