Haven't been on here for a while, but I hope some of you guys can maybe share some of your experiences with me about this....

Following castration the vet advised me that my boy was a little chubby and to reduce his meals by about a third. I did this and went from feeding the cats 8 whiskas kitten pouches between them down to just 5-6 pouches a day. Now they get 5-6 whiskas adult pouches as they are over 1 year old. I did the transition slowly over several weeks. (Sometimes they also get a little cooked meat too.)

So, bengals typically have pretty voracious appetites as I understand it. I know my 2 have they have always been hungry cats, but recently when I go to feed them they are going absolutely off the scale MENTAL. They jump about all over the place, run around in circles, on the counter, off the counter, tripping me up, miaowing their heads off, actually launching themselves at the plate of food I'm trying to put down for them. Then once I get the plate on the ground they can't seem to get the food down their necks fast enough!

So, is this entirely normal I'm wondering? I cope with this craziness pretty well, but if I am away for a day and have someone come in to feed the cats this can be a little scary for them. Also, my kids don't really like feeding them anymore because of this.

I'm just wondering if perhaps I'm not feeding them enough? Maybe the adult food is leaving them hungrier than the kitten food used to? Is it entirely normal to expect this behaviour at meal times? It's got to the stage that my girl keeps running back to her plate and miaowing expectantly everytime I move around the house.

Flick is an F2 girl and she's pretty big and solid build, but she doesn't seem at all chunky to me. Simba is just a teeny wee F3 boy and after following the vet's instructions I'd say he's not fat anymore!

In the past both kittens have had issues with nasty poos, but this seems to have resolved itself (maybe the adult food is less rich). They are both wormed fairly regularly.

Help much appreciated if you have any ideas folks. xx

I would feed them more. Keep an eye on their condition, but young cats need to grow, so lots of food is par for the course. I know the vet said to do so, but I wouldn't have put a young cat on a diet, was he really that fat?
I personally would put down a good quality dry for them, so that they can graze, that will take the edge off this crazy meal time behaviour. They will they eat little and often as they need it, as opposed to wolfing it all down at mealtimes because they are "starving".

cat body condition chart.jpg

Thanks Elaine. Simba refuses dry food but I will try upping their meals a bit. Will post photos soon xx

Well, I'm sure it's like with humans, right? If you eat too much, you get overweight, to compensate you need to eat too little (i.e., go on a diet), lose the weight, then you can eat somewhere right in between the "too much" and "too little" amounts with the hopes of maintaining a more healthy weight. I definitely wouldn't free-feed a cat that had gotten himself overweight, because that means he wasn't effectively self-regulating. You'll have to keep an eye on him, but it sounds like it might be time to take him off the diet if what you say about his current weight (or bodyshape) is at a good level. Just don't feed him as much as before.

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The little monsters 3

Thanks for your replies

If I try to feel their ribs I can, but I can't see them. Both cats seem to have a very slight hollow around their hip bones (a bit like you see in wildlife programmes featuring cheetahs!) I don't think they are skinny. They feel "solid".

I wish I could get Simba to eat dry food as the nutrition in some dry food brands seem very good, however he just won't try it. Any ideas on how I can encourage him to try? I've already tried mixing in with wet food, or gravy and no use and I don't want to force him to eat it by letting him go hungry for a day. That just seems mean.

Try treating the dry food like a treat. I put it in treat balls. They have to roll the ball around to get the food out, like a little puzzle.

This is exactly how my two 5.5 month old female's are! I have have had them about two months and they are always hungry. As I prepare their food they start making soft sounds (like their mouths are covered but they are trying to meow). Then little soft mews come out in unison. Then as I walk to the feeding spot they are crazed twirling around in a frenzy. I tell them to "go to the spot" and they race away so I am able to walk without being tripped. When they see I am not walking fast enough they race back towards me until I reach their placemat. The are jumping up, stepping in their water dish, knocking each other over and trying to grab the food before the plate touches the floor. Then they eat like it's a race. Blondie snorts and gobbles way too fast and Grace doesn't get as much so she starts to growl. Anyway the plate of food is gone in less than a minute and they continue to lick the plate for a long time and push it around on the floor. Every time I go into the kitchen they are there and try to climb into the refrigerator and freezer. Each time I have to remove them because they will not get out on their own. If I pass their dish they race over expecting food. They are getting big so fast and I checked with my vet to see if I was feeding them enough. She said I am feeding them a lot but they are not "fat" well that was a few weeks ago. Now they have round bellies and can't fly through the air the way they could before. I am trying smaller portions more often. I got an auto feeder that gives them two small snacks during the day when I am at work. My vet said they should get one cup of dry total per day and just use wet food as a treat so I mix in the wet with dry for their evening meal which is their favorite. I tried giving them wet food twice a day but their BM are way too soft to continue that. I would be happy to feed them more if I knew it was the right thing to do but they are getting chubby and I don't want to make them obese just to calm them down. My last cat was a 6 pound siamese and was not interested in food at all. This is quite a switch.

Is it a Bengal trait that they can be greedy little piggies or is this usual for most cats? The reason I ask is I've read lots of posts of Bengal owners who have problems with their cats demanding food non-stop.

Dexter is like this. I don't limit his food because he's only a baby but OMG the amount he can put away! He too barges in front of me every time I open the fridge/freezer door even if he has only just been fed and I have to pick him up and remove him as he refuses to budge!

When I go to put his dish on the floor he can't wait and jumps up 'pouncing' onto the dish in mid-air.

He's not overweight either I don't think. He's 4 months 2 weeks and just over 6 pounds.

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

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The little monsters 3

I'm sort of preparing for that in case he starts getting fussy.

I've got 2 kitten foods Grau and Animona Carny that he loves and I'm after a couple more to add. He's had both of these today.

I'm going to try a couple of the good supermarket brands such as Sainsbury's Delicious to see if the likes those.

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

My cats are on Whiskas cat pouches (7 a day between them), but I've just purchased some higher quality (more meat content) cat food for them to try. I'm going to try and make the switch gradually over a couple of weeks to avoid any tummy upsets. Hopefully I'll find out soon if it helps ease the constant demand to be fed.

If it's expensive then so be it, bengals are not cheap to run lol. xx

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie