By chance did the vet test for thyroid issues?  Ravenous appetite without
weight gain can be indicative of that.

Wish I had some good suggestions for keeping him at bay!

- Cindy

had him at the vet and did not get an answer to his strange eating habits.
We have to seperate him and our female 5 year old spayed cat, so that she
has a chance to eat her dinner. Otherwise he devours his and pushes her out
of the way to eat her dinner as well. He throws his face in the bowl and
scatters his food everywhere. We are able to take the food away from him,
but he continues to reach out for it. He also stands under our dogs elevated
bowls and sticks his paw up to steal nuggets of their food. (it is not
strange to see him with his head in the dog food bowl, while the dog is
eating)

tonight he grabbed a breaded mushroom that fell on the floor, and he ran
away with it. HELP!! He is a real sweeie, but his habits are driving us
crazy!!! this is just a small samlping of what he is capable of!! His weight
is good, but he will eat anything and everything!

I'm sorry, I know you're serious about this, but... I'm laughing!

A friend's cat once stole a piece of buttered toast from the table.  The
problem being that the friend had a broken back at the time; it'd taken her
forever to make that snack of buttered toast, & to top it off, she couldn't
retrieve anything that'd been dropped on the floor.  IIRC, the cat licked
the butter off the toast & left the rest on the floor.

One of my cats lived to eat - she would sniff my breath when I was eating,
to check out if she was interested - she usually was!  If I went into the
kitchen, she'd immediatley show up & meow, begging for whatever it was I was
getting out - even if that something wasn't even food related!  (She always
hoped it was.)  She'd eat everything out of her own bowl, then go over &
clean out my other cat's bowl.  The other cat was a nibbler: she'd go back
to her bowl later, fully expecting to find plenty still in here, only to
find it empty.  Unlike your cat, this cat of mine eventually gained too much
weight & eventually needed to be put on a rather strict diet.

Cathy

Has your vet run a fecal flotation or an ova & parasite to check for
internal parasites?  Worms and things cannot be seen on the outside, and
often the only visible sign is that the cat has a ravenous appetite but
never gains any weight (this can indicate other problems in elderly cats).
Internal parasites can only be diagnosed by a fecal analysis (to put it in
simple terms, drop off some of your cats poo to your vets and ask them to
check it out for internal parasites).

I would get several samples checked (one now, one in 3 weeks from now, one
in 6 weeks from now) as most internal parasites have cycles and eggs may
only be actively shed at certain times.  Thus even if a fecal analysis comes
out negative now, he may still have something.  If your vet hasn't done this
already, I'd definitely have this done.  Especially if you just got the cat
or if he goes outdoors at all.  This is something most shelters and pet
stores DO NOT routinely check for in adult cats.

Kelly

had him at the vet and did not get an answer to his strange eating habits.
We have to seperate him and our female 5 year old spayed cat, so that she
has a chance to eat her dinner. Otherwise he devours his and pushes her out
of the way to eat her dinner as well. He throws his face in the bowl and
scatters his food everywhere. We are able to take the food away from him,
but he continues to reach out for it. He also stands under our dogs elevated
bowls and sticks his paw up to steal nuggets of their food. (it is not
strange to see him with his head in the dog food bowl, while the dog is
eating)

tonight he grabbed a breaded mushroom that fell on the floor, and he ran
away with it. HELP!! He is a real sweeie, but his habits are driving us
crazy!!! this is just a small samlping of what he is capable of!! His weight
is good, but he will eat anything and everything!

I'll can't respond sensibly to your post because I stop laughing
hysterically!  ROTFL !  I'm sorry for laughing, but that's about the
funniest story I've heard in a long time!

You've *got to* make a video of your cat in action and send it to the
Planets Funniest Animals -- he's a sure winner!  LOL!

Phil

"Cat people are different, to the extent that they
                generally are not conformists.
   How could the be, with a cat running their lives?"
                        --Louis Camuti
       Feline Healthcare: http://maxshouse.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline_Health_and_Behavior/

Wife gave me Xmas pressie "100 ways to Happy Cat (Celia Haddon)" and under
Cat Cuisine it says "Vary the menu, stolen food from your or other plates
tastes sweetest."  All true in your case Leanne.

Also turn your kitchen into a snack bar so leave little piles of dried
kibble (you can use your normal quantity divided) around the house so he has
to hunt for his food, as in the wild, which means he should be happier and
not
want dinner at 3.30.   That will also mean the other cat may get a chance at
eating as well ;-)).

Give a small snack, left in same place each night before bed; it works for
Chloe.

BP using Icedog's account.