Feeding a Cat Who Loves to Eat

My cat eats her food in seconds and always seems hungry. What should I do?

Cats may overindulge in food for several reasons, including not feeling full, boredom, or simply because they enjoy the taste of their food so much. Today’s cat foods are designed to be delicious. After ensuring the nutrient requirements are met for a particular life stage, taste is an important consideration in the formulation of pet food.

Pet foods often undergo palatability testing, which is a test designed to ensure the food tastes good and will be eaten. High palatability means cats like the taste, which is important to pet food companies, because if cats like the taste, pet owners will continue to purchase the food.

The good news is that even a picky cat will likely eat highly palatable food. The potential downside is that cats might want to eat more food than they need, especially if it is free-fed. If your cat’s intake exceeds their daily calorie requirement, it can contribute to excessive weight gain and obesity.

Why is portion control important?

Meal feeding with portion control is a helpful strategy to prevent overeating, excessive weight gain, and obesity in cats. It involves determining the number of calories per day your cat needs to maintain a healthy body weight and then determining an food amount that will deliver this precise number of calories. This food amount can then be divided into multiple small meals per day — a strategy that can sometimes trick cats into thinking they are getting fed more food, since they are fed more often.

"Meal feeding with portion control is a helpful strategy to prevent overeating, 
excessive weight gain, and obesity in cats."

Once a cat becomes overweight or obese, they have likely developed a habit of overeating. Weight loss requires strict portion control, which the cat may not be used to. It is therefore not unusual a cat to inhale food, “counter surf” (eat off the counter), and constantly beg after portion control is instituted.

What can I do to change my cat’s begging behavior?

There are several strategies to help cope with your cat who has become a glutton.

1. Don’t reward begging. Cats will often repeat behavior that gets rewarded. If they beg for food and we give in and feed them something, they learn that if they will get rewarded with food if they beg. As hard as it may be to resist those dreamy cat eyes, avoid giving in and giving them food. Instead, reward your cat with something else, such as a play session with a favorite toy or a few minutes of brushing.
2. Keep them away from temptation. A common time for begging is during family meals and meal preparation. If this is a challenging time for you, consider keeping your cat in a separate place during this time.
3. Choose a lower-calorie food. Energy density is the number of calories per 100 grams, and is included on the pet food label. If your cat eats a lot, you could try a food with a lower energy density, which then allows for a larger volume of food to be fed without increasing caloric intake. Your veterinarian can help you select a food that is lower in calories.
4. Introduce lower-calorie treats and snacks. A maximum of 10% of your cat’s daily calories should come from treats and snacks (with 90% from their main food) to maintain a balanced diet. Fruits and vegetables are high in moisture and fiber, which makes them low in calories. Giving your cat safe fruits and veggies as snacks can allow you to give them more food without greatly increasing their calorie intake. Consult with your veterinarian if you are unsure which foods are safe to give to your pet. You can look in stores for lower-calorie cat treats.
5. Consider a therapeutic diet. Some veterinary therapeutic diets are designed for cats with big appetites but lower calorie needs. Many of these foods can be used for safe weight loss and then continued as healthy maintenance diets. Aside from being lower in calories, these diets also tend to have higher fiber and protein, which help with satiety (a feeling of fullness). These foods need to be prescribed by your veterinarian.

How do I stop my cat from eating so fast?

Another typical behavior of cats who love their food is eating incredibly fast. This speed-eating can sometimes lead to medical problems, such as regurgitation. It can also cause cats to not feel full when they are done eating. One way to slow down and prolong mealtimes, while also providing mental stimulation, is to use an interactive toy or feeder. These toys and feeders can be high-tech or low-tech, depending on your preferences. Here are some ideas:

• One low-tech option is to use a muffin tin and place pieces of the cat’s kibble, or bites of his canned food, into each muffin holder.
• Divide the cat’s meal into several small portions and hide them in different places around the house. This allows the cat to hunt for her supper.
• Use an interactive food toy that releases a few kibbles at a time as the cat moves or rolls the toy around.
• Use a timed feeder that releases or presents a portion of the daily food ration at timed intervals. Be careful using a timed feeder with some cats, as they may grow impatient and simply pop open the food dispenser. Timed feeders can be very useful for those cats that like to wake their owner up in the morning. You can set the feeder for an early morning snack and be able to sleep a little later.

It is worth the effort to reframe the eating experience for cats that have become food inhalers. Portion control is an important part of maintaining a healthy body weight and preventing obesity; dealing with begging behavior is important for quality of life — for both the cat and its human family members. Cats can learn new tricks, and stimulating their brains with novel items to eat out of can be a great way to prolong mealtime, reduce begging, and provide enrichment.