Marcie is ALWAYS hungry....

weldrwomn

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I need some reassurance that I am not starving Marcie...
I got her from the shelter when she was 5mos old, now she is a year old shorthair tortioseshell and probably full grown, but she is always hungry. If she knew how to use the phone, she would call the SPCA and report me for starving her, yet she is a healthy weight (9-10lbs), her ribs feel nicely padded, and her coat is sleek and shiny. She has been tested for worms and she doesn't have any. I have tried to free feed her but she will literally eat until she explodes. Normally, I feed her a packet of Meow Mix wet food in the morning and then when I get home, I feed her three half cup scoops (evenly spaced through the evening) of Brandon Farms Organic Dry Cat Food. Is this enough or am I really starving her as she would lead me to believe? She cries the most pitiful cries and dramatically throws herself on the floor near her food dish whenever I go in the kitchen. I have asked the vet how much she needs to be fed, but he was very vague and not much help. What is your advice?
 

baelfire

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Hmmm that sounds exactly like my cat. I'm really interested in knowing is there a reason behind this.
 

katachtig

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Carly is that way - she was a shelter cat and was actually underweight when we got her. The rescue group said that she would only eat wet food - well, we found out that she just didn't like the dry food the rescue had. Now we are trying to keep her weight under control. When we go into the kitchen, Carly really tries to convince us that she is passing out from hunger.
 

roxie225

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Oh my goodness that sounds just like Roxie!

When we went to the vet in March she was 12 lbs. and a hugeeee dry food junkie -- we were free feeding at the time and it was before we switched to a premium brand.

Since switching her food and feeding meals rather than all day long she acts as though I am starving her to death! I feed her 1/2 can wet per day ( 1/4 in the am and 1/4 in the evening) and 1/4 cup dry at lunchtime. She is finally starting to trim down but she makes me feel so guilty. Am I not feeding her enough??

I really think it boils down to her just being a drama queen, but boy -- the theatrics!!! She would eat all day if we let her and she would be a very happily fat kitty
 

beandip

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Originally Posted by WELDRWOMN

I need some reassurance that I am not starving Marcie...
I got her from the shelter when she was 5mos old, now she is a year old shorthair tortioseshell and probably full grown, but she is always hungry. If she knew how to use the phone, she would call the SPCA and report me for starving her, yet she is a healthy weight (9-10lbs), her ribs feel nicely padded, and her coat is sleek and shiny. She has been tested for worms and she doesn't have any. I have tried to free feed her but she will literally eat until she explodes. Normally, I feed her a packet of Meow Mix wet food in the morning and then when I get home, I feed her three half cup scoops (evenly spaced through the evening) of Brandon Farms Organic Dry Cat Food. Is this enough or am I really starving her as she would lead me to believe? She cries the most pitiful cries and dramatically throws herself on the floor near her food dish whenever I go in the kitchen. I have asked the vet how much she needs to be fed, but he was very vague and not much help. What is your advice?
I don't think you are starving her. 1.5 cups of dry food sounds like a lot. I'm unfamiliar with the Brandon Farms food, do they have a website you could link to? Meow mix pouches have decent ingredients, and they're economical...but there's not a whole lot of filling stuff in there. It takes a lot of those to satisfy a cat, IMO. Tons of gravy and just a bit of food. I might suggest a wet food that might be more filling, and then re-evaluate the amount of dry food she gets. Maybe we could help you with that, if you have a link to that food. There are lots of choices for wet foods...it just depends on your cat food budget and what's available in your area.

Do a lot of Torties have insatiable appetites? My Paisley can eat and eat and...eat! She's 11lbs, 1 yr old, active, and gets apx 5.5oz of quality wet food per day, and she can't lose an ounce for anything. We'll see. She sticks her paws in the drain looking for crumbs. Don't feel bad, hopefully Marcie will calm down.
 

bonnie1965

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I'm sorry, I am not much help, but oh the theatrics! I don't think it is a tortie trait, just a cat trait. I have had cats who had the neighbors wondering if we starved them
Gotta love kitty drama
 

katachtig

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My tortie, Lucy, is the pickiest cat we have. She won't eat wet food half of the time unless I hand feed her. So I think it is more what happened as they were growing up.
 

beandip

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Originally Posted by Bonnie1965

I'm sorry, I am not much help, but oh the theatrics! I don't think it is a tortie trait, just a cat trait. I have had cats who had the neighbors wondering if we starved them
Gotta love kitty drama
Yeah, I was sort of kidding about the tortie comment...I just thought it was funny that 3 out of 4 "starving"
kitties in this thread were torties. Paisley acts like she's really suffering, but her sisters aren't like that. She's my drama queen.
 
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weldrwomn

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I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that Marcie is a shelter kitty. I thought that things would be a lot easier if I could free feed Marcie, so I have tried on several occasions to just fill her bowl with food thinking that she will stop when she is full, but both times, she will just lay there by the bowl unlit she can fit more food and she will not move until her bowl is empty. Even after eating a whole bowl of dry food, she will still cry like she is starving...

I know that Brandon Farms has a website somewhere, I have never been there, but they are also listed on that pet food list under Blue Seal...

http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/petfoods_pg1.htm
 

batgirl2good

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wow, you have some cool kitties! I love their names!



Originally Posted by beandip

Yeah, I was sort of kidding about the tortie comment...I just thought it was funny that 3 out of 4 "starving"
kitties in this thread were torties. Paisley acts like she's really suffering, but her sisters aren't like that. She's my drama queen.
 

batgirl2good

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I s she losing weight on this plan? I would like to see Humble and Shenandoah lost 1 pound so that they'd be around 13 lbs.

The vet says that some cats are just bigger, and I have 2 of those. However, I do not want them to get overweight.

They are indoor kitties and do not get a lot of exercise.

Originally Posted by Roxie225

Oh my goodness that sounds just like Roxie!

When we went to the vet in March she was 12 lbs. and a hugeeee dry food junkie -- we were free feeding at the time and it was before we switched to a premium brand.

Since switching her food and feeding meals rather than all day long she acts as though I am starving her to death! I feed her 1/2 can wet per day ( 1/4 in the am and 1/4 in the evening) and 1/4 cup dry at lunchtime. She is finally starting to trim down but she makes me feel so guilty. Am I not feeding her enough??

I really think it boils down to her just being a drama queen, but boy -- the theatrics!!! She would eat all day if we let her and she would be a very happily fat kitty
 

roxie225

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Batgirl -- Yes, Roxie is losing weight nicely now with the change in diet and scheduled feedings. I also noticed she just seems happier and more active! She used to be scared to run up her cat tree when she was at her heaviest but she is now starting to tackle it once again! Her coat is also looking the best it has ever. We are very excited about the success we are having
. If you were wondering, we feed Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Indoor Adult dry and the wet canned as well.
 

xulili

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well the diet is working over here it sure seems like i'm starveing them but they normaly don't beg till a hour before dinner time lol

the 3 of em share a cup and a fourth of nutro indoor dry in the morning and a can of proplan at night there weight is gradually going down and they seem so much more active.
 

empire

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My himmy does that. Seems he needs 3 times the food my other cat does.
I give him all he wants to eat 3 times a day. Only a handful of dry food though, but all the canned food he wants & a Wysong burger piece. Then he's happy.
I used to feed him all day long, until he got the chrystals & I read it was'nt good to do that.
 
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