Does anybody else have a food-a-holic?

[nvnvgirl]

I don't know if Max is obsessed or what! He wakes up in the morning and has to be fed IMMEDIATELY. Now, that never surprised me, but while I'm fixing his food (I give him 1/4 cup of canned in the morning and evening and I cut it up into sort of small chunks so he doesn't inhale the entire amount), he's whining and jumping on me. We think it's cute/amusing. But I'm starting to wonder if something else might be going on. He expects now to get a 'snack' of some of his dry food (I measure out 1/3 of a cup per day and feed him several pieces around lunch time and then after his evening feeding (5PM on the dot!) about 7:45-8 PM when we have dinner. I usually don't feed the entire amount of dry food that I've measured out, but I just like to keep tabs on how much he's eating.
In between times, if I'm in the kitchen eating, he will sit and stare at me and whine b/c he wants some of whatever I have. It makes me feel so bad! And whenever the refrigerator opens, no matter where he was before, he magically appears at your feet in the kitchen!

He's not the least bit underweight (in fact, I think he's eating too much as it is normally, but he seems to do ok with it if we're getting exercise), and a year and a half or so ago, he had a bout of pancreatitis which the vets weren't sure whether it was caused by being overweight and taxing the pancreas, or if he'd gotten into something toxic at the time. Regardless, they put him on a lower calorie prescription dog food which is all he's supposed to get. So I try to be very careful not to overfeed him even though, I know when my dh is home on the weekends, he does give him a very small bit of bread or something that he might be eating. And Max is always looking for crumbs or whatever might have dropped on the floor.

My real question is, that it seems that no matter how much food we gave him, I think Max would eat it all....is this normal? He's my first dog and I just don't know if this is normal dog behavior or if he's got some food issues, LOL? Or maybe he's bored? Any insight would be appreciated. He's healthy otherwise; ie: he doesn't have worms or anything.

[sims822257]

I am sorry I do not have insight to give you but I feel your pain. My Murphy boy acts like he is STARVING all the time too. He is exactly as your described your little one to be like.

Mia on the other hand is not like that so I have no idea if Murphy is not getting enough or what but I think he is just a little PIG - LOL!!

I think Murphy is starting to get overweight so I have been trying to be careful and only give him his 1/4 cup of food in the am and pm and thats it.

[Ellie May]

Ellie is the same way. She did okay when I fed her kibble. She would regulate herself. Now that she gets homecooked she could eat all the time. She loves food. There is no medical reason in our case. Ellie is quite skinny and her metabolism is very fast. The vet says if she is hungry, let her eat (only because she is so skinny). I would wonder about it though if she was overweight and still begging.

[Rosey07]

I say be glad they want to eat whatever you put down...mine is soooo picky, I have to cook to get her to her eat and then she may still turn up her nose up.

But you are right, it could be something just not sure what, maybe diabetes...I dunno.

[TLC]

I have one of those as well. My Roxy would eat all day if she could. I also home cook for her and she inhales the food within seconds. She get apple pieces after her meals and these are her FAVORITE. When I am cutting the apple, she is circling the kitchen as fast as she can - round and round - waiting for her apples. I have to hand feed her the apple pieces though, b/c when they are on her plates she fills her whole mouth with as many as she can and probably just swallows. I am afraid of her choking so I hand feed her them so she has to chew. She also stalks TJ's plate. He eats slow, very slow. He eats what he likes first and then eats to rest. He usually leaves a tiny bit and the second he steps away, the hawk (Roxy) is right there to lick up any traces of left overs. She is such a pig

My hubby and I wonder just how much she could possibly eat.

[Rosey07]

When Furgie first came home to us, she too was that way and the vet gave her a shot for worms....she has never eaten the same again. I wish she would, do you know how may bags of dog food I have feed to my chicken instead of throwing out? Well, I don't either but more than I wanted too. . It all began with my schnauzer. She too was the same exact way

Maybe they should get checked for worms? just a thought.

[Sunnyd]

I hope someone has some answers for you. My Lucy and my lab Fancy are exactly the same way. Maybe it's a learned behaviour? I know that as far as dog food goes that Lucy is eating less than she should be but she needs to lose a little weight. I had a holistic vet tell me that I should feed them based on what they should weigh, not what they actually weigh.

Anyway, I hope some has an answer for you.

[nvnvgirl]

Originally Posted by TLC

I have one of those as well. My Roxy would eat all day if she could. I also home cook for her and she inhales the food within seconds. She get apple pieces after her meals and these are her FAVORITE. When I am cutting the apple, she is circling the kitchen as fast as she can - round and round - waiting for her apples. I have to hand feed her the apple pieces though, b/c when they are on her plates she fills her whole mouth with as many as she can and probably just swallows. I am afraid of her choking so I hand feed her them so she has to chew. She also stalks TJ's plate. He eats slow, very slow. He eats what he likes first and then eats to rest. He usually leaves a tiny bit and the second he steps away, the hawk (Roxy) is right there to lick up any traces of left overs. She is such a pig

My hubby and I wonder just how much she could possibly eat.

EXACTLY like Max! He loves apples too and will bark at me if I'm eating one without giving him some...and I hand feed each bite to him also! The reason that I cut up the canned food is b/c he INHALES any of his food....so if he gets too much at one time, he ends up throwing it up . So, unless I actually stood and watched him eat, you aren't sure if it's b/c he ate too much too fast, or if he's got something wrong with him .
I have had him checked for worms, and supposedly he doesn't have them; I've never seen anything in his stools to suggest it either; since I'm the one who cleans them up (and not to be disgusting, but I DO inspect them after owning parrots for so long; that's usually one of the first indicators of problems, so I'm just used to doing that).
And, since I first posted this, Max, who always "helps" me feed the cats, ran into the bathroom where their food is while I was clipping their nails and brushing them and scarfed up half of their canned food before I noticed he was MIA .

[nvnvgirl]

Originally Posted by sims822257

I am sorry I do not have insight to give you but I feel your pain. My Murphy boy acts like he is STARVING all the time too. He is exactly as your described your little one to be like.

Mia on the other hand is not like that so I have no idea if Murphy is not getting enough or what but I think he is just a little PIG - LOL!!

I think Murphy is starting to get overweight so I have been trying to be careful and only give him his 1/4 cup of food in the am and pm and thats it.

Thanks for your reply! Yes, Max acts like he's STARVING, LOL. And I know he's getting enough (more than enough) food.

I've found that Max does great when I get him out and walk him more; and then I don't feel the least bit guilty for giving him a little bit more than he's actually supposed to have. The vet told me that he should have 1/3 cup of food (either canned OR dry...he gets both ) a day. I know they're not the same as we are, but maybe we spoiled him early on or something? Like another poster mentioned...learned behavior? I do try to ignore him when he's begging, but it's hard .
Also, when we're eating dinner or sitting down to eat, he'll whine and yip at us til I pick him up, sit him on my lap, and then he'll kind of sniff near the plate, and lay down on my lap. Maybe he just wants to be part of the whole experience or something .

I feel a little better seeing that he's not the only one who does this. He's not overweight anymore, but I'm sure he would be if we fed him everything he wanted!

[nvnvgirl]

Originally Posted by Rosey07

I say be glad they want to eat whatever you put down...mine is soooo picky, I have to cook to get her to her eat and then she may still turn up her nose up.

But you are right, it could be something just not sure what, maybe diabetes...I dunno.

LOL...I AM glad that he's a good eater; I just wondered if he's TOO GOOD of an eater. I doubt that it's diabetes since he doesn't have any other symptoms. But thank you for your reply. I can't imagine having an animal who doesn't eat...maybe Max learned it from us, LOL. My cats eat, my birds eat (at least that which isn't thrown on the floor )..we all eat .

[Rosey07]

Your Welcome!!