Advice on hungry cat feeding schedule

Does anyone have advice on how to keep a constantly hungry cat from driving you crazy?! The past 3 weeks Sam has been switched from dry free fed and wet combo to all wet food. Much better for him
And his IBD. He loves wet food so that isn't an issue but since the switch he is CONSTANTLY hungry. I feed him really high quality wet (natures variety instinct) that holds him over for probably only a couple hours. He's about 8.5 lbs, and NVI is around 220 cals a can, so I know he should be getting about 1 can a day. I split this up into three, sometimes 4 meals throughout the day depending on my work schedule that day. He acts as though I'm starving him. During the day isn't SO bad, my problem is at night. I have been leaving him a good amount of wet as late as I can before bed (probably 10:30 pm or so) hoping it will hold him overnight. Without fail, he comes and wakes me up around 3 or 4am acting like he is starving to death. I know I just reinforce his behavior by getting up to feed him, but he's relentless and would seriously keep me up till I fed him.

Any advice? I know he's used to having access to dry food overnight. I have tried adding some
Dry into his diet and due to the IBD it always ends up giving him diarrhea. Would really like to leave dry out of his diet completely if I can. But he's driving me nuts at night... Is he truly hungry or does he just enjoy his wet food?

Also... 3 weeks ago he had a full CBC and chem panel done to check for organ function. Everything normal. A thyroid test was not done, vet said generally if something is off ith the thyroid, his liver numbers would be off, and they were totally normal.

How old is the cat? He may have worms, heartworms or tapeworms. Why does everyone on here jump to the worst case outcomes ?
 

He's 11, recovering from pancreatitis almost 4 weeks ago. Doing very well other than he eats like a hog

Congratulations on getting your cat on an all wet diet! Your mistake of course is giving in to his 4 a.m. demands in the first place. :lol3: He has trained you well.

How about a timed feeder?

Save a final portion of his daily canned quota, put it in the feeder and set it to go off at 3:30. Do not, ever, acknowledge his efforts to get you up, just roll over and pull the sheet over your head. He will soon learn to anticipate the feeder popping open.

Get a good one though, not one he can break into.

Otto- I know, right? I'm a pushover :lol3: I have actually been looking at those feeders, they always seem to have mixed reviews, half of the people saying it didn't open And their cat went hungry, others thinking its the greatest thing on earth. Part of me thinks I shouldn't HAVE to get one of these, that I should be able to train him to only eat at certain times. Then again, this is a cat we speak of here and like you said, apparently he has already trained me.

Well I wouldn't recommend using one as a sole source of food, or for leaving a cat alone for any length of time. But hey, if it doesn't open, he may occupy himself trying to break into it, instead of waking you up. :lol3:

PS You may be able to train him, if you are willing to lose some sleep for a few months, until he learns, but a few months now will save you years of having to get up.

None of my cats wake me to be fed in the middle of the night, even though there have been times when I have had to wake myself every night to feed a special needs cat in the middle of the night.

They knew she was the only one getting fed, even if I was feeding her right in the bed with me, and them. I do have one cat who has food anxiety, but she manages to make it through the night, thank goodness!

One thing to do is never ever feed as soon as you get out of bed. You want to break the association between you getting out of bed and him being fed.

Get up, put the coffee on, turn on the computer, take a shower, whatever. THEN feed breakfast.

Good advice, Otto! I will definitely stop doing it straight out of bed. Half the time I don't think I'm even awake yet.

He actually may not be hungry, but bored.  That's what I discovered with my kitty.  Do you play with him, as much as he'll play?  If so, have a good play session just before bedtime, then give him a final wet food feeding.  That might help get him through the night.
 

Thanks, Stephanie... He has never been much of a play kitty, but I will try that. It hasn't arrived yet, but we just ordered him a 6 foot cat tree/condo. Hopefully that will keep him more entertained, too!:nod:

Good point Stephanie!

You know, maybe you just haven't hit on the right Game for him yet. Never give up playing, you never know what a cat will decide to like.


Offer Paper Bag Forts (cut handles) Newspaper Tents, Box Forts, Catch The Bump Under The Rug......the possibilities are endless.

Catch the Bump Under the Rug for example:

I have one who only likes to pounce on things when she can't see them under there (just the mysterious bump), and one who wants to be able to see it poking out from the edge of the rug and the third wants to be UNDER the rug herself, with the bump outside the rug

Otto what is your deal about wet food? Wet food causes a host of mouth issues if teeth are not brush. My boy hates wet food and he is prefectly fine
 

Brand LeeSnider said:

Otto what is your deal about wet food? Wet food causes a host of mouth issues if teeth are not brush. My boy hates wet food and he is prefectly fine
 

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Brand LeeSnider, it is not just otto. The vast majority of the regulars on this site strongly believe that wet food is much better for cats than dry for a multitude of reasons. In addition, there are no dental benefits from dry food just as there is no dental harm from wet food. Yes, brushing and dental cleanings are the best way to keep your cat's teeth clean. Gnawing on raw meaty bones will also help to some degree. A lot of it may just be genetic luck of the draw.

But don't just take our word for it. Here are sites maintained by vets who agree that dry food is bad for cats and provide no dental benefit.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/does-dry-food-clean-the-teeth/

http://www.catinfo.org/  This site even has a section on addressing your comment about your cat being "fine" on dry food. http://www.catinfo.org/#My_Cat_is_Doing_Just_Fine_on_Dry_Food

(edit) I take it back, it wasn't in this thread that I explained to you why a wet diet is so important, it was in another thread you posted in. Sorry about that.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/261782/...r-just-wanting-food-all-the-time#post_3379867


I explained to you in my above post why a wet diet is so important to cats. Please do read my post. In addition, you can read the information in the link I provided, and read the many many threads in the nutrition section of this forum.

Why do you think that wet food causes dental problems? Who told you that, a pet food company representative, maybe? Remember that pet food representatives have an agenda, they want to sell their food.

It is not true that wet food causes dental problems any more than it is true that dry food cleans teeth. Both are fallacies, unproven myths perpetuated by pet food companies who want to sell their sub par products.

Dental health in cats is largely genetic, but feeding a wet diet improves overall health of the cat, so will help the cat keep a healthier mouth too. The only type of diet that actually improves dental health is a prey model raw diet.

I do hope you will read the information provided and do some more research, for the benefit of your own male cat. Feeding him a wet diet will go a long way toward keeping him healthy all his life. If you think he is 'fine' now, you can't even imagine how much MORE than fine he will be, on a wet diet.

The original poster in this thread has already discovered that

For what it's worth, I have seen some pretty amazing changes since Sam has been on all wet. His cost is better, not scratching at himself as much, his eyes are much clearer and less "teary" and his energy level is much higher. Wish I had made the transition long ago. Luckily he is an extremely healthy 11 yr old cat besides mild IBD, so I'm hoping this will ward off anything else that would have likely arisen due to a mostly dry diet (maybe kidney issues). I know everyone chooses to do things differently, but this was a very beneficial change for us.

I also just scheduled his first dental cleaning in 2 wks. Very nervous about him going under! :/

My boy is very good at drinking from a bowl. The main problem with cat is that they need water in their diets. That is why dry food is bad because of the lack of moisture in the food. Since my cat drinks water from a bowl with ease the dry food is not a problem. I think this is due to his father being a wild cat. Wild cats always take advantage of a water source. My first cat Tyler did not like drinking water. I never seen a cat drink so much water in my life til I brought Demon home.

Sam was constantly drinking from his fountain but since switching to all wet I rarely if ever see him do it. I do add water to his wet food, too, though.

That is because he is getting alot of his water from the wet food. Sam is fine. Just make sure he stil have access to water.
 

leapoffaith03 said:

Sam was constantly drinking from his fountain but since switching to all wet I rarely if ever see him do it. I do add water to his wet food, too, though.

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My cats are 50/50 raw/canned fed and never drink at all. I freshen the water twice a day anyway, but no one ever goes near it.