Extremely hungry cat

riley1

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After consulting with you guys I decided I would feed my cat original Instinct Cans.  To maintain her weight the vet said she could only have a max of 250 cal.  I have been giving her a 5.5 oz can divided into two meals.  This is 221 cal.  She is always hungry!  She just ate a piece of chex mix I dropped on the floor.  This contains garlic which is not good!  Right after feeding her she asks for more.  I have to lock her in a room to eat myself.   Weighting 7 lbs right now which the vet said is just right.  She is new to me & somewhere between 1 & 1 1/2.  She was an indoor/outdoor cat before & indoor is the practice & law here. Very active - never gets enough play.  When I first got her I was feeding her 4 small cats of fancy feast because it was all I had on hand.  During the 2 weeks she was at the shelter & a few days with me.  She gained 1 lb - 6.3 to 7.5 - got her back to 7 with current diet.  She looks very healthy.  I would switch to low calorie instinct but it only comes in chicken or salmon.  A steady diet of these two would not be good. 

I feel like I am starving her.  I don't see this as the behavior of a chow hound.  Something has to be wrong.  My vet said she just likes to eat & is no help. She is fixed but maybe has some type of hormone in balance?

Has anyone had a cat like this & any ideas on what I can do to help her?
 

bonepicker

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After consulting with you guys I decided I would feed my cat original Instinct Cans.  To maintain her weight the vet said she could only have a max of 250 cal.  I have been giving her a 5.5 oz can divided into two meals.  This is 221 cal.  She is always hungry!  She just ate a piece of chex mix I dropped on the floor.  This contains garlic which is not good!  Right after feeding her she asks for more.  I have to lock her in a room to eat myself.   Weighting 7 lbs right now which the vet said is just right.  She is new to me & somewhere between 1 & 1 1/2.  She was an indoor/outdoor cat before & indoor is the practice & law here. Very active - never gets enough play.  When I first got her I was feeding her 4 small cats of fancy feast because it was all I had on hand.  During the 2 weeks she was at the shelter & a few days with me.  She gained 1 lb - 6.3 to 7.5 - got her back to 7 with current diet.  She looks very healthy.  I would switch to low calorie instinct but it only comes in chicken or salmon.  A steady diet of these two would not be good. 

I feel like I am starving her.  I don't see this as the behavior of a chow hound.  Something has to be wrong.  My vet said she just likes to eat & is no help. She is fixed but maybe has some type of hormone in balance?

Has anyone had a cat like this & any ideas on what I can do to help her?
My cats get more food!
 

mingking

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I'm not your vet and I'm new to owning a cat too, but my cat eats quite a lot too. He's 14lbs when I got him and I'm just figuring out he needs about 350 calories a day (that's two whole cans of food). 

Of course, if your cat is super active, she'll need more food. I don't know the breed of your cat, but from my own research, cats are around 8-10 lbs (with a few exceptions... like my cat lol). 

Maybe you could feed her some treats throughout the day. I feed my cat freeze dried raw food as treats and they're usually 1-2 calories a piece. 
 

anne with cats

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You just may be starving her!  She is a young cat, very active as you stated in your other thread. I feel that cats really don't hit their full adult size until around age 3. My Smokey is of svelte stature, yet I knew he was still growing, and around 3 he was finally full sized and solid. My Kira is a more full bodied cat, and she is always hungry. At this time, I kind of give into her because I think she is depressed because Lloyd my 20 year old cat died. She really loved Lloyd. Kira  also lost her other friend Stewart when they were less than a year old, They were buddies, but he wandered off. So I have been trying to pamper her a bit, and she was either a semi feral cat when I found her, and may have a fear that food won't be there. She growls at the other cats at feeding time. Your little kitty might have issues from being at the shelter, not getting enough food as a kitten, and have some of those issues also. But whatever it is, I think at her age you should give her a little bit more food. I have never owned an overweight cat, so I must be doing something right!
 

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@Riley1, I agree with the others and and also not your vet
but think it would be good to try feeding a little more. If your cat is that active -- and young! -- she's just burning up the calories. As a comparison, our two active two-year-old Siamese mixes are about the same size (roughly 7 or 8 pounds each) and typically seem to eat at least the equivalent of 250 calories a day. I don't count calories, though, because I feed them a lot of different foods with differing calorie densities and their appetites and activity rates vary. I find it most helpful with these two to watch what they eat, how they look, and how much they ask (or don't ask) for food. Our cats are a lot like @Anne with Cats: one is svelte, the other more full-bodied. I think there are food issues with our cats, too: they came from a "too many cats" situation and were underfed when we adopted them. It may take some time for your cat to settle into her food routines and feel secure about being fed enough. Our svelte cat loves to sniff out scraps and dropped food, too... I think it may be a habit she learned from the old days.

One other thing you might try, if you're at home a lot: we feed our cats five or six small or medium-sized meals a day. Maybe feeding a couple small snacks in between the two large meals would help. It does wonders for our cats!

Good luck!
 
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riley1

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@Riley1, I agree with the others and and also not your vet
but think it would be good to try feeding a little more. If your cat is that active -- and young! -- she's just burning up the calories. As a comparison, our two active two-year-old Siamese mixes are about the same size (roughly 7 or 8 pounds each) and typically seem to eat at least the equivalent of 250 calories a day. I don't count calories, though, because I feed them a lot of different foods with differing calorie densities and their appetites and activity rates vary. I find it most helpful with these two to watch what they eat, how they look, and how much they ask (or don't ask) for food. Our cats are a lot like @Anne with Cats: one is svelte, the other more full-bodied. I think there are food issues with our cats, too: they came from a "too many cats" situation and were underfed when we adopted them. It may take some time for your cat to settle into her food routines and feel secure about being fed enough. Our svelte cat loves to sniff out scraps and dropped food, too... I think it may be a habit she learned from the old days.

One other thing you might try, if you're at home a lot: we feed our cats five or six small or medium-sized meals a day. Maybe feeding a couple small snacks in between the two large meals would help. It does wonders for our cats!

Good luck!
thanks.  The vet did say she was petite & could not carry a lot of extra weight.  Will try feeding her a little more & checking her weight.  I like the idea of several meals & there are now some auto feeders for wet food but I don't know how well they work.  One review said a cat can break them & get all the  food.  I am feeding her all wet because it is lower in calories and the vet said if I can afford it,  she will never develop diabetes.
 
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riley1

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Thanks everyone!  She did have tape worms at the shelter & was treated.  I had a fecal done last week & they said did it was clear but maybe a recheck in a month would be a good idea.  My recently departed Rizzo was very self regulating & stayed the same weight all of his life.  He had wet & dry food all the time.  Being home a lot he just asked for wet food when he was hungry.
 

mingking

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I hope your cat settles into her routine and you figure out how much to give her! I have heard that wet diets don't put on too much weight for cats so I wouldn't worry too much about her gaining weight. I mean, when cats get fat, switching to raw or wet is the solution most of the time. 
 

lisahe

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I hope your cat settles into her routine and you figure out how much to give her! I have heard that wet diets don't put on too much weight for cats so I wouldn't worry too much about her gaining weight. I mean, when cats get fat, switching to raw or wet is the solution most of the time. 
I think this is particularly true if the food is very low-carb... as Nature's Variety Instinct's wet food is. It's great that you're only feeding wet food, @Riley1. I suspect settling into a feeding routine is really important for a lot of rescue cats, particularly if they were underfed or strays. 

Also, @pinkdagger often posts charts of cat body types, like this Purina chart. One of our cats is about a 5+, the other is about a 5-!
 

puck

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Cats and dogs can vary with their daily caloric need. One 10lb cat needs less than the next 10lb cat, and not all stick to a rule of thumb by age or weight. I have plenty of geriatric 10lb-ers that need more than a 2year old of the same size to maintain their body condition. With age does not always come slower metabolism. I also have cats that need to be on very limited intake, 1.5-2oz, 2 to 3x daily, much less calories than if I were to calculate their metabolizable energy need. Any more than that, and they are overweight.

Some cats are in ideal body condition at 5lbs, some at 14lbs. If the fat and skin laying over their ribs, vertebra, and tailhead is ideal, a thin layer that you can feel, but not see any of these bony areas, they are within their ideal range.

Your baby reminds me of many that once were outdoors, eating throughout the day, and she may need more frequent meals spread out throughout the day. If she's in ideal body condition on a one 5.5oz can, then split that can into 4 meals, instead of 2. If she has some leeway to stay within her ideal condition, increase her food 25% (an additional 1/4 can) per day, and monitor her body closely to see how her weight distributes over her ribs, vertebra, and tailhead.

It really is difficult with some, as they weave in and out of their owners feet, tripping them, some swiping out and pawing at owners' feet, begging for food. Some wind up getting a very small amount of dry before bed, just so their people can sleep a few hours.

The 220 calorie daily requirement is a good benchmark, a starting point, a middle of ideal. You can tweak it though, and keep discussing with your vet.
 
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