We got a 2 year old cat from a rescue centre almost 2 weeks ago, and she seems to be settling in ok.
However last night she jumped up onto the kitchen top and ate 2 danish pastries! (And has been jumping up on other occasions and nosing about for food.) I was cross with her for doing that, and worried that she would be sick (no ill effects so far), but I'm concerned that perhaps I'm not feeding her enough...
The rescue centre said she had two meals a day, a combination of wet and dry, so we did that the first few days to fit in with what she was used to. The pouches we're feeding her say 2 - 3 pouches a day, so we're now giving her a pouch at breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a little bit of dry food in between. Does that sound enough?
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The litter tray
Cat stealing food - hungry or just greedy?
HufftheHedgehog · 27/11/2012 11:57
Presumably the rescue centre brought her weight up to normal and checked her out medically? Their advice to you on food quantity would reflect her current condition I would have thought.
It sounds to me as if she's maybe had a rough time for a while and is just stocking up on any 'target of opportunity' in case bad times are ahead. (A cat eating Danish pastries is bizarre.)
What you're giving her sounds fine depending on her current weight and activity levels. You need to stop her going up on kitchen surfaces right away though and keep them clear so that there are no temptations to override your firm NOs. As I said, if she's got issues with food (after a long period of semi-starvation, say) then you'll just have to be firm and consistent. She should ease off when she gets used to being fed regularly and starts to trust that it will always be so. You've only had her for 2 weeks after all and if she's had a rough time in the past, she'll need some understanding and routine before she fully relaxes.
Blimey. Any cat of mine that thought to leap on the dinner table in my presence would only do it once!
This is interesting mrsnec: our rescue at has a big stripe/ridge down his back, rings around his tail and the stripes on his head and legs. He is obsessed with running water, so I looked up some info on fishing cats and he has alot of similar markings.
Our rescue cat has been with us for 3 months now and is a dreadful theif. I just keep all the stuff covered up as often as I remember. He chased a breaded mushroom that pinged off DS2's plate and ate that, he has shredded the cling film on a roast dinner and eaten the meat from it and if I am not careful, I will ofter find little tongue marks in the butter 
.
Our puss is about 9 months old and has 2 pouches with dry food. He is always up on the surfaces, but I am just glad he is so sure of his place in our home and he is a lovely affectionate boy.
Our cat is from a rescue centre and she is a greedy pig. She eats everything in her bowl the second it is put in there, and my neighbour has told me she has caught her in her house, eating her cat's food.
She will also eat sweet things if she gets a chance - I have caught her licking milk out of cereal bowls, yoghurt, and once she licked a glass clean of baileys 
She's slightly overweight and the vet has told us not to increase her food.
Thanks for the replies - it sounds like I'm feeding her the correct amount then.
cozietoesie yes I'd wondered if she was worried about when she'd next be fed and that was why she was on the lookout for more!
She might be a bit bored too - she's been confined to the house so perhaps once she get's out she'll not be patrolling the kitchen so much
But another question - how do I keep her off the kitchen tops/table? I've just been saying 'No' in a loud voice and pointing at the floor, but I'm not really sure that it's having much effect 
I can only suggest, Huff, that you say the firm NO and haul her off bodily, depositing on the floor. You've really got to mean that NO though - saying NO in a 'Who's a naughty girl, then?' 
voice ain't going to work. An alternative to pointing once you've done the first haul-off is to say NO and clap your hands loudly.
And keep a weather eye open for the intent. Cats are perfectly capable of understanding a remonstration for a 'bad thought' so if you see her sitting beneath a counter etc starting to shimmy her backside - or looking up and sniffing - say the NO then before she does it. It will work just as well.
I don't have many house rules for the cats but I'm real firm on those there are. The No Surfaces rule is not really due to food (that's a side benefit) but because kitchens are so dangerous if animals or children have unfettered access to all points. Pots of simmering liquid, sharp things, glass ....... In my previous two houses I had electric stoves and I was always intensely aware of the potential for leaving the room and coming back in to find that a cat had leapt up on one and was left with fried paw pads.
What's interesting is that they seem to extend that rule in their own minds to other possibly sensitive surfaces outwith the kitchen. I've not extended it myself but they seem to avoid certain things as if there was a common factor - I just haven't worked out what it is.
One thing I'll suggest if she's insecure - and I reckon she is - is to maintain as far as you can a rigid eating structure. For all their independence and wilfulness, cats seem in my experience to appreciate having a routine. So - food at the same time during the day, in the same place, in the same sort of bowls and with the same 'Food Calling Cry' if you haven't already got one.
Best of luck
I'd be tempted to ask who is actually in charge in your household, tabulah - except that that would be a daft question.
I must have had an exceptionally well behaved bunch of Siamese!
Be much firmer, mrsnec eg giving her treats for winding around your feet is rewarding bad behaviour and setting up a pattern. (Which may be too late to change but Hey....) I'd go for a very strict routine. She shouldn't mind it.
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mrsnec
It does feel horrible to shut them out, doesn't it 
Blonde!kitten meows pitifully for me until allowed back in. (Which isn't [just] about the food, it's the same meow he does if he thinks I've been in the bathroom too long or if I am Ill-Ill & can't play.)
Good grief, yes, be grateful your bins are not considered interesting. I very much hope that lasts!
If they miaow between meals and lead you to the food cupboard does that mean they want you to fuss the pouches too? like children wanting teddy to have a goodnight kiss too?
One of Dhs childhood cats dragged a christmas turkey out of a window and ran off with it. That's torties for you
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