why are my cats always hungry?

     I have two cats, brother and sister that are always looking for food. They will turn 2 in May. They break into my cabinets and the boy, Sonic, is so aggressive in stealing food and stalking me while i am cooking.  When we sit down to eat he will reach up to the table and all you see is his paw going after your plate. I feed them 1/2 can moist each and 1/2 cup of dry each broken into 3 feedings. Right now they are eating a perscripyion food because the girl, Sally Peaches, had a sever food allery when she was 6 months old.  the food is perscrptives ZD feline high allergen. I am currently slowly introducing blue buffalo to sonics food but sallys allergies are so bad i think she will need to stay on the perscriptives. When i try to free feed they eat too quickly and then throw up.  Do you thing the perscription food is not filling enough for them?  Please any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Bell

I think  you're on to something--I don't think the prescription food is filling them up.

I googled (Hill's) perscriptives ZD feline high allergen and noticed that the first ingredient is Brewers Rice (a carbohydrate) and the second ingredient is hydrolyzed chicken (chicken is a protein, but 'hydrolyzed' means it is by-product).  Some cats are allergic to chicken and some cats don't do well on grain.  Also, on a percentage basis, there are far more carbs than protein in the dry food.  Cats are obligate carnivores, that mean, their diet should be very high in protein, moderate amount of fat (much more than for humans), and almost no carbohydrates.

I think one reason your cats are so hungry is because they are eating too many carbs and not enough protein.  Blue Buffalo is a better food, but wet is best.  Raw feeding is the ideal.
I would recommend trying a limited ingredient canned food such as Natures Variety and Natural Balance.  Also try to avoid grain; "B.G." is a decent brand.

What kind of canned food are you feeding?  Could you elaborate on the severe allergic reaction Sally Peaches had 18 months ago and how do her allergies manifest themselves now?

Finally, what does your vet say about your cats insatiable hunger?

Thanks.

Ritz,

Thank you for your response. Sally's symptoms first startd with a scratch on the side of her face between her eye and ear, that quickly became infected and formed a circle. I brought her to my vet who shaved the area,cleaned the wound and put her on antibiotics, Sally continued to scratch the same area until raw and red. We went to the vet every two weeks for antibiotic shot and now a steroid shot. My vet did bloodwork and checked for ring worm. It took a good 3 months(december-march) for the area to heal completely to where there is now a scar and no hair.  I did not want to continue steroid injections as i did not feel that was a good long term treatment, so my vet put her on Atopica allergy medicine and i give her 1/2 a Zyrtec every morning. I discontinued the Atopica as Sally's symptoms became less severe, due to the side effects including a compromise to her immune system. For several months she has not severely scratched that area, although somtimes it does become pink, but i do find cuts on her neck and head and see her scratching those areas. I clean them with saline solution and watch carefuly for signs of infection. Sally and Sonic Currently both eat Hill Perscription ZD feline allergen moist and dry food.  Last monday I added a very small amount of Wellness moist tuna to both Sally and Sonics food and that evening Sally was scratching at her face aggressively leaving the area once again red and raw and bleeding, i clean the area with saline solution twice a day. I noticed Sonic scratching around his neck but no cuts and not as aggressively.  I also added a small amount of blue buffalo dry to sonics food only. I feel I have left Sonic on the Percriptives food this long to reduce Sally's risk of cross contamination and this is not fair to him.  I will try the brands you reccomended, I am not sure i am up to the raw diet unless it is my only option. My vet explained to me as Sally peaches is a femal orange tabby she will be prone to skin conditions and that Sonic and Sally are at a healthy weight and to supplement their feedings with treats. But, consiidering just yesterday i buttered a roll, turned my back for a minute and sonic stole it and took off, and i have hair ties closing all my food cabinets and my trash can is bungee corded close and as i type this my mother is tring to eat her dinner with sonic stalking her, I would like to find another solution  rather than just adding treats to their diet. i have wondered if their current food lacks some of what they need.

Thank you again for your help

Bell

Bell,

Thanks for the explanation.

I would avoid fish given Sally's reaction.  Also, be diligent about keeping Sally's nails short.

Not sure what to more to say, maybe someone else with more experience will chime in.

I have attached an article about skin and other allergies, might give you food for thought.

I guess you know female orange cats are unusual--most are male.

Good luck.

Ritz,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I already see some improvement in sonics hunger this week with with the addition of the wellness and blue bufflo to his diet. Let's hope it continues.  I think i will purchase the brand you suggested and try a little at a time on Sally. also after reading the article it is interesting that Sally's symptoms didn't start until about 3 weeks after she was vaccinated.

Thank you,

Bell

Someday I hope the manufactures start making prescription food with high quality ingredients. It's a hard situation when you are dealing with allergies and the prescribed food is loaded with fillers instead of meat. I absolutely agree that is why they are hungry.

Glad to hear Sonic is doing better and I hope Sally is soon.

Ritz said:

I guess you know female orange cats are unusual--most are male.

Click to expand...

OT, I know. . .but not really. The ratio is about 75% male/25% female. So, yeah, red males are more common but red females aren't very unusual, not as rare as male torties. I have a red female and my mom has a red female, and I've known about 4 or 5 more in my life. I also don't believe the color means they're more prone to skin disorders, except maybe sunburn if they're pale. Vets say some weird things sometimes.

Willowy, thanks for the correction.  For trapping/TNR purposes, it helps to know what cats to prioritize, i.e., calico first, orange tabby second.

And yeah vets definitely say weird/not quite true things sometimes.

Willowy said:

OT, I know. . .but not really. The ratio is about 75% male/25% female. So, yeah, red males are more common but red females aren't very unusual, not as rare as male torties. I have a red female and my mom has a red female, and I've known about 4 or 5 more in my life. I also don't believe the color means they're more prone to skin disorders, except maybe sunburn if they're pale. Vets say some weird things sometimes.

Click to expand...

Genetic anomolies aside, all red male cats have a red or tortie mother.  I've heard that red cats have more dental problems, though my own red moggie never needed a dental until the last few months of his life when he was too ill for an anasthetic - he had a bad tooth.  He was 15 1/2 and I had had him for 12 years when he was pts.

     I am just beside myself with miss sally peaches. I have her on the food perscribed by my vet for a year now and am very careful in watching what she eats and Sunday morning she scratched herself so bad she pulled out all her hair on the top right side of her head and cut herself up pretty bad. This is the worst she has ever been. The last severe episode was last christmas and it took until march for it to heal. Do you think it could be more seasonal than food related? Although she does scratch all year long, but not this bad. I did try to introduce a small amount of regular food to her diet last Monday, could this be from that? We have a vet appointment tonight. 

Bell

My Brooklyn had MAJOR food allergies and I contacted a pet nutritionist and she gave me great advice on what to feed brooklyn.  

Here is her article about allergies in case your interested in reading it:

http://www.askariel.com/Articles.asp?ID=256

Thanks brooklynp221,

My vet recommended i see a dermatologist. I'm going to call tomorrrow. I'll keep you posted.

Bell