Very Hungry Cat

Hi,

I have recently adopted a domestic short haired and was given Hills Science Diet Hairball Control Dry food to feed her. She loves the food but we were worried she wasn't drinking enough so are now feeding a combination of wet and dry food. Last week I took her to the vet (for checkup and vaccinations) and was told she is a little overweight and to feed her at the top end of the 3Kg range, about 55g dry food a day. However we are finding that she is finishing her food very quickly and seems to be constantly hungry (leading us to food bowls etc to show us there is no food, licking/pawing where food is to show us there is none etc). Also, last week at the vet she was 3.6kg and this week when I weighed her she was 3.2kg. I am currently feeding 50g dry food (in a Catit Food Tree or rolling along the floor so she has to work for it) and one pouch of Felix wet food a day. Does anyone have any suggestions on other brands I could try that are still good quality or advice regarding what to do? I have looked into Advance, Royal Canin, Eukanuba and other Hills varieties but the best I could find is the Hills Optimal Care that would increase the amount to about 65g per day.

Thanks!

One of the problems with the Hills foods is their grain content. Cats are obligated carnivores which means they naturally eat almost exclusively meat. Unlike dogs who can survive on an omnivore diet even though they are carnivores. Essentially cats bodies can't break down non-meat as well as dogs can. So when you feed them a diet with grain in it they can easily gain weight. Especially around their mid-section.

The ideal diet for cats is a fresh pure meat diet with the correct mix of supplements to make up for them not getting to eat the whole animal. There are a lot of people on this forum and a whole area dedicated to how to do a fresh meat diet. However, a lot of people can't do that, don't have the time, don't have the money, or are worried about the negative affects if you mess up on accident. 

The second best option is a wet food diet that gives them plenty of moisture in their food, since cats have a low water drive, and is free from any grains. Next option would be a mix of wet and dry then a dry only diet. While we would all like to feed fresh sometimes we have to make the next best choice we can make for our feline companions. 

In your case, getting to a non-grain food will make a huge difference. Not only in weight but I imagine you will see some coat and overall improvement (I know I did when I made the switch). One thing to note is don't believe the labels about "grain free" you need to learn to read the labels. Ideally you want something that is meat (not by products and preferably not meal) in the first five, fish can be in the list but you want it lower down on the list (because of worries of mercury and fish quality), no grains, no rice, no potato (that is more my preference because I don't see potato as much different than grains in terms of weight retention). Ideally you want in the 35-45% for protein, around 8%+ moisture (if dry), 10% or lower fat as very broad ranges.

Yes, those foods are more expensive. But you will find that your cat will need to eat less of them each day because they have higher calories and are more filling. A 12 pound bag of dry feeds my three cats for a month. I know increasing the calories in your food may seem counter productive and you will need to decrease quantity but it does work if you employ strict portion controls. Just remember to switch slowly when changing foods. 

As to which food..... there are 101 opinions out there on which food is best. Check out the reviews and look online for pet food reviews. You can also buy online through chewy.com to get a better price. 

How old is your cat?  If she's senior age, then she may have a health condition that is causuing the hunger such as diabetes or thyroid disease. A vet would have to do blood work to determine if your cat has a health condition. If she's a kitten under a year old, then she still needs a lot of food to grow properly.

spage89 said:

Last week I took her to the vet (for checkup and vaccinations) and was told she is a little overweight and to feed her at the top end of the 3Kg range, about 55g dry food a day.

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 Is 3 kg (about 6 pounds) your cat's ideal body weight? 55 grams (1.94 ounces) of any food plus one pouch of moist food for an entire day is not enough for any cat. That may likely be why your cat is always hungry. Cats who don't get enough food and caloreis daily lose weight and are at risk of developing fatty liver disease. 3 kg / 6 pounds is not overweight, IMO.

A 3 kg / 6 pound cat should eat roughly 120 to 150 calories daily. Some cats may need more or less.

I found these threads with suggestions for Australian brands of foods to feed:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/229827/help-with-australian-cat-food-choices

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/219319/help-wet-food-australia

Many vets don't really know much about proper nutrition and feeding of pets. You do not need to listen to the vet about diet and food amounts except in cases where the cat has a medical condition and needs to be fed a certain type of diet.

LTS3 has some good advice about how many calories a 6-8 lb. cat should eat daily. I would also add, now that you have let us know that she is only about a year old, that she is still considered a kitten/young cat and likely needs even more calories than that, perhaps for another 6-8 months or so. I think cats continue growing until about age 2 years.

Wet food can be a little tricky to get accurate % on because they include moisture which is the the 70-80% range usually so your protein will look lower. In that sense, the 12% isn't bad. I am in the US so I am not sure what you have access to. This website has a slightly outdated chart of various brands/flavors and shows the protein, fat and carbs excluding the moisture content: http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

I think this website is in Australia and ships cat food: https://www.petcircle.com.au/cat/food/wet-food you can filter by grain free and it looks like they have some nice options. Personally I think the Holistic Select looks pretty good and so does the ZiwiPeak.