Always Seem To Be Hungry

[secar]

Hello!

I have a few questions, my babies always seem to be hungry, even though they are fed 3 times a day. Around 6 am they each get about 2.5 tablespoons of Orijen Regional dry cat food. I know it doesn't seem like a lot but it's high in protein. At around 9am or 10am they each get a half can of Weruva double dip 6 oz & than for dinner at 7pm or 8pm they get the other half of the 6oz can. However they always seem to be starving even though they are at the correct weight, as far as I know. If I increase any of their food they both seem to gain extra weight quickly. Is it common for them to always seem hungry even though they eat 3 times a day? I know that wevura is light on calories & what not, which is why I supplement with the Orijen. Any thoughts are appreciated! Thank you!!

 

[abyeb]

How old are your cats? Vets often reccommend free feeding kittens, as they are still growing.

 

[secar]

They are a year & 3 months I used
To free feed them but they were gaining extra weight like crazy as they got older so I had to start putting them on a set diet.

 

[tabbytom]

They are a year & 3 months I used
To free feed them but they were gaining extra weight like crazy as they got older so I had to start putting them on a set diet.

Hello secar, if your kitties are purely indoors, they need to be fed with a daily calories intake of 200 - 250 calories per day.

Try to change to scheduled feeding if you can. Wet food is good for weight management.

Here's a recent discussion on calculating calories :-

Calculating Calories

 

[Sarthur2]

You might want to give them their wet food at 6am, the dry food at noon, and the rest of the wet food at 6pm.

Then, a small snack of dry food before bed, to lessen the time between the 6 and 6 feedings.

 

[lisahe]

Even without knowing the cats' sizes and activity levels, that doesn't sound like nearly enough food to me for such young cats: the large Weruva can is only 124 calories and even a half a cup of the Orijen Regional Red food is only around 270 calories. (The food data are here.) I agree with tabbytom 's suggestions, both for calories and feeding more wet food. Part of the benefit of feeding wet food is that if you choose something that's high-protein and low-carb (no grains, potatoes, peas, etc.) your cats are less likely get hungry quickly. That's part of why wet food is great for maintaining weight if your cats seem to be at an appropriate weight now. Among other things, the bulk of the water helps fill them up, too. Sarthur2 's thought about an additional bedtime snack is a great idea: that really helps keep our cats from getting too hungry during the night!

On the anecdotal, personal experience side, I want to add that our two cats, who are now about 4.5 years old, both had voracious appetites until they were more than 2 and continued to fill out even beyond that, growing into their frames and gaining a bit more healthy weight. (They were very underfed rescue cats when we adopted them, which may play some part in this, but we adopted them when they were only 10 months old.) They're relatively big eaters even now, despite being small indoor adult cats: feeding them only wet foods in five small meals a day has kept them at reasonable sizes. I don't count calories or weigh the cats but it's usually easy to tell -- from how their bodies look and feel physically (do they look rounded? or is the spine especially obvious?) and whether they're begging for food -- if they need to have their food intakes increased or reduced a little. Cat appetites can vary for lots of reasons, including changes in seasons, so I find that method works better for me than counting calories, though lots of people are into data!

In any case, good luck!

 

[lalagimp]

Not everyone can do this but our guys get fed five times a day. We started doing that when they went on a diet and after a few years they lost all their weight but we still do it. They can't be trusted to free feed but discussion has just never come up about trying to move them to maybe three times per day. We are doing raw, and I'm still working it out because calories didn't come printed on a bag because there is no bag. Stew gets 5 ounces a day and Tommy gets between 5 and 6 oz per day. 6am. 9am. 12n. 5pm. 9:30pm. We have highly reliable automatic feeders that both go off simultaneously, though not entirely convenient since we took them off kibble when Tom started having bladder issues. There is no slot underneath a Feed and Go for ice packs. If we need to be out of the house for 6+hours we just put a frozen cube in the next feeding instead of a thawed one.

Here. Take a look at this NUTRITIONAL CALCULATOR FOR CATS

Also to help with hunger we still add additional fluid to their servings of wet food.

 

[secar]

Thank you so much everyone! It looks like I'm going to start giving them a little
more wet food & see how that plays out. I may also add a before bedtime snack as needed too. They feel like they are at a good weight not too skinny or heavy. I think like everyone has said if I add more wet food it will help them feel fuller but still maintain their healthy weight.

 

[secar]

lalagimp do you just add water to their wet food or some other time of liquid?

 

[lalagimp]

secar They are allowed 1/8 cup = 1 oz bone broth per day because it's so rich. I have a canister of bone broth powder I mix with warm water and pour into ice cube trays. Also when the raw thaws some of the fluids leak out like liquid outside of a glass of ice water and that gets poured back into the food. Boyfriend usually just sticks with water. I'd be careful with broths because you don't want to use garlic or onion in the ingredients, but Honest Kitchen is safe for dogs and cats. So is Caru, but they are expensive.

 

[tabbytom]

Many here add a little extra water to the wet food. I add water to me boy's wet food too. As he hardly drink water. All he does is play with the water

You can do it too but it depends on your kitty, some kitty don't mind a more soupy base meal and some may not like it too wet. Also when water is added, it makes them full too. So they might not finish the amount or the calorie intake will not be accurate. For me, calorie intake for me boy is just an estimate, as when my boy's hungry, he'll ask to be fed but he won't over eat. I don't go overboard with it. End of the day, rough calculation is around 230 calories per day for him.

 

[lisahe]

I'm glad it's all helpful secar ! I hope you're able to find something that works for your cats. It can take time... and then adjusting, too, but it's great that your cats are at a good starting weight.

lalagimp raises a good point about being careful with the broths since nearly anything that's not homemade or made specifically for cats has ingredients you won't want. Our cats really love "chicken water," the water from just boiling chicken pieces for certain dishes that I make. (It's just boneless chicken thighs boiled for 15-20 minutes... it's just lightly chickeny and it makes any food good for them. You could do the same with any chicken pieces.)

I also like what tabbytom says about how some cats don't like too much water added to their food. It also sounds like we have a similar view of feeding and calories! The last time I estimated our cats' daily calories it was also somewhere in the 200-250 range. (They get slightly different foods each day so it varies...)

 

[tabbytom]

I also like what tabbytom says about how some cats don't like too much water added to their food. It also sounds like we have a similar view of feeding and calories! The last time I estimated our cats' daily calories it was also somewhere in the 200-250 range. (They get slightly different foods each day so it varies...)

Yes, as kittens are growing up, they need to eat lots of proteins and be fed a few times a day. As they age near maturity, their food amount intake lessen and slowly taper down and this is when just keep watch on their calories intake and balance their activity levels and depending if they are spayed or neutered.

 

[secar]

Thanks again, you all have been very helpful & informative! I hope I can find something that both my babies like, Bellamy is super picky so we will see if i can get away with just adding some water, Arya however will eat anything thankfully! If water doesn't work I may look into using water from boiled chicken instead. We shall see!

 

[lisahe]

Thanks again, you all have been very helpful & informative! I hope I can find something that both my babies like, Bellamy is super picky so we will see if i can get away with just adding some water, Arya however will eat anything thankfully! If water doesn't work I may look into using water from boiled chicken instead. We shall see!

And there's the real key to all this: what will the cats like!? We have one of each, too, a cat who will eat just about anything and a cat who's moderately picky. The somewhat picky cat, though, will eat just about anything if I sprinkle dust from treats on it...