She cries & cries & cries for food

I've had my Smidgey since April only, and she is still crying and crying for food. She gained 1 1/2 lbs in a month - so I am feeding her enough!

Do they ever outgrow this? She has a permanent paw injury so I really dont want her to get overweight, in addition to the other health reasons. I'm trying to stick to the dry food recommendations, and I give her 1/2 a pouch am and pm to fill her up more, and is helping somewhat.

The vet has ruled out all parasites.

I keep her on a routine and I am strong, but her crying drives me nutty when my patience has worn thin, and I sometimes give in and give her addl Tbsps of dry.

Will it ever change? Can she really be THAT hungry?

Your baby is telling you something. She is crying for a reason. I don't know what it is but I hope that someone here can help you figure it out.

Originally Posted by xocats

Your baby is telling you something. She is crying for a reason. I don't know what it is but I hope that someone here can help you figure it out.

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I agree she is telling you something....the fun thing of course is to always find out what..

Cats are always hungry!! She keeps asking for more because she knows that once in a while you give in. Giving in just once is once too often. You know from the weight gain that your cat is getting enough to eat, so there's no reason for snacks. Unless you choose to use the snacks as a reward for desired behavior. You don't desire her to be constantly asking for food, so don't reward that behavior. Ever. That's it, in a nutshell!!

real treats are for training/reward only.

She is a rescue kitty, at first I thought that had something to do with it. She was underweight and found injured as a stray. Her age was debateable, unknown if she was truly full grown yet or in late kittenhood. I fed her so much in the beginning b/c I believed she a kitten and I know they need a constant food supply. Argh.

how old? what is her history do you know?

In April (when rescued), it was believed she was 11-12 months, no baby teeth left.
My vet in May said 9-12mns, confirmed the no baby teeth. Said at 7 lbs she was a good weight. When I adopted her she was 5.5lbs with ribs showing, plus smaller. She has filled out, but seems to have grown too (gotten longer), in the first month I had her. I don't believe she has grown anymore. She is fluffy, so it is hard for me to tell exactly.

She is very domestic, likes to be held, petted, and played with, as well as likes my lap and to sleep with me. On March 30 someone found her as a stray, with a severly injured paw (infected punture wound). The shelter had her treated and spayed. I later had the vet follow up with xray - her paw bone was also broken and healed incorrectly, so she has a somewhat disabled paw. He also said when it broke she was growing so fast, so that is part of the problem when it was healing (badly).

I also think she *might* have had a litter, her nips were quite prominant when I met her, and she wasnt fixed prior to the shelter (yet she was of age, and I believe responsible owners would have fixed her, which leads me to believe she was dumped - either 'cause she was pregnant, injured, or they are just hateful ppl).

We keep a routine and she has a comfortable living situation plus attention/affection/playtime with me. My mum even goes over during the day sometimes to play with her, which she enjoys, but is scared of all strangers.

She probably wants more wet food. I was amazed by looking at the pouch, that recommendation is 1 pouch for 2 lbs of body weight, which would mean my cat needs to eat 6 pouches a day. But the 2 of them can't even eat a one pouch a day together. Maybe you could give her a whole pouch instead of a half morning and evening? And decrease her dry food.

oh interesting. The pouches I get says 1 pouch x 2xs/day. I do half a pouch x 2xs/day + 1/4-1/2 c. dry (or more). She doesnt eat a lot of the pouch...I have to wait a good 40 min for her to finish it off. She eats just a smidge then meows for more food. I have to keep pointing at it and saying "When you finish!"

I'm very dubious about cat food manufacturer's feeding amount recommendations. So how do you know if the cat is eating the right amount? It's easy for an adult cat: if the cat has a good body shape and maintains constant weight, it's eating the right amount. I weigh my cats on a pet scale once a week.

that's smart coaster.

she gained 1.5 lbs in exactly 1 mn - from a cup of dry per day.
I think she may gain weight too easily.

The rule of thumb for weight gain for a young cat is one pound per month until they're almost full-grown. But that's just an average. Your cat may vary. You don't know her exact age, but it sounds like she's pretty close to being an adult. How does her shape look? The widest part of her torso should be around the lower end of the rib cage. If her abdomen is larger around than her rib cage, then she's overweight. And cat's metabolisms vary, too, just like people's, so one cat might gain weight on the same amount of food that another cat would lose weight on.

It is common for cats who have been traumatized or have lived on the streets to be constantly hungry. If parasites have been ruled out, I would set up a feeding routine with this cat and stick to it. Food at certain times every day without deviation. Once they start to learn that food is readily available at these times, they will relax and not be so demanding. You need to be careful about overcompensating in the affection department though, or you can easily create a monster that will train you.

Originally Posted by hissy

It is common for cats who have been traumatized or have lived on the streets to be constantly hungry.... You need to be careful about overcompensating in the affection department though, or you can easily create a monster that will train you.

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Are they truly hungry? Or is it emotional?
I've been good about the schedule and stick to it (except for rare exception. She is just so loud and aggrevating !)
Any idea how long it may take till she is secure in knowing I will always feed her?

LOL...making her a monster. I'm trying! I only am awake with her 4-5 hours during a work day so I do try to give her affection when I'm home. She does ignore me quite a bit though - even when I'm home! unless I'm in the b.r. - then she "stands guard" outside the door till I'm out. She usually is in the other room for most of the evening after our scheduled evening playtime..or on her perch asleep.

sidenote: She is finally sleeping more. She used to sleep less than me, now she will sleep with me in the room for 1 hour or so, sometimes 2.

Originally Posted by CDubbie

Are they truly hungry? Or is it emotional?

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If it were a human, you could make a case for it being emotional at this point. But I don't know that you can differentiate that specifically with cats. The need to eat is a very strong drive for a cat. What differentiates it from emotion? What Hissy is saying is that a cat who has in the past been deprived of food, either through abusive caretaking or through being a stray and having to hunt, has an exceptionally strong motivation now to eat as much as possible as often as possible, because in the past their experience has been that food is not always available. Once the cat learns that food is going to be available, as much as they want, on a regular basis, their need to eat diminishes to a more normal level because they have the security of knowing that food is going to be there when they're hungry. Perhaps a rather rambling explanation....sorry about that.