Cat/s obsessed with food, how to retrain?

[YellowSunshineSky]

I have three cats, two aged just over 1 year, and one rescue cat aged about 12.

One of the younger cats is greedy and is totally obsessed with food. He tries to get into the food cupboard, jumping in whenever its opened, he tries to get food out of our hands with his paw (ok it's cute, but still annoying), he eats his own food like he's being starved and hasn't eaten in weeks.

His behaviour encourages the others (I think), and for some reason it seems to be getting worse and now all three cats gang up on DH when he's cooking, getting underfoot, trying to jump on all the surfaces etc, always trying to steal food or lick the cheese grater or whatever. The greedy cat jumps up all over me when I eat anything. It's annoying.

It doesn't help that old lady cat refuses to be picked up and is also terrifying, so DH doesn't know how to move her out of the kitchen. With three of them it's difficult to get them out without them dashing back into the room. Old lady cat was fine before the kittens arrived but now competes with greedy cat and his sister, all of them roaming feral over our kitchen trying to get food. Old lady cat hisses at the younger ones, and increasingly is hissing and swiping at my husband as he tries to get on and move around the kitchen while cooking.

I'm not sure what to do to help my DH out. He does all the cooking and doesn't even really like cats that much. If it was me in there I'd just calmly move the cats into other areas of the house and somehow work it out so they're distracted.

Ideally I'd like to retrain them to not be so obsessed with food. Any ideas?

Anyone?

Put set amounts of food down at specific times of the day and then remove bowls? No treats or ad hoc feedings.

I would also feed your old lady separately from the kittens so that she doesn't feel she has to compete with them for food.

Would it be possible to remove all the cats from the kitchen before cooking starts so your DH can cook in peace?

Col was a bit of a pain when it came to food ( I'm talking kitten in his first year) and the only thing was to shut him out when we cooked it ate. He got better when he got to about 6 months and we could have him in the dining room without too much bother

I think the only thing is to shut them out, maybe entice out with a treat. Ours was really quick so that was the boys job, with three you maybe need more hands

Is it dry or wet food? Mine was food obsessed too, he finally got over it... aged 8.

Give them their favourite meal in another room when he's cooking dinner.

You could also use puzzle feeders to make them work for their food.

Thanks, the puzzle feeder sounds a good idea.

It's a shame they're so greedy and obsessed, it's making having cats very frustrating for DH.

It sounds pretty normal to me.

Just shut them out of the kitchen while you're cooking and close the door.

Have you had greedy cat checked by your vet just in case it has a thyroid or other health problem? I've had cats for years and years and his greediness does seem quite extreme unless I've just been lucky. I've got 3 and seem to throw a lot of cat food away!