matt thinks he's starving

matts mom

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Matt thinks he's starving, whenever he's on wet food, this has been ongoing since I put him on it in early summer, and only settled down when money got tight  and  I gave him dry food for a week. now i'm scaling back the kibble again to add wet, and he's acting like he's starving all over again. i don't want him on an all dry food diet, but that's the only way  he's not forever begging for food.....i have him on about 275 calories/day at 14lbs.....is it enough?
 

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Yes, that is enough calories, I think you are feed a high quality low carb canned food? (carbohydrates can cause hunger)

Try distracting him with a Game when he begs between meals. Get him running and leaping, exercise is both mental and physical stimulation. Many cats, just like people, will eat when they are bored, rather than when they are hungry. :)

The more often you play interactive Games with him, the more he will entertain himself at other times, and the less he will be thinking about food. Also, a bird feeder outside a window is helpful, Cat TV. :)

Eventually he will forget about the kibble again.
 

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When he is trying to convince you he is starving, what (brand, flavor) and how much exactly are you feeding him on a daily basis?
 
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matts mom

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When he is trying to convince you he is starving, what (brand, flavor) and how much exactly are you feeding him on a daily basis?
about every 2 hours...and he gets daily 5.5oz of  one of the following brands: EVO 95%beef, california natural salmon and sweetpotato, go natural whitefish and makeral( I think),  Merrik  grain-free (somethingfish flavoure) , friskieschef's dinner, friskies chicken dinner, and a couple of others i can't remember off the top of my head. he also gets 1/8th cup dry kibble(wholesome blend easy to digest) to top up his calories and give him something to nibble on. 

 i should note.........I recenty picked up the weight loss formula, of the wholesome blend, as due to money issues(and the vet telling me not to feed him friskies) I put matt on all dry for about a week--during that time he did not act starving, but began again when I reintruduced his friskies after noticing that his stools were awfuly dry on only kibble which is not normal for a cat who tends towards soft stools
 
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matts mom

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Yes, that is enough calories, I think you are feed a high quality low carb canned food? (carbohydrates can cause hunger)
Try distracting him with a Game when he begs between meals. Get him running and leaping, exercise is both mental and physical stimulation. Many cats, just like people, will eat when they are bored, rather than when they are hungry.

The more often you play interactive Games with him, the more he will entertain himself at other times, and the less he will be thinking about food. Also, a bird feeder outside a window is helpful, Cat TV.

Eventually he will forget about the kibble again.
matt eats when he's stressed, and the neighbourhood cats have  been bothering him lately....he's even made a couple of dashes out the door this week to try and chase of the 4 males belonging to my neighbour 3 doors down, who decided since they are spraying in the house and impregnating the girls...the best place for them is outside....though i  don't think it's entirely the reason for is wanting to eat all the time, it may have some small part?

He's lost allofhis balls too,s there a really good toyI could buy him? i have to becareful because he will eat string and loves the taste of elastic
 
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mschauer

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When he is trying to convince you he is starving, what (brand, flavor) and how much exactly are you feeding him on a daily basis?
about every 2 hours...and he gets daily 5.5oz of  one of the following brands: EVO 95%beef, california natural salmon and sweetpotato, go natural whitefish and makeral( I think),  Merrik  grain-free (somethingfish flavoure) , friskieschef's dinner, friskies chicken dinner, and a couple of others i can't remember off the top of my head. he also gets 1/8th cup dry kibble(wholesome blend easy to digest) to top up his calories and give him something to nibble on. 

 i should note.........I recenty picked up the weight loss formula, of the wholesome blend, as due to money issues(and the vet telling me not to feed him friskies) I put matt on all dry for about a week--during that time he did not act starving, but began again when I reintruduced his friskies after noticing that his stools were awfuly dry on only kibble which is not normal for a cat who tends towards soft stools
Well geez, I was hoping there was something about your food choices that could be tweaked to make him feel more satisfied but if he is eating all of those I would think he would be happy.

He is finishing all of his food, right?

The only thing I can think of is that my Toby is such a kibblehead that back when I was trying to switch them to 50/50 kibble/wet I couldn't do it. As long as he knew there was going to be kibble available he wouldn't eat any wet. I *had* to go to 100% wet. Even if Matt is eating all of his wet food maybe he's just trying to get you to dish out some more kibble??

Has he ever been on 100% wet?
 

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It's possible the week he was on kibble got him going again. Now he's had the "junk food" he keeps hoping you'll break it out again :lol3:...maybe.
 
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matts mom

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It's possible the week he was on kibble got him going again. Now he's had the "junk food" he keeps hoping you'll break it out again
...maybe.
could be......junk food seems to be the only time he's not trying to get me to feed him ore than he's meant to have! i't very frustrating, if hes on kibble, he settles into his mealtimes, and eats what he's given....and when given some canned says YAY YUMMY and mows it down too. start rolling back the kibble and all of a sudden the same amount of calories are starving him. But the thing is, when he's on kibble, he leaves some in the bowl to come back to later-he can't do that with wet food. I don't think he likes his empty bowls?
 

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He may have some food anxiety. How many meals a day? Breaking it up more may help. For instance, if feeding three meals a day, split each meal into two or even three small servings, separated by 15-30 minutes.

But you're right that those outside intact male cats don't help. You might want to install some feliway plug in diffusers to help with territorial feelings and stress that may be stemming from them being out there. I don't understand how people can be so ignorant and irresponsible. Any chance you can trap those toms and take them to a low cost spay/neuter clinic?
 
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matts mom

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Well geez, I was hoping there was something about your food choices that could be tweaked to make him feel more satisfied but if he is eating all of those I would think he would be happy.

He is finishing all of his food, right?

The only thing I can think of is that my Toby is such a kibblehead that back when I was trying to switch them to 50/50 kibble/wet I couldn't do it. As long as he knew there was going to be kibble available he wouldn't eat any wet. I *had* to go to 100% wet. Even if Matt is eating all of his wet food maybe he's just trying to get you to dish out some more kibble??

Has he ever been on 100% wet?
yes,he eats everything he's given, this boy just loves to eat.

When I got him from the shelter they had him on half cup of science diet kibble and he was skinny.....but they only had him for 3weeks, not even log enough to finish de worming him-they sent me his second pill wen i adopted him. i took one look at him,and his soft stools and had him into the vet, who said this cat is healthy should be 11-12lb(not 8.6) and changed and increased his kibble to fit the size we wanted to see him. in early summer It got REALLY hot, and I noticed his urine seemed to smell.......but the vet wasn't concerned, and I was using cheap litter at the time.....however I had read that dry food only diets could cause UTI and that males were more susceptable than females, so i started the switch. no, he'snever been on all wet...howmuch would I give hi if I fed wet only?
 
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mschauer

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When feeding wet, feed the same number of calories, 275. You're being careful to check the calorie content of the foods you feed, right? Remember it can be surprising how different the calorie content is with different foods. 
 
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the theory that he's eating out of boredom is valid....I just refused his food and he destroyed my tv stand trying to get the playstation to spit the disc out at him! Looks like an enclosed tv stand is in order.......he isn't even due to be fed till 2! He's been trying to figure out the electronics since he moved in, but he's neer turned them  before..
 
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when my cat bugs me to feed him not during regularly scheduled feeding times (he could eat all day if I let him and he gets 3 meals a day of wet only (and sometimes raw) but no kibbles), I try and distract him with play and this seems to have a good effect as he switches into play mode instead of whine-for-food mode. I may give him one treat after (a dried meat bite) and he seems OK after that. I am pretty sure when whining for food, he just wants attention in any form, and this may be the case with Matt as well. Try doing some high activity play where you get him running and leaping if you can.

(and yes, Magnus has shredded my computer chair - the only furniture in the house he's gone after - if I work on the computer too much and he wants me to give him food or play.) And when I'm in the art studio, if he thinks I'm in there long enough, he's started to go in and grab my paint tubes and run off with them. lol (Luckily I get them back before he does any damage to himself or the apartment)
 
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matts mom

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when my cat bugs me to feed him not during regularly scheduled feeding times (he could eat all day if I let him and he gets 3 meals a day of wet only (and sometimes raw) but no kibbles), I try and distract him with play and this seems to have a good effect as he switches into play mode instead of whine-for-food mode. I may give him one treat after (a dried meat bite) and he seems OK after that. I am pretty sure when whining for food, he just wants attention in any form, and this may be the case with Matt as well. Try doing some high activity play where you get him running and leaping if you can.

(and yes, Magnus has shredded my computer chair - the only furniture in the house he's gone after - if I work on the computer too much and he wants me to give him food or play.) And when I'm in the art studio, if he thinks I'm in there long enough, he's started to go in and grab my paint tubes and run off with them. lol (Luckily I get them back before he does any damage to himself or the apartment)
I have Matt's wetfood bought  for the week so maybe being back on his regular feeding schedule will help.....but what you say about the paint-stealing struck a chord, because i wason the computer for a few hours today when he began to beg for kibble...then chewed on my playstation and turned on my dvd player, and took dvds off the shelf and chewed on them too.....I thought he was bored, so i pulled him away and played with him letting him pounce me and petting him as he wrapped his paws around my arm. I have to  figure out howto keep him away from the playstation now that he's figured out howto turn it on lol
 
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