My Cat Is Always Hungry
After his owners moved and left him, my daughter had him neutered, wormed and put advantage on him for fleas and made sure he would use the litter box so I would take him home and adopt him. Well, she talked me into it... and I brought him home and totally fell in love with him. We think he's going to be 2 years old next spring.
He was so skinny when I first got him, and I'd never had a pet before so I gave him probably twice the food he needed. When he hurt his paw, I took him to the vet and the vet said he is very healthy but he needs to lose weight and to cut down his food intake by 20%.
Since I've cut his food intake, all he does is beg CONSTANTLY! He now gets into the garbage (to lick my old lasagna TV dinners) and we've had to lock up his dry food or he climbs to the very top of the shelf and gets in it. He is ALWAYS HUNGRY!
I feed him a high quality dry food in the morning and a low fat, high protein wet food before bedtime. But no sooner do I feed him, but he starts begging... (Meow, Meow, Meow) He even wakes me up at night for food... Which I refuse to give him because the Vet said he could get diabetes or other health problems.
Is he hungry all the time because he remembers living in the parking lot, or are some cats, just hungry ALL the time?
Cyinda from Seattle, WA
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RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
I too have adopted a stray cat. He is hungry all the time. I'm not sure if being a stray has something to do with it or they just love to eat. When I first got him I fed him a lot. I think he might just be used to me feeding him all the time. I think you need to cut down on feeding like morning and night. Only give him half of the can of wet food. I bought some small bowls and put in half of the wet food and he seems to stop bugging me for food. Good luck with your cat!
Post By Cat crazy (Guest Post)
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
I too have a very hungry 10 month old cat. We adopted him from a shelter and he was a stray. A big thing with male cats is once they are neutered, particularly shortly afterward, they have a tendency to want to eat a lot more. I have had several cats and with the males, this is always the case. you just have to be really strong and not feed him, get a bin he cant get into, keep all food in cupboards, it's a hassle I know, or if you have a door to your kitchen keep it closed apart from dinner times. As for any older cats with sudden changes in eaten habits, get a diabetes test done. It's very common in cats. But with all cats worm yearly. Good luck!
Post By michelle (Guest Post)
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
Great ideas but, my cat is an inside cat. Can an inside cat get worms? The food I give my cat is prescription diet for overweight cats. My cat prefers the dry food. Any suggestions?
Post By mabel (Guest Post)
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
I found this thread because I have another hungry cat. I've had one before and leaving food out was not the answer for me. I haven't tried it with this one, but with the last one I left a whole bag of food out in a bowl hoping that the cat would realize that there was enough food and he didn't need to be so aggressive at the food bowl and whatnot. Well that didn't work. He ate almost the entire bowl in less than 24 hours!!! It was incredible. He didn't throw up any of it either!
Well, now I have another hungry male neutered cat. He is also a stray that I got at the shelter. I'm wondering if these kinds of cats are just predisposed to having this hunger/starvation fear and that is what drives them to eat so much.
This cat bites me if I don't give him more food. He runs and attacks my legs. It's not nice. I guess it's better than constantly meowing, but it's still annoying. He is nagging me all day for food. I am trying to limit his feeding to 3 times a day and trying to minimize the portion, but I really don't think it's working.
He is a young cat. About six months old. But he's getting big so fast and I think he's a little pudgy already.
Well, we'll be off to the vet very soon. We need to get to the bottom of this. I have upgraded him to the best food on the market, hoping that if his nutritional needs are met he won't be hungry...but it's expensive and I can't afford to feed him 24/7 like this.
Thanks for reading.
Post By Enter your name. (Guest Post)
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
I have a female fixed cat that is about 15 years old and just recently within the past six months, she acts like she is starving. I have had everything checked and found nothing wrong with her. I was told to change her food, she got the runs and ended up with a urinary tract infection, that was not fun. I am still trying to figure this out, nothing seems to work. Thanx for anyone's help.
Post By Frances (Guest Post)
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
My cat is ALWAYS hungry too. As far as I know, he is healthy. He is 5 years old and recently started acting like a little "beggar". He gets fed twice a day, and no sooner after he finishes eating, he wants more. He's turned into a pest, and I don't know what to do. I've tried dry food, canned, low carbs, high sodium. NOTHING works. It's all the same to him. The only time he doesn't want to be fed is when he's sleeping. It's gotten very annoying. Any suggestions?
Post By Jayson (Guest Post)
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
I'm not an expert on this subject but, part of the problem with a cat who seems to be always hungry might be that as a stray it was hungry all the time. We adopted our cat "Nellie" about five years ago at the age of about two years from a local rescue group. We know nothing of her beginning but, wanted her anyway. She can be sound asleep then wake up meowing and run to her food as if she thinks another cat is after it, that could be the problem with your stray. The cat may not be "Hungry" but is eating the food before another cat gets it.
Post by fasu
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
My vet told me that the cats will get fatter on dry food than wet food. One of my two cats has a problem with not drinking enough so he has to have wet food or he thows it up. I give them one can of food in the morning to share and one at dinner time to share. Before I go to bed they get some dry food, maybe 1/3 cup and this will take him through until morning. If I know I might not get home in time for dinner time I will give them a little dry for during the day. But my male is always begging to be fed and they have always been fed this way. I think it's a male thing, his sister never begs. I had a male dog that was the same way but our female just eats what she wants and couldn't care about it.
Post by AJM1271
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
Some of you haven't read his replies.
Not all cats can have food out all the time because they will gorge themselves, become lazy, fat and most importantly *unhealthy*.
Post By Dan (Guest Post)
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
HI--- I'm the one who wrote the original post. Most of you have said one of 3 things:
1) Your cat may has worms.
2) Check for thyroid problems
3) leave food out all the time
------------------------------------------------
I'll start at the bottom & work up.
#3) When I wrote this post Smokey was FAT (or maybe just "pleasingly plump") & never begged for food UNTIL my vet told me to cut his food intake down. When I cut his food intake down by 20% as the vet said to do, THAT'S when he started driving me crazy! I can't just "Leave his food out" because he would chow down all day & that would do nothing for his weight problem.
#2) Thyroid: The vet SAID he was healthy, in fact his words were "Very Healthy" - "He just needs to loose a little weight". But you may be right, maybe I should have his thyroid tested. But he has all kinds of energy & is his same old bouncy self.
#1) Worms... Maybe??? But would a cat with a worm problem have healthy shiny healthy hair (he doesn't even shed) and he's not skinny (as I've heard worms can make them)
Smokey is finally starting to loose a bit of weight, I've found a cat food that satisfies him more. I've removed the carbs from his diet by changing his food from mostly a very high quality dried brand to a low fat / high protein wet food. Not having the carbs from the dried food seems to help his hunger because his insulin is not spiking & falling from the carbs.
My question is this: Is it true that a cat NEEDS dried food to help clean his teeth. I've heard both answers, some say "Yes!" some say it's an old wives tale. Is there a Vet out there who knows for sure?
Post by Cyinda
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
Hi, I agree with Darlene, have your vet run a thryroid check. This is very important. My 15 year old cat was very listless and pale, nose and paws. Off we went to the vet and discovered a thyroid problem which in turn can actually attack muscle tissue. Darcy had no other symptoms apart from hunger, up until it was extreme. He is now fine and has a thyroid tablet every two days and also a heart tablet daily. (the heart muscle was affected and he has heart failure). He has been on this medication for around 7 months now and doing fine, still have to watch how much he eats though. Also worm your cat with a good quality all wormer, supermarket brands are not as affective, you can get drontal from your vet. Good luck :)
Post by ruby ramona
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
Hi, I leave my cats food out all of the time. They eat what they want and then thats it. I have five of them and mine don't seem hungry all of the time by keeping food out for them. Also, my cats are not over weight either. My vet said that because they have access to food all of the time that they know its there when they want it.
Robin
Post By Robin (Guest Post)
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
My first thought is that you kitty has picked up a case of worms which unfortunately they can do easily. We have had cats for 20+ years and some of the behavior can be attributed to boredom or neediness - Mom I need you to play or love me and FEED me please. Alot more serious are the health considerations - underlying diabetes or thyroid problems. With the thyroid their metabolism is jacked up off the scale and they are constantly hungry and will eventually start to break down their fat and lose weight because they need it to just have enough nutrition to get through the day. Have a thyroid test done -not too expensive and not every vet considers this. We learned the hard way with a cat that almost died. Another consideration is the type of food. Growing kitties need extra calories from food that is easily digestible. We feed dry food and supplement with tuna packed in water about every other day. Not oil but water and it mixes with the dry and makes a nice meal. We also give our cats reverse osmosis distilled water which is available at Walmart for about .64 cents a gallon. We do this because one of our cats had a terrible problem with kidney stones and we found out that a culprit was the minerals in water. She is 6 years kidney problem free and is a breed that is reknown for kidney problems. Good luck with your problem and if your vet can't help you consider switching vets. Not every veterinarian is a "cat" person, we learned that they hard way also. You might consider going to a pet chat forum and posting there where others may have had the same problem. It couldn't hurt to ask.
Post By Darlene (Guest Post)
RE: My Cat Is Always Hungry
Hello, I'm the one who posted the original question. To answer your question:
---> My cat gets a high quality dry food in the morning & wet food before bed. (high protein & low fat, no carbs)
---> Also, He's an indoor/outdoor cat... so he's not as board as an indoor only cat. We have a big yard where he hangs out & hunts bugs etc in.
I just found these great web sites for obesity in cats:
---> http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/catweight.html
---> http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/pets-and-animals/obesity-in-cats/1021185/
---> http://www.catnutrition.org/obesity.html
One more question, About Tape Worms. He's only been wormed once (I think they need it at least twice?) (he's not quite 2YO. He has a healthy VERY shiny coat & the vet says he looks very healthy... I guess I should get him wormed again just to make sure.
Post by Cyinda
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