I measure out her food. When she has had enough and wants more later, before her next feeding, I put a few kibbles (about 10) in her dish to "tide her over" until feeding time. Or, I put a few pieces (about 7) of Meow Mix treats in her dish and "hide" 5 pieces while she eats the ones in the dish. She likes tracking down the hidden ones. But sometimes she cheats and stops eating the ones in her dish to look at where I am hiding the other ones. I stop hiding them until she goes back to the dish.
I cannot put a day's worth of kibble in her dish for her to nibble on at will. She eats the WHOLE amount at once and a few hours later wants more.
Ember probably does have some food insecurity and some anxiety due to her home of origin. She was the runt of her 3 kitten litter. The woman who had the mother was negligent with her pets and handled Ember roughly while I was there to pick her up at age 9 weeks. She told me glibly, as if it was no big deal, that Ember's two siblings hogged mama and pushed Ember away from nursing. They also hogged the kibble when they started on it. An older adult half brother of Ember attacked her when she was just 7 weeks old. The family dog rescued Ember and she bonded with the dog.
The first few weeks that I had Ember, she tried to "nurse" on my ear lobe when I laid down in bed. I guess the smooth skin surrounded by my "fur" (hair) made her think that she could get some comforting milk there. I had to gently redirect her away from my ear several times until she stopped doing it. She also tried to nurse on my neck, leaving little kitty hickies all over it.
Ember NEVER wakes me up, not even when I oversleep and she is hungry. Never tries to. But, once I am up, she is my shadow until I put food in her dish.
She is 7 years old now. No more nursing attempts since her kitten days. But she is still attached to food as if she she fears it might disappear.
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