My cat is craving food ALL the time now! Help!!

iseemtobeaverb · May 21, 2008

My cat, a female calico indoor, used to get fed about half a cup of food around 8 PM every night. After awhile she began eating it very quickly and waking us up early in the morning crying for more. In an attempt to quiet her I began giving her half her food in the morning and half at night thinking this might curb her cravings. After about a week of this she seems to cry even more than before, now she cries for food most of the day (i.e. when she isn't sleeping). I hesitate to feed her any more food since she is already getting a bit portly and doesn't burn many calories. Anyone here have suggestions on how to fix this problem?

Thanks!

yayi · May 21, 2008

It sounds like she is hungry and bored. Like us, if we have nothing to do, we eat. Also, half a cup/ day is IMHO not enough.
I feed mine a full breakfast (half cup wet food) and free feed dry food throughout the day. They have lots of exercise when awake. They do not beg for food but whenever I get within 1 meter of the area where their cat food/treats are, they get pretty noisy.

I do not think they're begging, it's more like "lets see if mom will treat us to some goodies". They're not insistent if there is none.

kluchetta · May 21, 2008

I had similar trouble and my solution was feeding wet food, but it had to be high quality. My one cat that has this problem seems to be fuller with Wellness, or Avoderm.

iseemtobeaverb · May 21, 2008

Thanks for all the input yayi and kluchetta.

I'd be more inclined to feed her more food if she was more active, but she doesn't really play very much. Would you recommend changing her food to a diet formula? Like I said, she's an indoor cat of advancing age, so she isn't really running around a lot. She mostly just ambles around the house, occasionally sprinting (when I walk toward the kitchen).

Thanks!

laureen227 · May 21, 2008

what kind/brand of food are you feeding her?

iseemtobeaverb · May 21, 2008

My roommate buys her Purina dry food. I think he gets whatever is on sale at that time.

laureen227 · May 21, 2008

Originally Posted by ISeemToBeAVerb

My roommate buys her Purina dry food. I think he gets whatever is on sale at that time.

she'll probably want less if you get her on a higher quality food. but which one partly depends on what you can afford.

larke · May 21, 2008

Definitely feed her more. Definitely play with her more, interact, give her things to chase and pounce on. Wiggle and pull things for her. She'll do more than laze around iuf she has something TO do.

kluchetta · May 21, 2008

Originally Posted by laureen227

she'll probably want less if you get her on a higher quality food. but which one partly depends on what you can afford.

I agree, my Tigger was 14 or 15 when this happened (we got her at 14) and she had been getting Friskies and Fancy Feast. I was feeding her constantly and she would still be hungry right after feeding. So I finally bought something a bit more quality (I think it was Avoderm) and after the first can she actually curled right up and went to sleep. She's 18 1/2 now and has the most amazing soft shiny fur!

kittymonsters · May 21, 2008

Is she an older kitty? If so, have you had her thyroid checked. Hyperthyroid cats tend to get ravenous, so this might be an early sign.

if she is a young cat though, hyperthyroidism is not very likely.

ktlynn · May 21, 2008

Originally Posted by Larke

Definitely feed her more. Definitely play with her more, interact, give her things to chase and pounce on. Wiggle and pull things for her. She'll do more than laze around if she has something TO do.

I also agree with other members that it doesn't sound like she's getting enough food. Upgrading her to a high-quality canned food will help satisfy her cravings and is much healthier for her.

Kittymonsters had an important suggestion about the thyroid, a problem which can occur at any age but is something that more commonly affects older kitties. Your cat is exhibiting a classic symptom of hyperthyroidism. If it's been awhile since you've had bloodwork done for your cat, *specifically* a thyroid test, you should get her to the vet to rule out that possibility. Untreated hyperthyroidism is life-threatening.

howtoholdacat · May 22, 2008

Originally Posted by kittymonsters

Is she an older kitty? If so, have you had her thyroid checked. Hyperthyroid cats tend to get ravenous, so this might be an early sign.

if she is a young cat though, hyperthyroidism is not very likely.

I agree a vet check makes sense because there was a sudden change in her behavior. It could be something as simple as worms. I'd consider suggestions about changing her food too. It really does make a big difference.

phelana · May 23, 2008

I would put a small cup of dry food out for the day. IMHO most cats like to graze a little all day. Eukanuba and others has weight control dry food so check around.

My cat is craving food ALL the time now! Help!!

iseemtobeaverb

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yayi

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kluchetta

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iseemtobeaverb

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laureen227

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iseemtobeaverb

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laureen227

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larke

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ktlynn

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howtoholdacat

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phelana

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