# Does your pet know when to stop eating, or will they stuff themselves until they burst? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 28, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252 "2012-04-28T18:29:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/21 "2012-04-29T05:45:27Z")
Now that my dog is older she’ll sometimes leave a bit of food in her bowl “for later,” depending on how lazy we are being that day. Most of the time she at least cleans it up. If there is people food around I’m sure she’d never stop eating it. If there’s another dog around and it has food she will eat her food, the other dog’s food, the people food and set her eyes on eating the other dog all out of one-upmanship. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/22 "2012-04-29T06:26:33Z")
I feed all three of my pets (one cat, one dog, one cockatiel) “on demand”. That is, I fill their bowls and when they’re empty, I fill them again. I’m pretty sure that’s how one feeds all birds, at least that’s how I’ve always fed my pet birds and none have ever gotten overweight or eaten themselves sick. I’ve never actually had a dog that couldn’t be fed on demand. The only time my dog gets scheduled meals is when I have a roomie (most recently my sister in about 2008 or so) that has a pet that must be fed scheduled and portioned meals. Neither the cat, nor the dog have ever over-eaten. Though the cat will occasionally help herself to a dog food snack, and the dog used to sometimes break into the cupboard where I keep the cat food and help herself to some. Even then, she would just drag the bag out and have a little bit. It’s not like she’d mow through a whole bag even if she does get it out. I started putting the bag up above the laundry, even though I don’t begrudge her an occasional cat food snack, she would make a bit of a mess sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/23 "2012-04-29T06:44:43Z")
once i rescued a kitten from the drain. the poor thing was so weak and starved i had to hand feed it bottled milk for a while. he would always get so excited during feeding time and hugged the bottle with all four limbs claws out like i would take it away from him before he was done. hence he was a voracious eater who wolved down everything we gave him. i loved the little bugger but we had to be careful not to overfeed him. one day it happened anyway and he ate so much he vomited, though he learnt to be more discerning about food after that. ---
**Author:** ![williambaskerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/24 "2012-04-29T07:58:42Z")
Our chocolate black princess would stop when she was full, and remained very svelte. Currently, she’s at the end of a pregnancy :- we’re expecting kittens momentarily, and she’s eating everything in front of her. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/25 "2012-04-29T08:34:53Z")
I always (half) joke that our Golden has [Praeder Willi syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praeder_Willi_Syndrome) with a little pica thrown in for good measure. She’s actually worse once she’s eaten. She just doesn’t want to stop - surfs all the counters, trash cans, anything she can get into. And “going for a walk” pretty much just means “looking for things to scarf while I’m pretending to find a place to pee”. The world is her buffet. She ate a 5 lb bag of FLOUR once. Ghost-doggie. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/26 "2012-04-29T10:19:41Z")
I’m pretty sure Elwood, our Pembroke Welsh Corgi, would overeat if we let him; mainly, though, I’m _certain_ he’d eat _snow_ until he keeled over. He has always had a strange relationship with water. Well, not ‘strange’ so much as ‘completely and utterly obsessive’, to the point he will drive you nuts if you have to listen to him drink over and over and over _and over and over_ for too long. (The dog is a roiling mass of medical problems, most of them congenital, but he’s in a long-term stable state. I don’t know much about most of them, but they’re not something anyone here could fix. The interesting thing is, he was way too interested in water even _before_ most of his problems manifested.) Anyway, snow is, for him, manna from heaven, food off God’s own table. It is food and water in the same mouthful; the only way it could be better is if it ran away from him when he barked at it so he could chase it down. Once, when I was out with him, he actually sat on his butt in front of a little drift and plopped his head down into it simply to maximize the amount he could cram into his mouth. It was just like every cartoonish image of a human making a pig of themselves, minus the polka-dotted napkin tied around the neck. He’d eat snow until he died of hypothermia. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/27 "2012-04-29T11:31:34Z")
I have a beagle. 'Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/28 "2012-04-29T16:10:00Z")
We had recently gotten a new kitten in our house, and one day I made a plate of scrambled eggs but was called away on an errand. When I returned, the eggs were gone and nearby was one really bulbous kitten. Seriously, she looked like she swallowed a baseball. While I can’t say she would have kept eating until she exploded, she came awfully darn close. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/29 "2012-04-29T20:55:49Z")
> [@Vicullum](#): > > We had recently gotten a new kitten in our house, and one day I made a plate of scrambled eggs but was called away on an errand. When I returned, the eggs were gone and nearby was one really bulbous kitten. … looking at you as if to say “What? Do you think _I_ did something, you absurd little monkey?” ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/30 "2012-04-30T00:23:41Z")
I’ve had several gorgers. They were starving strays when I brought them in and would eat every scrap of food they could find. One of them would eat until he puked, then would eat his puke if I didn’t get there in time to stop him. It took years before I could free feed him. One of my cats who self regulated his kittyfood noshing went nuts over cantalope. He would try to climb my leg to steal some out of my mouth. One day, I thought I would teach him a lesson, so cut half a melon into kitty sized pieces and gave it to him. He ate until his belly was buldging, then turned into a kitty loaf while watching the plate until he was able to eat another bite. He didn’t explode. I’m surprised the litterbox didn’t, though. I’m the one who learned the lesson that day. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/31 "2012-04-30T15:22:58Z")
It’s common for my dog to go right after eating anyway, so I think she would set herself up essentially as a continuous-operation poop pump, eating without stopping at one end, and spooling it out at the other. Picture an industrial meat grinder that churns out chocolate soft-serve ice cream. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/32 "2012-04-30T15:34:15Z")
The Neville kitties are one of each. Katya can free-feed, though her preferred way to eat is with one of us petting her while she does. Yes, she is a very spoiled kitty. Luna will overeat, sometimes to the point of vomiting. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/33 "2012-04-30T16:56:55Z")
Our cat will eat his fill and walk away with regular cat food, though he does beg for things that he especially likes, like tuna juice or turkey. Years ago, we had a Beagle. She would eat anything not nailed down. That’s evidently a trait of the breed, especially because they were kept in packs, which meant if you didn’t gobble everything down, someone would beat you to it. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/34 "2012-04-30T17:06:09Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Both of my cats would eat until they exploded. Then their disembodied little heads would roll around looking for additional noms. I read this on Friday and I laughed the entire damn weekend! 😃 I’m glad this thread is here; I’ve been worried about my puppy (this is my first dog). He’s a Jackabee (half Jack Russell, half beagle). He always acts like he’s just STARVING, inhales his food in less than a minute and I’ve never seen him reject _any_ food (I’m a big pushover and will let him have people food every now and then). He will eat ANYTHING. I’ve been worried we aren’t feeding him enough but he looks normal. Then I read this: > [@Dr. Woo](#): > > I have had four beagles in my dog servant career, and every one of them has been a complete glutton and would eat until they overflow. And then have that wafer thin mint. this: > [@PunditLisa](#): > > I have a beagle. 'Nuff said. and this: > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Years ago, we had a Beagle. She would eat anything not nailed down. That’s evidently a trait of the breed, especially because they were kept in packs, which meant if you didn’t gobble everything down, someone would beat you to it. Now I’m not quite as worried. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/35 "2012-04-30T18:59:53Z")
I free feed and my dog generally gets 4-6 cups per day. Some days he’ll eat it all, some days he’ll leave some. He also never turns down a treat or people food and usually waits until he’s absolutely sure we’re not going to give him anything else “special” that day and ends up eating in the middle of the night. He is skin and bones; I don’t know where he’s putting it all. He’s 40 lbs. He also likes to eat the leaves off bushes but I think that’s so he can throw up when he has an upset stomach. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/36 "2012-04-30T19:03:37Z")
Two beagles here and at least one of them has been to the vet for his unending appetite. He ate his regular meal, the females meal, then got in to the garbage for the plate scrapings post dinner. A day later after a night at the doggie hospital and a 500 dollar fart, he came home… and got in to the garbage again. smdh. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/37 "2012-04-30T19:15:01Z")
Baron’s dry food bowl is always kept filled - he eats it once a day. People food, though, he’ll eat like crazy. Same with his Meaty Bone treats and Beggin Strips. I think I’ve seen him turn down a Meaty Bone once - he wasn’t feeling well. His two legged father, however, DOES in fact eat until it makes him sick. When he tells me I finished the meatloaf for lunch and had a ham sandwich (and there was almost a pound of meatloaf left!!) - and I don’t feel so good, all I do is roll my eyes. Go figure - he isn’t overweight at all but my dog weighs as much as my husband! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/38 "2012-04-30T20:40:36Z")
Mystery can manage her food responsibly. Tikva eats everything, then wiggles her paw in the feeder for more. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/39 "2012-04-30T20:57:56Z")
> [@PandaBear77](#): > > I read this on Friday and I laughed the entire damn weekend! 😃 > I’m glad this thread is here; I’ve been worried about my puppy (this is my first dog). He’s a Jackabee (half Jack Russell, half beagle). He always acts like he’s just STARVING, inhales his food in less than a minute and I’ve never seen him reject _any_ food (I’m a big pushover and will let him have people food every now and then). He will eat ANYTHING. I’ve been worried we aren’t feeding him enough but he looks normal. > > Then I read this: > > this: > > and this: > > Now I’m not quite as worried. 🙂 Yeah, it’s at least partly a breed trait. Mr. Shoe’s childhood dog was a beagle, and she put goats and in-sink food disposals to absolute shame. My childhood dog was a mini poodle, and our next-door-neighbor has one now, and both are free-feed: take a nibble, wander off, nibble again a while later, etc. Both our cats are free-feed, too. I think they would deem it unseemly and undignified to do otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252/40 "2012-04-30T21:33:59Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Mystery can manage her food responsibly. > > Tikva eats everything, then wiggles her paw in the feeder for more. Who’s dominant? I’m wondering if being dominant has anything to do with overeating. Luna is our dominant cat, and she’s the one who eats too much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-pet-know-when-to-stop-eating-or-will-they-stuff-themselves-until-they-burst/620252.md?page=3)