Can I show you my new cat and ask some advice?

[Goldenboysmum]

I adopted this gorgeous boy (Frankie) last week. He was found as a stray but has obviously had a home at some point. He moved in and made himself right at home, no shyness or fear at all.

Anyway, the only problem is he is constantly screaming for food, every time I leave the living room, he's right into the kitchen looking for food and is extremely vocal about it!

I'm assuming this is because when he was on the streets he didn't know when he'd be eating again. I'm decorating my bedroom so my bed is in the living room and last week I gave him biscuits and he picked the bowl up and hid under the bed to eat 🥺

Do you think he'll eventually realise he'll never go hungry again and settle down, any tips. My daughter distracted him tonight with a toy which seemed to work for a few minutes until he realised I'd left but she's not here all the time. Other than that he's great, friendly, playful, affectionate and just totally gorgeous ❤

Photo added as well

What a gorgeous boy! I have a rescue who was stray for a good while. He was also very food orientated at first but it did settle down after a bit. He now wants to be fed when wants to be fed, has no routine to speak of despite me trying to put one in, but he doesn't yowl or gobble the food like he used to.

He is still a bugger for bolognese and lasagne though, he adores both of those things but I don't let him eat them. We compromise with a beef and tomato cat food I found instead 😂

Hello blue eyes! He is gorgeous. I'm not sure but he might just be inclined to be a vocal and/or food orientated cat, perhaps has a bit of Burmese or Siamese in him who can be quite vocal? I would just give him fairly structured feeding times, and give him time to relax into a routine

He is so gorgeous. Do you leave out dry food for him?

He doesn't look gorgeous. His expression says, 'That's a camera. A camera is not food. Give me food. Now.'

Maybe regular grub but grazing over the course of an hour or two so it's not feast or famine. We feed foxes in the garden, they get a bit 'on it' because they don't know when the next lot will be but there is a routine.

Or maybe put food out when the cat is not there so it is not associated with your presence so much but rather the location.

Aww, he's a beauty.

As he's clearly quite clever, have a look at using puzzle feeders to feed his dry food, and use a slow feeder for wet. You can buy puzzle feeders but can also make them, perhaps get dd to do some research and make some prototypes!

He’s a beauty!

Our boy was born a stray kitten and lived outdoors until he was about ten months old when the lady whose shed he and his brother were in finally took them in and had them neutered. A few months down the line she relinquished him to CP because he was basically eating allllll the food, became a little fatty, and his brother was starving and losing weight. The lady still has his brother. We’ve had him about 18 months (he’s three in January) and he’s now a healthy weight and regulates his own food intake, but it did take a wee while.

He’s often a pest asking for food/snacks but is mainly a chancer thinking he might get something better because he actually has food in his dishes. Unlike pp, he loves a routine, and knows exactly when it’s time for food, time for brushing, time for ribbon playing, and time to go out - he gets very cross if any of these things come happen. (Like last night no garden because of heavy rain!)

Thanks for the replies.

He has slow feeder bowls (thankfully) and I give him wet then dry at different tomes. If I give him dry he doesn't graze he just eats all of it as quick as he can, so his meals are staggered

I'll have a look for the puzzle ones

My rescue cat was exactly the same - and still is despite being with us nearly a year now. Well, he’s a little better. We’ve found leaving out dry food for him constantly helps. And regular snacks. He still screams for his wet food like he’s never eaten in his life. The downside of food being out all the time is he’s quite fat now 🙈 and really I know I should try and get him to lose some weight - he’s very lazy and likes to just stay inside all day, and sleep. I figure he’s had a horrible time of things and if being a bit fat and sleepy is healing for him then that’s fine.

No advice as I am so weak if the cat wants something, my partner says I spoil them. Just wanted to thank you for sharing the beautiful picture of him, he is absolutely gorgeous!

Oooh, beautiful blue-eyed boy!

Gorgeous cat! My previous cat was found abandoned and he was obsessed with food. We would put out his wet food and in no time the bowl was cleared and he would be begging for more. He did settle down a bit but his issues were always there and we got used to it, making sure we didnt leave any food out. We had to be really careful not to over feed him. On the plus he wpuld eat any food we gave him (unlike our current fussy boy) We sadly lost him after 5 years as he had a heart murmur.

Oh, he’s beautiful 😻

He is a lovely cat! I have two cats, one is like that, he's older now but used to be worse. He was a rescue but was rescued when he was two weeks old and still with his mum and litter mates, so I think he is just obsessed with food and a bit greedy! My other cat, his brother, is completely different.

Beautiful boy 😊

beautiful 💗 our gus used to meow non stop the whole time we were in the kitchen when she was a kitten thinking it was her dinner time. it was so hard to cook because even if we locked her out she’d meow repeatedly to be let back in the whole time! lol

what worked for us was setting an alarm, so she knew every time the alarm went off she would get food (and not any other time of day). it took her about 4 days to get what the alarm meant & settle down about us dating to be in the kitchen but not feeding her.

maybe it will work with your boy? maybe he just needs to get used to knowing there will always be food like you said :) best of luck with your gorgeous new friend 💗💗💗

yes !!! dry food in a treat ball/slow feeder thing - once they’ve realised they don’t have to eat everything that’s in the house. our girl used to eat so much so fast that she’d be sick - we ended up getting a £10 treat ball slow feeder thing off amazon and it slows her down enough so that she isn’t sick and only eats until full/satisfied.

We adopted a stray (formerly someone's pet) who was very possessive about food initially and always wanted it. We found the best slow feeder was one with cups in it so he has to scoop each dry biscuit out one at a time, he can see food is there but has to work for it. We quickly learnt the best thing was to leave dry food out all the time. Initially he overate and put on weight but after a couple of months once he knew it was always there and regularly topped up he just eats when he likes. Although he'll tell you if he can see the bottom of a bowl i.e. he doesn't think there's enough. He now happily self-regulates and is a very healthy weight.

sorry for spam replying, our girl was just the same! it made me feel horrible when she’d make herself sick eating so much.

the slim cat treat ball thing is amazing - if i put the same amount that fits in her bowl (that would be gone in a couple hours at most) into the treat ball it lasts her a week. the holes are adjustable too so it works with most dry food & once he’s calmed down you can make it so every time he taps it about a mouthful comes out rather than one nugget at a time :)

I had the same with each of my boys when they came home, gobbling down food especially the wet as soon as it was put down. Boycat would eat his so fast he would be sick immediately after.

A year or two on, with each of them they became grazers - I've just fed supper and both bowls of wet are less than half eaten, at least half of the same dry I put down late morning is still there. It was an absolute pain at first with each of them, as Girlcat is and always has been a grazer, but luckily for her she eats more dry than wet so she did get enough food. Wonder if it's more common with boys than girls?

I'd say Frankie is def part Siamese, from the eye colour, the coat colour, and how vocal he is!

He is a very handsome boy!

My boy is also a former stray / abandoned pet. He is soft as butter, very lazy and extremely food focused. He's been with us just over a year.

He pesters to be fed quite a lot still (though quietly) and I think he always will. But he only gets his set rations, otherwise he puts on weight very quickly. He's also terrible for scrounging and stealing food if it's left unattended so we have to be careful.

I refuse to knowingly overfeed him even though the pestering can be a bit annoying as I really don't think he would ever 'self regulate' and I see it as our responsibility to keep him at a healthy weight. He put on a lot when we first had him because we were feeding him the amount recommended on the packaging. It was far too much for him and he was almost 1 kg too fat by the time the vet pointed it out - and he'd still been begging for more even as he happily piled on weight.

Something that worked with my last very greedy cat, who if I restricted his food would just go and help himself to the neighbours' cat and dog bowls and nature's larder of infinite rats, was to give him raw bone in chicken thighs, it would keep him busy for ages (if you choose to do this please look into safe raw feeding).

He's very handsome but with that look I'd recommemd that you don't turn your back on him 🤣.

Beautiful kitty. I have 5 cat rescues who are all with their own medical and psychological quirks. They are all needy about food and cuddles. I leave a bag of dry cat food open in the lounge for a bit of kitty drive through as and when they want it. It stops the previous behaviour of hoarding old food in strange places, digging the floor around food and begging for human food.

Our boy is an absolute fiend for human food. When we got him he used to raid the kitchen waste bin for scraps, which he thankfully stopped when he realised he was always going to be fed here. Coming in to find that scattered around was not the one.

We can’t leave anything on the side or he will give it a good go. He swiped a piece of toast off my actual plate last week (ate the cheese and licked the butter, left the toast!).

He is gorgeous.

Are you feeding good quality food to fill him up.

We use purizon dry food which is good and fills my cat up. He then has whatever wet he will eat and some chicken breast. I am more relaxed with the brand of wet as I know he is getting the good dry food.