Journal of Veterinary Behavior (2012) 7, 390-393

CASE REPORT

Successful treatment of abnormal feeding behavior

in a cat
Paolo Mongilloa, Serena Adamellia,b, Marco Bernardinic, Elena Fraccarolib,
Lieta Marinellia
a

Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione, Universita` degli Studi di Padova, Viale dellUniversita` 16,
Legnaro, Padova, Italy;
b
C.S.C. S.R.L., Centro di Scienze Comportamentali del Cane, Universita` degli Studi di Padova, Via Padova, Padova,
Italy; and
c
Dipartimento di Medicina Animale, Produzioni e Salute, Universita` degli Studi di Padova, Viale dellUniversita` 16,
Legnaro, Padova, Italy.
KEYWORDS:
excessive appetite;
feeding behavior;
domestic cat;
stress;
behavioral treatment

Abstract An 8-month-old male cat was presented with a history of abnormal feeding behavior. Physical examination revealed a dull hair coat and slightly thin body condition. A detailed history and a
behavioral examination revealed context-specific excessive appetite, pica, food-related aggressiveness,
and excessive solicitation of interspecific interactions. Results of routine hematological and urine laboratory tests were normal, except for the presence of hyperglycemia. The presumptive diagnosis was of
psychogenic abnormal feeding behavior. The treatment was aimed at reducing exposure to stressors
and modifying the cats behavior through desensitization to food and counterconditioning to feeding.
The diagnosis of a psychogenic problem was supported by the progression and the successful outcome
of the proposed treatment. Given the lack of an exhaustive description of psychogenic abnormal feeding behavior in the scientific literature, the present case provides the first characterization of its clinical
aspects and demonstrates the efficacy of treatment.
2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Case presentation
An 8-month-old neutered male Siamese cat was presented
to the Animal Behavior Service of the Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine, Universita` degli Studi di Padova. The main
complaint, in the owners own words, was the cats

Address for reprint requests and correspondence: Paolo Mongillo,

DVM, PhD, Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione,
Universita` degli Studi di Padova, Viale dellUniversita` 16, 35020, Legnaro,
Padova, Italy; Tel: 139-049-641862; Fax: 139-049-641174.
E-mail: paolo.mongillo@unipd.it
1558-7878/$ - see front matter 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2012.02.005

obsession for food, characterized by abnormal feeding behavior, including pica.

The cat lived indoors with a 10-year-old, obese, spayed
female cat and was fed 3 times a day with a commercial
diet for neutered cats (Royal Canin Young Male S/O).
On presentation, physical examination was unremarkable, except for a dull hair coat and a slightly thin body
condition. A detailed neurological examination revealed no
abnormalities.
Because poor dietary management could have accounted
for the cats condition, recommendations were made to
switch to a kitten diet and to increase the frequency of

Mongillo et al

Abnormal feeding behavior in a cat

meals to 5 per day. Although an ad libitum feeding schedule would have been preferable (Manteca Vilanova, 2003),
this option was impractical because of the presence of the
obese cat. Fifteen days later, an improvement was seen in
the cats hair coat and body condition, but no change was
reported for the cats behavior toward food, ruling out insufficient caloric intake as a direct cause of the abnormal
feeding pattern.

Behavioral history and evaluation

A detailed history was taken to characterize the type, onset,
and progression of behavioral signs. The cat had been
adopted at the age of 8 weeks by the current owners, and
the old, obese, spayed female cat was already present at the
time of its adoption. The owners reported that, ever since
the adoption, the cat would fling itself at the food bowl and
voraciously eat its as well as the female cats food. The behavior worsened, and the cat began to steal food from the
table and attempt to take food as the owners were bringing
to their mouths to eat it. Later on, the cat started to cling
to the food can whenever its meal was being prepared
(Figure and Video S1), and to display aggressive behavior
(hissing and growling) toward approaching humans or
cats while eating. The owners tried to solve the undesirable
situation by administering physical punishment (spraying
with a squirt gun, smacking the cat with a newspaper) or
coercively taking the cat away from the food. The cat
also exhibited pica, preferring plastic objects of different
colors and shapes. In some circumstances, despite the presence of food, the cat did not show abnormal behavior (e.g.,
when the owners were having breakfast in their bedroom or
when the cat was fed dry food).
During the history taking, the cat was let free in
the examination room, where he expressed a normal

391
exploratory behavior. The cat was sociable toward people
and insistently solicited attention with its forepaws from
both the owner and the veterinarian. He also sought the
owners physical contact, jumping on shoulders and laps
and kneading. When exposed to food, the cat exhibited
an abnormal feeding behavior in both its appetitive and
consummatory phases: it rushed for the food can, clinging
to it with its forepaws, voraciously consumed the whole ration, and looked for more food when done. When presented
with a toy (a stick with feathers on one end), the cat
exhibited abnormal predatory behavior, grasping the toy
directly with the mouth and hissing. He also ingested the
feathers.

Differential diagnosis
On the basis of the physical examination and history, we
considered as part of the differential diagnosis the conditions characterized by excessive appetite, namely, neurogenic, psychogenic, or endocrine dysfunction related
polyphagic syndromes (Behrend, 2000). In fact, polyphagic
syndromes may be characterized by excessive appetite or
eating (MedlinePlus Medical Dictionary, 2012). In the
case presented here, ingestion of excessive food (eating
the female cats meals) as well as an abnormal appetite,
as indicated by the cats behavior, was evident.

Laboratory examination
Results of routine hematological and urine laboratory tests
were within the reference range, except for the presence of
hyperglycemia (268 mg/dL, reference interval [RI]: 86116
mg/dL).
Specific evaluations were conducted to rule out hyperadrenocorticism and hyperthyroidism, which can be associated with both hyperglycemia and increased appetite.
Both urine cortisol/creatinine ratio (0.73, RI: 0.202.30)
and free thyroxin serum levels (12.6 pmol/L, RI: 7.8
12.8 pmol/L) were within the reference range.

Diagnosis

Figure Presenting signs. A video still showing the cat climbing

onto the owner to reach the food can with the forepaws. The still
was extracted from a video made by the owner on our request before the first examination.

Results of the laboratory diagnostic tests allowed us to

exclude endocrine dysfunction, reducing the list of differential diagnosis to neurogenic polyphagia, a disruption of
the hypothalamic nuclei that regulate food intake, and
psychogenic abnormal feeding behavior. The latter was
considered more likely, as the behavioral signs were
context dependent rather than generalized, as one would
expect in a neurological disorder. Moreover, the cats behavior during the examination strengthened the suspicion
of the psychogenic origin of the cats abnormal behavior
and hyperglycemia. Therefore, further diagnostics, which
could have definitely ruled out a neurological disorder,

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Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Vol 7, No 6, November/December 2012

were deferred until after attempting treatment for psychogenic abnormal feeding behavior.

when present at the owners meals. Moreover, abnormal

social behaviors toward both the owners and the other cat
were no longer exhibited.

Treatment and follow-up

A therapeutic protocol was planned, aimed at reducing
the exposure to potentially stressful conditions (such as
a hypostimulating environment, unpredictable and aversive
social interactions, and an inability to satisfy food- or
social-related drives) and, subsequently, at modifying the
cats behavior in response to food.
For the first aim, the owners were asked to (1) provide
appropriate environmental enrichment and satisfy exploratory and play needs, without eliciting either aggressive
behavior or pica in the cat, (2) schedule a daily routine for
frequent, short, pleasant interactions, while ignoring the
cats requests for attention at other times, (3) reward calm
behaviors and avoid any form of punishment, and (4) prevent exposure of the cat to food, except at the time of its
meals, which should thereafter consist of dry food only.
Fifteen days after starting the treatment, improvement
was reported in the behavior of the cat, who appeared more
relaxed and sought less attention from the owners. Because
the sight of food was prevented, no abnormal feeding
behavior was reported in this period.
Based on this progress, desensitization to food associated with counterconditioning was initiated. Desensitization involves a gradual exposure to the stimulus that
normally evokes the undesired behavior. Thus, the cat
was initially allowed to be present only at the owners
breakfasts, a situation in which it had shown some degree
of self-control. As the treatment progressed, the cat was allowed to attend the owners main meals, which gradually
included more appealing food (e.g., steamed rice at first,
meat or fish eventually).
Counterconditioning is the process whereby an animal is
trained to perform a behavior that is incompatible with the
undesired behavior, when presented with the precipitating
stimulus. In this case, the owners were instructed to teach
the cat a simple behavior to perform on command (sit!)
whenever food was presented, and to reward the cat if it
responded appropriately.
After 1 month, the cats requests for the owners attention
increased in frequency and included vocalizations and
jumping onto the owners shoulder when they were in a
crouched position. Moreover, the cat repeatedly showed
aggressive behavior toward the female cat, while waiting
for its meal to be prepared. The owners were asked to
separate the 2 cats in this context and to continue the progressive behavioral modification protocol. During subsequent monthly follow-ups, the owner reported a consistent
improvement in the cats feeding and aggressive behaviors.
At the time of the last examination, 5 months after the initial
presentation, the cat did not show any abnormal behavior
at the sight of food (Video S2), and it remained relaxed

Discussion
An abnormal increase in appetite, with alterations in
feeding behavior, may be found in the course of several
pathological conditions, including endocrine, infectious,
gastrointestinal, neurological, and psychogenic disorders,
and conditions in which energetic demand is not met by
diet. Although the differential diagnosis would require an
initial assessment of the fluctuation in the cats body weight
(Behrend, 2000), this could not be performed in our patient,
since the cat was still growing. Most conditions could be
ruled out by the absence of other common accompanying
signs and the lack of alterations in hematological and
urinary parameters. The concurrent presence of excessive
appetite and hyperglycemia could indicate hyperthyroidism
or hyperadrenocorticism. Hyperthyroidism was unlikely,
given the cats young age (Gunn-Moore, 2005), and the
condition was definitely excluded on the basis of free
thyroxine levels (Peterson, 2006). Hyperadrenocorticism,
which can be characterized by a dull hair coat and very
vague clinical symptoms, was ruled out by evaluating the
urinary cortisol/creatinine ratio (Gunn-Moore, 2005).
In the absence of glycosuria and other clinical signs, hyperglycemia was most likely a transient consequence of stress
(Opitz, 1990), possibly associated with clinical procedures.
Psychogenic alterations in the cats feeding behavior
have not been specifically discussed in the scientific literature and are only mentioned in veterinary internal medicine
textbooks (Behrend, 2000). In the behavioral medicine literature, altered feeding patterns are often reported among
compulsive disorders (CDs)/obsessivecompulsive disorders (OCDs) (Hewson and Luescher, 1996; Overall and
Dunham, 2002; Askew, 2003). The present case lacked
2 necessary features of CDs, namely, the expression of a
behavior out of context (Hewson and Luescher, 1996) and
the interference with normal daily activities (Overall and
Dunham, 2002). Moreover, improvements are seldom
seen in CDs/OCDs without a pharmacological intervention
(Luescher, 2009).
In the present case, it was impossible to ascertain the
primary cause of the abnormal behavior, as this behavior
was present at adoption and we could not obtain information
on the preadoption period of the cats life. In contrast, it is
well known that early experiences are crucial for the development of appropriate adult behaviors. Studies on rodent
models demonstrate that even mildly stressful experiences
in early life may result in the acquisition of abnormal feeding
patterns (Jahng, 2011). After adoption, both inadequate environmental stimuli and the lack of control and predictability
about social interactions represented likely causes of stress
(Carlstead et al., 1993), which could have exacerbated the

Mongillo et al

Abnormal feeding behavior in a cat

cats maladaptive response. It should be noted that feeding is

a self-rewarding behavior, which holds a stress-relieving
value per se (Urlich-Lai et al., 2011). Challenges deriving
from physical and social environment, including rehoming
and competition with the other cat, may also have triggered
pica, an abnormal behavior for which Siamese cats appear to
be predisposed (Bradshaw et al., 1997).
Regardless of what caused the increase in appetite in the
first place, a reward mechanism is likely to have contributed to maintaining or exacerbating the cats abnormal
behavior in response to food.
The successful outcome of the treatment supported the
presumptive diagnosis of a psychogenic disease. Moreover, the behavioral escalation that was seen during the
treatment is consistent with extinction (i.e., the termination of the reinforcement contingency that maintains an
acquired response; Pearce, 2008), supporting a learning
component in the expression of the abnormal feeding
behavior.
To the best of our knowledge, this case is the first report
of psychogenic abnormal feeding behavior in a cat.
Although the condition is mentioned in veterinary literature, there is virtually no knowledge on its clinical presentation, pathogenesis, and treatment options. The present
case is relevant, as it not only provides the first characterization of this condition, but also shows the efficacy of
treatment.

Supplementary data
Supplementary data related to this article can be found
online at doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2012.02.005.

393

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