might finally have a solution to matt "starving"

I think I might finally have figured out a solution to Matt thinking he's starving

I divided a 13oz can of evo in 3 sealed glass bowls for 3 days, counted the calories, then checked the calories for 1/4 cup of kibble....it works. Since I want him on wet and the only time he seems full is on kibble, I measured his kibble into a separate sealed container  and every time I put his food down  I sprinkle some kibble at the side of the bowl to fill him up. any kibble left over at the end of the day is his snack to hold him overnight and delay his morning wake-up. Calorie count was 265 for today with no begging or substantial attempts to break into the food containers 

Wow, that's a lot of calories.

Mine are the same - they eat way more than the recommended amount (l thought they didn't eat much till l came to this site, lol) but they're very active so they stay slim. l am worried about the kitten though. He's a cobby breed and already eats as much as the adults so he's more likely to become paunchy if l don't cut him back once he's grown. And like your Matt, he's the one who acts as if l had been starving him every time l go into the kitchen! He won't eat kibble though, and he's a raw-lover so hopefully a diet change will help.

He's eating a bug as l type this, maybe he IS starving 

He started out according to can instructions for his 14lbs, 400- 500 calories depending on the food! I've been scaling him back since I got more information about his real requirements,with the help of site users and my vet. This is the least he's ever gotten, and he didn't moan and complain

Matt won'teat people food...or any meat I give him....but if he's caught a mouse and is hungry, he'll eat all but the head, and he eats all bugs he catches

Matts mom said:

I think I might finally have figured out a solution to Matt thinking he's starving

I divided a 13oz can of evo in 3 sealed glass bowls for 3 days, counted the calories, then checked the calories for 1/4 cup of kibble....it works. Since I want him on wet and the only time he seems full is on kibble, I measured his kibble into a separate sealed container  and every time I put his food down  I sprinkle some kibble at the side of the bowl to fill him up. any kibble left over at the end of the day is his snack to hold him overnight and delay his morning wake-up. Calorie count was 265 for today with no begging or substantial attempts to break into the food containers 

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I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying you weren't actually feeding him the number of calories you thought you were? Because I thought you said before he was getting something like that number of calories??

mschauer said:

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying you weren't actually feeding him the number of calories you thought you were? Because I thought you said before he was getting something like that number of calories??

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I've reduced his calories a little.....the aim is to get him to 250 without complaint but every time I reduce his dry food to replace it with wet he shouts about me starving him. I  figured out if I put a little of his daily kibble allotment down with every wet meal, he stops complaining. 

When he was eating the huge amount of calories was when I first started him on wet food....before I found this site and found out how little food is necessary to maintain a cat's weight, and it's taken me a month or so to  slowly reduce his intake to where we're at. Unfortunately when he begs outrageously, someone else feeds him, so I have to be careful to feed him in a way to avoid too much begging *sigh* 

I think the real control started about 3weeks ago..when I sent you the pm, and switched to using 5.5oz cans to learn portion control myself That was when I put him at 300/day

then I had him down to 275, with a 5.5oz plus 1/8th cup kibble, and he was  always begging, and money ran tight and he went to dry food for a week while I sorted things out and I'm able to afford his cans again  so he's back on them, but with a higher kibble ratio and lower calories

Matts mom said:

I think the real control started about 3weeks ago..when I sent you the pm, and switched to using 5.5oz cans to learn portion control myself That was when I put him at 300/day

then I had him down to 275, with a 5.5oz plus 1/8th cup kibble, and he was  always begging, and money ran tight and he went to dry food for a week while I sorted things out and I'm able to afford his cans again  so he's back on them, but with a higher kibble ratio and lower calories

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OK, so at 275 calories, 5.5 oz wet plus 1/8 cup kibble, he was begging for food. But at 265 calories, 4.3 oz EVO plus 1/4 cup kibble he doesn't beg. So basically he seems more satisfied with when a larger portion of his diet is kibble even with lower calories.

Is that right?

mschauer said:

OK, so at 275 calories, 5.5 oz wet plus 1/8 cup kibble, he was begging for food. But at 265 calories, 4.3 oz EVO plus 1/4 cup kibble he doesn't beg. So basically he seems more satisfied with when a larger portion of his diet is kibble even with lower calories.

Is that right?

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yes, as long as he's having kibble he's satisfied.....it must sit heavier. The top three ingredients are chicken meal, oatmeal and fresh deboned chicken in this weight loss formula...I'm not thrilled the grains being so high, but at least the fat in this version of his food is only 10% not 20% like the easy to digest he was on before. I will try to scale it back again once he loses a little weight....it won't be the wet food I withdraw, I plan to get  him to a healthy weight on all wet

If 250 is the appropriate calories for 12lbs, the what would be for 13? I was thinking I'd sit him there for a little while as he gets used to eating less, and shake a few kibbles off the top of the scoop each day as we go?

Matts mom said:

If 250 is the appropriate calories for 12lbs, the what would be for 13? I was thinking I'd sit him there for a little while as he gets used to eating less, and shake a few kibbles off the top of the scoop each day as we go?

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250 kcals for 12 lbs would be 20.8 kcals/lb so 13 lbs would about 271 kcals.

I probably would reduce the kibble more slowly. Maybe every 2 or 3 days. Can't say I really know that would be better though.

oops i didn't mean reducing calories by the day...I'm bad at articulating. if he's 14lbs now,and I feed him for 13lbs....then when he reaches 13lbs, i'd reduce him for 12lbs and keep him there.......but as I reduce kibble.....if he tolerates it, I could replace the calories with wet food......allowing 10 calories/day for the treats hubby gives him The vet says I can bring him in free for weigh-ins  if I make appointments

l feel your pain.

My son has strict orders NOT to give the cats kibble (l have 2 almost full bags, mixed together, that l bought before l found this site).

He just shouted up from the kitchen, "ALL the cats are on the counter, l dunno if you want to feed them ..."

Apparently l'm starving them, but l want them hungry for the maiden batch of homemade raw l'm making today 

Matts mom said:

oops i didn't mean reducing calories by the day...I'm bad at articulating. if he's 14lbs now,and I feed him for 13lbs....then when he reaches 13lbs, i'd reduce him for 12lbs and keep him there.......but as I reduce kibble.....if he tolerates it, I could replace the calories with wet food......allowing 10 calories/day for the treats hubby gives him The vet says I can bring him in free for weigh-ins  if I make appointments

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Oh! Gotcha.

I just saw you said he's on diet kibble.

I know you want to get rid of kibble alltogether, which I think is best, but if you DO feed kibble, diet kibble is actually worse as it contains less protein and they feel hungrier.

But that's good you got Matt's hunger pains down.

BTW where did you work out the 250 carlorie count for a 12 lb cat. If that is the case, I'm feeding mine too little. he's 1 1/2 years old, and at 12 months he weighted 12 lbs though I am not sure if he is still 12 lbs or if he is now 13 lbs. He doesn't get more than 200 calories a day usually.

redvelvetone said:

BTW where did you work out the 250 carlorie count for a 12 lb cat. If that is the case, I'm feeding mine too little. he's 1 1/2 years old, and at 12 months he weighted 12 lbs though I am not sure if he is still 12 lbs or if he is now 13 lbs. He doesn't get more than 200 calories a day usually.

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I didn't personally.....that's what the vet told me when  I asked for a kcal amount to give him daily if I want him at 12lbs. Because I feed him a variety of canned foods, i can't be getting feeding instructions every time I get a new can, I need to be able to work out for myself how much to feed him.....my vet would have me on a sponsored science diet-kibble if I left it up them lol so I choose my own food and check in with them if I need help with portion sizing...then I only buy foods that list kcal on the label

Ok hm. maybe I am feeding Magnus too little....