WTF my cat is bingeing(sp)!? Professionals, please??

Question

This has been happening for almost ten years now.

My cat(Lacey) is constantly "hungry" and continuously steals my other cat's(Ariel) food even though they have separate food bowls. Around the beginning of those ten years, I'd just fill the bowl all the way up and let Lacey eat whenever she wanted but a little while after Ariel showed up, Lacey would gorge herself as much as possible, leaving Ariel barely anything and resulting in Lacey throwing up soon after. After a year or so, I separated the food bowls and even now, she still tries to steal Ariel's food constantly and she eats so fast that she doesn't chew most of her food. We've tried everything we can think of. We'll try to keep her in another part of the house but she eventually managed to get past the blocks we put there, we've tried hiding Ariel's food but she always manages to find it and Ariel forgets where it is(of course).

We've been having to watch Ariel eat her food and put it away when she's done!

Answer 1

The age-old dilemma of the hog and the nibbler.  I have a pair myself.

I've tried a ton of different things just like you have.  What's currently working for me is this:  When Sophie finishes her food I put it up on the stove.  I lifted her up there enough times that she now knows where it is and can go up to finish.  Poppy may or may not be aware of what's going on, but regardless she is unable or unwilling to jump up onto the stove.  The day may come but we're safe for now.

This does require physical supervision.  Luckily my house is in a straight line, and when I'm sitting at my computer in the morning I have a clear line of sight to where Sophie eats.  When she steps away, I go in and remove her bowl.  At night, Daddy feeds them while he's doing the dishes so he can remove her bowl too.

So the long and short of it is physical supervision and intervention.

If Ariel is truly a nibbler, perhaps you could cut back on the amount she gets so that nothing is left behind.  That would mean you'll need to feed her more often; not sure that'll work for you.

As for getting Lacey to chew, you can't.  Some cats are like this (like my Poppy).  She hoovers her food.  You won't be able to change that.  I did read of one suggestion that you *could* try.  Put large marbles in the bowl with her food.  That way she'll have to dig around for the food and it will slow down her eating.  It won't make her chew though.

Another option would be to change Ariel's food to something that Lacey doesn't like.  Right now my girls are eating two different foods.  However, Poppy decided that in the interests of eating more she'd be happy to try Sophie's food which she normally didn't care for.  So this could be a short-term solution as well.

My only other suggestion would be to switch both of them to, or begin offering, some canned food.  With a good quality canned food, cats can eat more without being in so much danger of weight gain.  And this would also mean that Lacey might be satisfied with how much she's been given, and will stop the bogarting.

Answer 2

This has been happening for TEN YEARS?  What sort of "blocks" are you putting there for the cat?  How about simply putting her in a room behind a closed door?  Cats don't have opposable thumbs so they can't open door k***s.  

What sort of food are you feeding her?  It could be it's so low in nutrition that the cat HAS to gorge on it in order to be satisfied.  If you're feeding cheap grocery store dry food which is made mostly of corn switch to a healthier MEAT based food.  Also be sure to include canned food in their diet - an all dry diet is very bad for cats.

Lastly, when was the last time this cat saw a vet?  She could have something medically wrong with her that is causing this ravenous appetite.

Why are you asking this after letting this happen for the past DECADE?  And FYI - cats DO tend to swallow their food whole which is why the comment "dry food cleans teeth" that some make and some cheap foods claim is BS.

Edit:

"We do not use "cheap grocery store dry food". Both of my cats eat Meox-mix outdoor formula."

LOL!!!!  And you think that ISN'T cheap grocery store food?  First off, you must mean the "Indoor" formula - there isn't an "outdoor" formula.

Secondly, this is what's in there - GARBAGE!

Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Ground Yellow Corn, Brewers Rice, Powdered Cellulose, Beef Tallow Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols (Source of Vitamin E), Turkey-By-Product Meal, Salmon Meal, Fish Meal (Source of Ocean Fish Flavor), Brewers Dried Yeast, Soybean Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Animal Digest, potassium chloride, Alfalfa, Gelatin, Phosphoric Acid, Tetra Sodium Pyrophosphate, Salt, Choline Chloride, Taurine, l-Lysine, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, l-Alanine, Dl-Methionine, Yellow 6, Manganese Sulfate, Niacin, Yellow 5, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Red 40, Calcium Pantothenate, Blue 2, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Rosemary Extract, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, biotin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity).  

So thanks for the "Lady," but you're WRONG.  As I expected, you're feeding your cat c**p.  As for "Lacey also wouldn't be ridiculously FAT either" she's fat because you're feeding her food made mostly of CORN which is loaded with carbohydrates.  I won't waste any more of MY time trying to convince you otherwise - you're a hopeless case.