Is something wrong with my cat?

Hi and welcome to TCS. You do not say what you are feeding him, or how much, and therein probably lies the answer to your question. If your cat is very fat and lazy and also hungry, he may not be getting the right amount of proper nutrients from however much he is eating, and may need switching to a higher grade food. An all-wet diet would almost certainly be a good idea. Have you consulted with your vet over how to get him to lose weight gradually (never starve a fat cat - it can lead to liver failure very quickly).
I am going to move this thread over to the cat nutrition forum as I am sure you will get some good advice there, but we need to know exactly what his present diet consists of.

I feed him Meow Mix Hairball control. He needs the hairball control because he is a long-haired cat, and if I don't, he tends to have really bad hairballs around the house. Amount I feed him is 1/3 cup 2x a day. If I feed him more, he tends to throw it up

There are many people here more expert than me in cat nutrition and I am sure they will be along to comment. But I would get him on a wet diet as soon as possible. Meow mix is bad quality food, and many cats will vomit up dry kibble after eating it because it blocks in their stomach, before they have eaten enough. Does he drink a lot? He needs to or his system will be blocked and then he will vomit, kibble and hairballs. There is nothing pushing it all through. I honestly think if you can get him on to wet, the best quality you can afford, you will see a huge difference, both in his behaviour and his hairball problem. As to how much to give him, that depends on his weight, and I am sure someone will tell you that before long.

The other thing to help his hairball problem is to groom him more- remove as much hair as you can before he swallows it. This is one of the penalties of having a longhaired cat, but they are so beautiful they make up for it!

Maybe he would be more satisfied with wet food? Dry food is usually just empty calories and carbohydrates. This could be causing weight gain as well. If you would like to switch him to wet food, the best brands IMO are: Weruva, Tiki Cat (chicken flavors), Nature's Variety 95%, EVO, Innova and Wellness. If you want to continue feeding dry food, maybe a switch over to a better brand may help: Nature's Variety, EVO, Innova and Wellness have good quality kibble. He may not be getting enough from the dry food to satisfy his nutritional needs.

Sounds good, I'll give the wet cat food a try I think. Thank you guys for the help I appreciate it!!

kmkaeberlein said:

Sounds good, I'll give the wet cat food a try I think. Thank you guys for the help I appreciate it!!

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Had to say it but Meow Mix is a really poor quality food, pretty much all grocery store foods are.   They're filled with nothing but fillers and corn and crap and not much actual meat/nutrients and as such, cat needs to eat more to feel full.   1/3 of a cup twice a day doesn't seem like very much at all for a 15 lb cat.   You have to ensure you're feeding enough and good quality as larger cats are much more at risk for liver issues if they're not eating enough and start to lose weight as a result.   Premium cat foods may cost more but in the end you feed less and you end up with a healthier cat.   Older cats should be fed canned food at least once a day.....as they need the fluids in the canned food to help their aging kidneys....and you can leave dry food out as well.   If switching to a new kind of cat food, do it gradually by mixing a little of the new dry food in with the old stuff and over a week or so keep increasing the new type and less of old otherwise kitty's can get upset tummies/diarrhea from sudden diet changes.  

Just a suggestion for food:

Before it was discovered that my cat had allergies, she really liked Blue Buffalo Wilderness dry food. They also have wet food - she loved the duck! It's more expensive than brands like Meow Mix, but the quality is so much better and it will stop your cat from eating a ton of carbs. I fed her wet and dry food in the morning, then dry food again at night.

Best of luck,

Meg

Welcome to TCS, Kmkaeberlein!

Definitely, your kitty is feeling hungry because the kibble he's eating doesn't have the nutrition he needs, and is instead, full of unhealthy carbs and other ingredients.

In addition to getting him off all dry kibble and onto a variety of low-carb canned foods (see halfway down this page for several "recommended" lists: Canned Foods), I would suggest you start feeding him three times a day. Making these three changes - three meals a day, low-carb, and canned (or raw) - will likely make your boy feel fuller, lose weight and be free of hairballs! 

And just in case you need help transitioning: Transitioning Dry Food Addicts to Canned Food. 

AC