lots of meowing, seems hungry

My cat is a little over 1 year old. He is neutered. Up until about 2 months ago, I was feeding him about 1 cup of food per day because that was what the package said. He quickly got fat! My vet told me that neutered/spayed cats have slower metabolism and that he really only needs to eat 1/2 cup a day. I had also been having problems finding a food that worked. I have settled on Royal Canin for indoor cats. He obviously likes it.

My problem is this: He meows constantly. He is clearly hungry and walks around his food dish meowing, will meow from the kitchen wanting food. As soon as he hears up in the morning, he is outside the bedroom meowing. He will try to get into any people food we may accidently leave out (this includes ripping open a bag of pretzels). He will stop for a while after he eats but usually starts again in a couple hours. I thought he would get used to it after a while (i know i'm hungry a lot every time I start a diet!) but there are no signs of him getting used to the reduced amount of food. I have moved to feeding him 3 times a day but still only 1/2 cup.

Just wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I realize I could simply feed him more but I don't want him to be obeese. But, I feel bad for him and don't want him to feel hungry all the time...Thanks!

Try growing some cat grass for him. Most cats love it. He can eat it to his heart's content and it won't make him put on weight.

Also, many cats like romaine lettuce, so if your big boy likes romain, you can give it to him as a treat several times during the day.

Ask your Vet what would happen if you added a little wet to his diet (1/2 can) and up his activity level - maybe the added protein would satisfy the little guy!

Since my cat is now primarily indoors, I got him a laser pointer to keep his activity level up. So far it's been working great!

I'd personally try feeding wet food (a good quality one) which would probably satisfy his hunger more than the dry (cereal) food. Bijou was getting pretty heavy and I changed him to wet food (mainly because it's healthier) with only a wee bit of dry to graze on during the day. His weight has gotten better and he doesn't eat nearly as much.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I'd personally try feeding wet food (a good quality one) which would probably satisfy his hunger more than the dry (cereal) food. Bijou was getting pretty heavy and I changed him to wet food (mainly because it's healthier) with only a wee bit of dry to graze on during the day. His weight has gotten better and he doesn't eat nearly as much.

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I will try that although I'm a little nervous. Without being too gross, I decided on the Royal Canin food because everything else I tried gave him runny poo. He would also frequently have blood in it! My vet tested him for worms and such and everything was fine. This food has solved that problem. I guess I worry that feeding him wet food would bring that problem back...

Hmmm...I always heard that the dry food was better for them than the wet food. Now I'm confused. lol

Have you tried him on just regular cat food like Fancy feast pates (not the bits in gravy ones) which I think are very popular, or Sheba turkey, etc? You may be trying too hard to find 'healthy' special stuff that may add things he has trouble with, when the others mentioned that do meet cats needs just give them what they need.

We had that problem with Hannah, so I settled on Royal Canin Indoor light formula (37). When she starts whining, I distract her with her Da Bird toy or the laser pointer. I think she just meows because she's bored, not really because she's hungry.

She also gets a bit of pumpkin and a little bit of canned food twice a day. By a little bit, I'm talking like 1 tablespoon or so.

She's losing weight and that's a good thing!

Stephanie

Originally Posted by Nerelda

Hmmm...I always heard that the dry food was better for them than the wet food. Now I'm confused. lol

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Where did you hear that? I am pretty sure it depends on the quality of food overall. However there is a myth that dry food helps clean the teeth so people think it is better. That is not true really. I mean it could help a tiny bit but many cats break the pieces of dry food into small pieces with their fangs and swallow most of the rest of it whole.

Also, wet food is much closer to their natural diets in the wild. Wet food is usually less fattening, again that depends on the quality too. AND, wet food diets cut back on UTIs and crystals. They are both related to diets and a wet diet absorbs water intake which many cats do not drink enough of anyways and it also helps with preventing UTIs and it dissolves crystals.

Could you give him a little lean chicken or fish to supplement the dry food - I'm assuming lean meats will be less fattening than canned cat food?

Mine's on Natural Balance low calorie, which she loves - she won't eat wet cat food, so I give her tuna / chicken from time to time so she gets a decent meat fix!

The occasional tablespoon of wet food seems to be helping. We also bought some cat grass, we'll see what happens when it grows. When I put the seeds on the counter for a minute, I came back and found him dragging the back off the counter and then trying to open it so I'm optimistic he'll like it! Thanks for the suggestions...

Just a reminder - cats will eat grass, but if they have any hairball issues or have eaten something disagreeable, the grass will provoke a little throw-up - they do it on purpose to get rid of undesirables - it's fiber!

Whenever you add/change a food in your cat's diet, there is the possibility of loose stool.

When we first started feeding Bijou and Mika the Merrick wet food, Mika actually got diarrhea and Bijou got a looser stool. Once their systems got used to the new food their stool firmed up and they have been fine ever since.

FF IMO is nothing more than McDonald's for cats and I wouldn't feed my children McDonald's for every meal nor would I give my cats a steady diet of FF.

Bijou's weight has gotten better since the wet food was introduced into his diet - he was up over 16.5 lbs which is large for a Siamese IMO. Fortunately he likes the wet diet and Mika prefers the dry Royal Canin for Siamese and she is very tiny so the extra calories in the dry food aren't a problem for her.