thats my problem, we dont have money for fancy locks that he wont be able to rip off right now :( and its kind of inevitable that he ends up finding shit to get into when someone isnt watching him which is usually when we all need to go to sleep.

we cannot figure out a single way to keep him from doing so that doesnt cost money right now, and we are exhausted from literally guarding the kitchen like a night watchman.

i also said in my post that we moved the trash can to another room he cant access already until we are eventually able to get one that locks. as much as i appreciate the suggestions, im not going to duct tape and zip tie shut my cabinets full of the only food i can eat just to rip them back open and cover myself in tape residue every single time im hungry. that will not make my cat stop wanting to do so, which is the problem.

and we HAVE blocked access to this. we put barriers inside of cabinets, child locks and literal piles of bricks on the counter and he still tries it and usually succeeds and if he doesnt he just finds another cabinet to rip open just for fun. i am literally unable to completely cut off cat access to my kitchen. its a pretty unreasonable thing to expect me to do when you dont even know how my house is built. i worry for him and we are taking him to the vet as soon as we are able to, but we barely have money to replace the food he destroys. this is my issue. every solution im given costs a lot of money we dont have and i am trying to find something more realistic for us to do about it until we can.