Cats insatiable appetite - help and also some support

[Bucketlistticked]

This is such a stupid problem but I really do need some understanding as well as advice.

We got our cat last year from the cats protection league. He was a stray, and I think this might be the source of a lot of the problems we’ve been having as I think he just ate what he could, when he could.

He never stops eating. He won’t eat dry food and he has actually been sick after he’s eaten it - not sure why. So it’s wet pouches. He just wants one pouch after another after another. I feed him in the morning when I’ve gone down to get milk for the toddler, he then wants another pouch before we leave maybe an hour later. Then I come in from work at 4, he wants a pouch, then another, and another, and another.

It is constant. He won’t leave you alone - follows you around staring and standing over his bowl expectantly. I know it sounds such a stupid thing to get upset over but we were away this weekend and he was in the cattery and since we didn’t get back until late Sunday night we picked him up Monday evening and it was just so nice being able to sit and walk around the house without him following you and trying to grab you.

if someone’s eating he stares at them, he tries to take food from the toddler as she’s eating. It’s constant. He’s had thyroid checked and teeth, all fine.

I am so fed up. Trying to clean today and he’s following me around so I’m tripping up all the time. I end up having to put him out as it gets me so irritated.

He’s a lovely cat in all other ways but the constant demands for food are really getting me down.

Thanks so funny @AltitudeCheck your neighbour must have been so confused as to where the sandwich went!

There are wet and dry foods available for very hungry cats. One is Royal Canin Satiety, both pouches and biscuits. I've not tried it but we currently have Temporary Cat on the Royal Canin Fibre version to help his constipation and it's definitely worked! Plus he really likes the dry biscuits more than his old Purina ones or the Scrumbles. Zooplus and Pets at Home both stock it.

Royal Canin is more expensive but might help fill him up whilst also supplementing with a cheaper brand. I'd definitely try something else than Felix which is just junk food for cats really. I think you just have to shop around for a better quality cat food that's affordable and that cat likes - even greedy ones can be fussy. TempCat didn't like Katkin and wouldn't eat it even if starving. I gave up and for wet food got him on a smooth pate he loves, which isn't too bad nuritionally, plus the dry for his digestive system. Many online shops have discounts for trials available - Untamed might be worth a try?

I have a cat-shaped foghorn in the house when it's within 2h of feeding time, or when anyone walks into the kitchen. She won't stop, will eat until she's sick and has done ever since she was rescued by CP as a starving cat with 6 kittens. That was 10 years ago and she's still as bad. We have one of her kittens too (great big hulking neutered Tom) and he doesn't do it. Though we suspect he's overweight too thanks to hunting his own...

We think she was hardwired by starvation into always eating whatever was there. I caught her last night on the dining table polishing one of the plates that hadn't been put in the dishwasher <looks sternly at teenager>.

I have been where you are with rescue cats @Bucketlistticked , one of whom was also a stray who had been on the run for several months. They literally tried to dig their way through the closed kitchen door, and it will never be the same again!

They are trained to know when it is mealtime now, and they don't bother begging in between, because they know that there will be food at a certain time.

Might I suggest that instead of pouches, you buy tins? They work out far cheaper for one thing, especially if you have a greedy-guts or multiple cats. I also think that perhaps he is sometimes thirsty rather than hungry - do you give him cat milk and does he have access to water all the time?

Does he have a load of cat toys to distract him from constantly thinking about food?

As long as you have a bowl of water down, then you can leave dry food out. To start with though, as well as his wet food, put a small quantity of dry food in with the wet, literally just half a dozen. There is one from Royal Canin called 'appetite control' and that worked for us. If he starts begging, ignore him, and just give him regular meals at specific times. He will learn. Eventually.

I would leave a high quality dry food out all the time (eg hills science plan or James well beloved) then feed wet food at one set time a day. Your cat will soon learn the routine. A couple of our cats were found as feral kittens and it does impact how they are. One was very dehydrated and runs to drink out of the bath every time he hears the taps turn on despite contact access to bowls of water. Another was cold and starving hungry and he’s insatiable for food. Ours are have constant access to dry food but I give him a little something extra once a day.

perhaps he is sometimes thirsty rather than hungry
Recently when our cat has been incessantly asking for food and I've ignored him ,I then see him having a long drink .He drinks like a camel IMO.

Sorry I can’t read the whole thread as in a rush - look carefully at the pouch contents. A lot is mainly jelly or gravy. With very little meat. I moved my guzzler boy cat onto applaws tins which are almost pure meat - the chicken one in particular looks like pure shredded chicken. No gravy or jelly. It’s stopped him doing the thundering up and down after us for food. Worth a try? Some of the pouches are just shite.

these ones: https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/applaws-chicken-breast-cat-food-24-x-156g

there are various flavours

I would bulk wet food out with high meat content dry food such as purizon.

It reads that it’s a complimentary food, not a complete food is that right?

If so it’s not meant to be given on its own as it won’t have all the vitamins and minerals needed.

I give our cat Applaws but I've just been and looked at the tins (different fish varieties) and the highest fish content is 60%.Which isn't that high really .

So I'm thinking of Meowing Heads now ,

@LilLilLi they also have a high quality dry food. they are the picture of health luckily - they both had a check up at the vet this week who said how healthy they both are, great teeth and coats etc. So hopefully the tins plus biscuits are doing them well. And when I think of what the feral rescue cats I had abroad ate, raiding bins etc…🙂

Oh I see, sorry wasn’t questioning you I was about to buy it because it looked so good and then I noticed it said complimentary.

I feed Meowing Heads at the moment, good quality but always on the look out for something a bit cheaper!

@LilLilLi to be honest I hadn’t noticed it was complimentary! Doh! Luckily the applaws website says so long as they have good biscuits they’ll have everything they need. And they seem super healthy. Sorry if I came across as defensive! I spent a lot of time when they were coming into adulthood researching the food with a high meat content because the pouches just weren’t filling them up, abs some said like 4% meat and the rest was gubbins. Does make me chuckle when I think what my childhood cats survived on - Whiskas on a good day, tinned fish the majority of the time! And my mum mixed rice in their food to make it last longer.

I know! My childhood cat lived to the grand old age of 23 and only ate whiskas!

I lost an 11 week old kitten earlier this year, nothing to do with her diet, but I’ve definitely done a lot more research since then. It’s shocking what some of the major brands class as food and I had no idea. My cat eats better than my children do 😂

I think some cats are just like this. My house Panther would continuously eat if he could, he never leaves anything in the bowl. He gets fed 3 times a day at the same time, so he has learnt when those times are. So you have to train them. He starts meowing and bullying me if it goes a minute past those times though.

I’m surprised so many people think this is a thyroid problem, I thought it was normal.

I’ve had a lot of cats over the years, some are grazers but most will overeat given the chance. We currently have 3, 1 is a male tabby who is exactly as you describe. And currently on a diet following his last vet weigh in. He doesn’t like being on a diet!

I find consistency is absolute key. 1 of ours is an undemanding grazer and gets fed when they ask (we can’t leave food down as the others eat it) but the others are fed a strict twice a day. So nagging at other times doesn’t help. They know the routine. Then stealing food - you just can’t leave it unattended, ever. We also spray a water mister if they jump on kitchen work surfaces so they don’t around us (I’m aware they probably party there every night but aren’t stupid enough to do it in front of me).

I would expect the Cats Protection to have given the cat a full health check before rehoming but it could be that a new problem has developed since so get it checked at the vet and discuss what you can do about its diet.

Also worth getting pet insurance.

I'm going to backtrack on my glowing recommendation of Katkin! They've changed the packaging and recipe and now my cats won't touch it 😭 I'm really hoping they go back to the old recipe or I'll be looking for a new recommendation.

Same problem here with one of mine, constantly crying for food, trying to steal food from plates even after being fed.
Some days the constant crying and following around drives me crazy, other times I zone out. Eventually he usually gives in and goes to eat out of his bowl where he has access to dried food at all times.
Meanwhile my other cat is not food driven at all and has no interest in human food at all. However she has a tendency to eat anything ' non food ' based so I have to be careful what I leave lying out on the floor.