Another thread on "starving kitty syndrome." On a thread in

[japple]

another group, I posted a bit about my kitty, Mildred, who was abandoned by my neighbors, and who now suffers from an eating disorder. One of the other members of the group called it "Scarlett O'Hara syndrome" which I thought was a brilliant description. Anyway, little Mildred has been with me for almost 2 months now, and still cries and begs for food, scarfs her food, and then goes after the other cats' rations. I used to leave out dry food for my nibblers, but Mildred seems to feel like she has to clean out every bowl. She's still small, although solid as a brick. When I had her spayed 2 months ago, the vet said she thought she was about 5-6 months at the time, but it turns out that she was pregnant. The fetuses were barely formed, so the vet just aborted them, but I'm wondering if her hormones are out of whack or something.

I know we've discussed this problem before, but maybe someone new will read this thread and have some more ideas about what to do. Thanks for any input you have.

[demnan]

1. Two months is a short time

Sometimes too after they are spade the female cats tend to eat a lot and get fat. You should have patience and just make sure she plays and exercises.

Now my Charley is a huge fat cat with starving kitty syndrone. He was feral and lived on his own for as long as six months before I started feeding him. But I try to combat it with light cat food and he does play and get exercise with his adopted brother.

[japple]

2. Yes, you're right about being patient. I just saw her sister at

the vet's office and she isn't nearly as heavy as Mildred. The vet's staff say that the sister doesn't beg for food all the time like Mildred. Maybe it's because they feed her in her cage every morning before they let her out to roam the office, and she doesn't have to compete with other cats. Mildred might feel like she has to compete with my bigger, older cats, so I might try feeding her in another room, away from the big cats. She is the one who tries to gobble up their food rather than vice-versa.

[ginnyinWI]

3. are you feeding any wet (canned) food?

I have the feeling that might satisfy her more than only the dry. It's actually healthier than dry, which contains ingredients like grain that cats just can't metabolize properly.

[japple]

5. She mostly eats wet food. Occasionally she will also eat some of

one of my other cat's low-calorie food if he didn't finish it.

[Tammie]

4. I took in two sisters last summer

They're about 14 months old now. They are both smallish but Ruby eats like there's no tomorrow and is solid like a brick (a good description!) and Daisy on the other hand eats a little here and there, definitely not a chow hound. I've been told there are two kinds of cats.....those who live to eat and those who eat to live. I think your Mildred and my Ruby are the ones who live to eat!!!

[LeftyMom]

6. I took in two feral kittens whose mother abandoned them in my garage.

They were both really tiny, at the time I thought the smaller of the two might not make it, as she was much smaller than her sister and very weak. Boy, was I wrong. Dora, who was the bigger one, is small but solid and very healthy, but her sister Piglet took to food like a duck to water, and in a week or two she was bigger than her sister. They were both little dustbusters sucking up every available speck of food, but eventually that slowed down when they were mostly done growing and seemed to have clued in that they were in no danger of missing a meal.

[spooky3]

7. I think this problem will go away with time.

It's really good of you to adopt Mildred after your irresponsible neighbors abandoned her. I suspect that they did not feed her adequately. So, being always hungry during her early life, as soon as food was available she ate it; she didn't know when her next meal would be provided or whether it would be enough. She may have had to compete with other neglected pets for food as well. She just has not yet learned that those days are over; you will make sure everyone has enough to eat. I think you should continue to leave out the dry food, as well as ensure that everyone gets his/her share of wet food. She will learn that there is always dry food and that there is no need to grab all of it now. It will take awhile though, because you are having to overcome everything she's learned in her life. Unless she become obese or has other symptoms of health problems, I think this will work, if you can stand to give it some time.