Why do my kittens keep stealing food?!

[whyaremycatssohungry]

I have a sibling pair of kittens, 5 months old.

They are constantly scrounging for food! They are fed a mix of wet whiskas and dry royal canin as advised by the rehoming centre. They have probably slightly more than is recommended on the packets and still have a small lunch time meal.

As well as scrounging for food they steal whatever they can get their paws on - packets that aren't out away in a cupboard/children's leftovers... and most recently a plastic straw from the washing up which has been chewed apart and quite likely ingested by one of them.

Is this normal behaviour?!

@PineappleTart do you have any recommendations for good toys? They have a variety but nothing that looks particularly great for chewing on.

I have never weighed the food either . My girl who stole from cupboards would take ages to finish a bowl of dry food for her to free feed . She was looking for the pouches or human food , not just any food , so she obviously wasn’t starving .
I have a 10 month neutered male kitten now . He is not at all overweight and eats 2 pouches for breakfast and two for tea and has dry food down all day . I thought 2 pouches a meal was normal because after one he was looking at me for the next . I think the pouches are actually very small . When only time of cat food was available I think a portion of wet food was considered to be bigger .

Should say only tinned food

Just to report back, I upped their food quantity (only slightly) and so far they've not stolen any packets of bagels etc since. They do however still try to get food off our plates so have to be shut out at meal times. Have ordered a higher protein food to try which I'll add in slowly.

Free access to biscuits hasn't worked yet. They just scoff the lot (well boy cat does anyway).

Put down more biscuits?
The meal thing needs training. Constantly picking them off the table and putting them back on the floor.

They’re banking on you giving in first 😁. Don’t! Two/three weeks of absolute consistency will crack it.

After the advice on this thread, I've upped the amount of food I give my two and it is definitely making a difference - although I'm too chicken to just put dry down all the time as my boy is also a gannet.

Hopefully will see how long it lasts before they're back on the kitchen sides and trying to lick yoghurt lids and hoover up cheese crumbs!

The next dilemma is around when to reduce down to two meals instead of the three they currently enjoy.. that'll go down well!!

@MrsSkylerWhite honestly I gave them their meat, put down a bowl of biscuits and they ate it all. I wait for them to wander off and put down more biscuits but they hear me and come raving back to eat all those!

Mines on three meals a day. I never fed any cat twice a day.

My Bengal boy was on 4 meals a day if he conned dh at bedtime that half a pouch was definitely needed. No need to check with the food lady of course.

They’re hungry! And kittens who chew anything!

Totally normal, totally adorable, free feed them. Some cats are a little bit greedy too 😀

I've got 2 4yo cats. One is constantly hungry, steals her sister's food, has to be rationed. Vets tell us she's overweight so we try to restrict. If we left food down all day she'd eat all day and be more than just tubby!

Other one only eats if she's hungry and is fussy about what she'll eat. DH worries she's starved, vets say she's perfect weight. They've both been exactly like this the whole time ever had them. Hungry one is way more active.

I think some cats, like some people, are less interested in eating and can self manage better. We used to leave dried down all the time for last DCat but couldn't do that with this pair.

Oh... Good to know! I'm not in any hurry as, even when I'm back to the office, my hours will fit around their feeding schedule... but I thought general advice was to do so.

Ooops... ^ was in response to Fluffy

I've never seen an overweight kitten. They're still growing until around 14 months, and IMO should be free fed. If they eat all the dry food - then put more down. Once they are adult, if they start to look well filled out, then cut down the food.

I think it's quite possible that they are just hungry because they are still growing and you're not giving them enough food. I'd honestly try free feeding the dry food for a week or so and see what happens

If they’re eating everything, put more down. Kittens grow! Need extra nutrition.

The good news is they’re not fussy.

@SanFranBear No that very definitely isn't the advice (well, not correct advice anyway). Cats like to have a lot of smaller meals, rather than fewer big meals, if possible. Three times a day is a minimum really, particularly if you're not leaving dry food down.

[quote thecatneuterer]@SanFranBear No that very definitely isn't the advice (well, not correct advice anyway). Cats like to have a lot of smaller meals, rather than fewer big meals, if possible. Three times a day is a minimum really, particularly if you're not leaving dry food down.[/quote]
Thanks for this... is shall continue as is, then. Not sure where I got the two meals thing from then - they're definitely happy with three and I can definitely continue.

Thanks for starting this thread, OP - I've learnt heaps

Even on cats protection it mentions about cutting down to two meals a day! It's worded more like 'it's fine to cut down to two meals'.

No worries &@SanFranBear - I was nervous about starting it because people can be so harsh in here, but despite 1 or 2 rude comments I agree this has been really helpful.