My six month old acts like she is STARVING all the time.

jhinesis

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Title says it, my young female spayed cat--she's a hog. She'll eat all of her food(which according to the bag, is enough food for her for the whole day - maybe 3/4 a cup)--then attempt to eat all of the dog's food to the point I have to pick it up off the floor so he can have any at all, then walk around meowing and crying for more food all day long.

I just switched her from the Blue Buffalo indoor food to the Wellness Core(my dog is on the Wellness Core for dogs and she loves his food too). She's a very small, petite cat maybe 4.5 lbs--but she's such a little piggie! She was the same way before the food change, that hasn't changed, she was a hungry girl before and after.

What is up with this cat?
 

sharky

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Most cats grow till 18-24 months... Kittens up to 12 months( minumum) should be feed a Kitten food and free feed ( ie have food at all times and as much as they want)
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by stephanietx

How old is she?
based on other posts she is about 6 months ... 10 weeks at 23 aug
 

stephanietx

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So I answered my own question by READING the title of the post again!

Kittens have extremely high metabolism rates and burn lots of calories. She should most likely still be on a high quality kitten food and she should be free feeding, unless you have other cats you don't want eating her food. You might also want to add some canned kitten food to her diet.
 

lyrajean

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Good quality kitten food and lots of it. Those guidlines on the back of the bag/can are just that guidelines. Your kitty may need more or less depending on her rate of growth activity level and size.

She's a hungry teenager. Feed her.

The only other thing I can suggest is has she been tested for parasites? Worm infestations can rob a cat of nutrients and make them hungry. Our in/outdoor cats always got skinnier and hungry when they had tapeworms. In fact, it was often our clue to treat them.
 

shanynne

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Yes at six months she is still a growing baby!!! She needs to eat three to four times what you are giving her. If you could add canned food to her diet as well as the dry that would be excellent.

Just as a point, the fact that she is going for the dog food should be an indication to you on just how *hungry* she is! So please feed her adequately! You also need to keep her away from the dog food because the dog food won't have the same nutrients, vitamins, minerals, etc. that cats need, especially a growing six month old kitten. She is being not "a little piggy" but a kitten who is still developing and growing and kittens need three to four times more food than an adult cat.
 

stephanietx

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If it helps, my vet had me start transitioning to an adult cat food and feeding schedule over a 3-month period starting when my girl was about 11 mos old. Until that time, I free fed her dry and gave her a healthy serving of wet food twice a day.
 
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