Cat constantly hungry

[Lavender14]

So I have a rescue cat, I think he's around 13/14 now. We've had him at the vet for a health check not long ago and all seemed to be ok and he's wormed etc regularly so I know we're on top of that.

Recently he's become an absolute vulture when it comes to food. He is meowing CONSTANTLY at the cupboard his food lives in, is constantly trying to steal food off our plates/ babies high chair and he's super persistent. I tried putting him out of the room when we're eating but he just cries and scrapes at the door until he's back in. I've tried feeding him more but he was a bit chunky in the past when I first got him so it's something we need to monitor so he doesn't get that big again. So he's getting what as far as i can tell is the recommended amount for him plus the odd bit of cheese/ chicken/ treats. When i tried feeding him more thinking he was genuinely hungry, he just kept shouting for more so I don't think that was it.

He's an indoor cat and he's such a lap cat he will have the odd crazy run around the house and up his cat tree but for the vast majority of the day he's only interested in finding a sunny spot and baking.

Any suggestions?

The only other thing I can think of is that it started near the time we got our dog who is much bigger. But the dog is scared of the cat and he knows it. So the dog won't go near any food that the cat is close to so there's no real competition for food, the cat will always get first preference and we feed them in separate rooms.

Also just to say before this he NEVER showed any interest in what we were eating unless maybe it was fish. And now he'll eat random things like mushroom etc that he would never have entertained before.

Worms?

We get his worming tablets from the vet and keep on top of it. So I don't think it would be worms.

I had a cat like this at a similar age. It turned out to by hyperthyroidism. I would definitely recommend getting them checked again as it can cause all sorts of other health problems.
Good luck!

Most wet food packets have less food in them in now. My old boy always eats more in winter.

He needs his thyroid looking at. Hyperthyroidism is very common in elderly cats and won't be picked up at a routine appointment - you need specific tests.

yup - hyperthyroidism for our 14yr old cat too. meds have done the job.

Thanks so much will ask when I'm at the vets with my dog today. It just seemed ott to just be a love of food but was so out of character. We've had him on a diet for a while so I'd originally put it down to that but now that's finished I'd expected it to be better

Definitely get his thyroid levels checked, it's quite a red flag for that. Good news is that hyperthyroidism is not that hard to treat/manage.

Our 14 year old cat did this - it was his thyroid.

Good to know! What way have yours been treated in the past?

Sounds like hyperthyroidism to me too. My older cat (now 14 1/2) was diagnosed when she was 13.

She was constantly crying for food, lost weight, and her coat lost its sheen. She is on thyronorm twice a day - we were offered radiation treatment but that would have meant several weeks of isolation, and she’s a very cuddly cat. My vet didn’t recommend thyroid removal because of her age and the anaesthetic.

Her quality of life has improved hugely since starting the medication - put weight on, has more energy, coat in better condition etc.

Ours is on thyroid medication twice a day.

So just reviving this! I got our cat weighed by the vet and he was on the slightly underweight side of healthy so they advised us to maintain his weight. I got him checked again a couple of months later as I felt he had lost a little more weight and he had so we started giving him an additional feed every day for a month and weighed him again at the end of 6 weeks and he'd lost half a pound more. We got him put under and the vet took bloods to check for thyroid (he's a little feisty at the vets) and I was so prepared for it to come back showing an issue that I was really shocked when they said all thyroid markers were fine and he was good to go home. He's still very hungry all the time, to the point where he's started stealing our dogs food and other foods that he wouldn't normal eat and making himself sick. He's clearly still losing weight and the vet just seems to be leaving it now. I don't want to put him under a whole host of tests given that he needs put under full sedation every time he gets bloods etc done but equally if something is wrong I don't want to just leave him to it. He's fully wormed and deflea-ed and is a housecat. Any advice on what else I could try to get his weight up? He was on wet food only due to his lack of teeth and how prone he is to utis so we've reintroduced some kibble to bulk out his meals and are adding chicken/ fish/ meat to meals when we're having that for our dinner.

And also to add this time 2 years ago we were feeding him the same as we were feeding him just prior to the further half pound weight loss and we were told by the vet that he was too overweight and we needed to reduce his feeds to get his weight down. So if the same food and same amount was causing weight gain a couple of years ago, to me that's a sign that something is wrong that it's not enough for him to even maintain his weight now?

Personally I would try a different vet.

Do you know what tests they actually did? Our vet initially only did TSH (I think), which was slightly out of the normal range (this is the cheaper test, I think) & then did T4 which was way out of range.

I think a second opinion is called for. I would have said thyroid issue too, but may be something else is going on. It needs further investigation, poor chap.

Could it be diabetes?

Sorry, I typed out a reply to the questions about six times but we've a house full of chicken pox so I didn't get as far as sending! I know they did thyroid tests and tests for liver function which all came back normal. We had to go to the animal hospital for it all so he could be put under so I'll give my actual vet a ring on Monday and see what they say about it and confirm what they've tested for. I just find it tough because he gets SO stressed in the vets and being worked at so I don't want to put him through anything that's not avoidable in some way. He's a wee rescue and a total sweetheart at home with us, but a spicy nightmare at the vets. They had to try 3 times on different appointments just to get these bloods successfully and he was completely spooked for the next couple of days after.

God the blood tests. I feel your pain!
I have a 7 pound furry laidback sweetheart. But get him to the vets... OMG.
He was once taken away for a blood draw and the blood curdling howl * that echoed through the waiting room made a huge German shepherd start shaking.

• his not the vets!

@Lavender14 has your cat been checked for pancreas insufficiency? It affects mainly elderly cats and it prevents them from properly digesting their food so they eat a lot, loose weight and are always hungry.

@Words the change is unreal! The last time I picked him up from getting his teeth sorted out I could hear him shouting from outside the vets. I think they think I'm lying when I tell them he's just a big cuddly softie at home! It's do obviously stressful for him that I get really reluctant to do anything that's not absolutely necessary.

@Mia184 I'll look into that as well thanks so much!

For now we've bulked out his wet food with some dry and will give it a bit of time and then weigh him again to see if there's any difference. He isn't finishing all the food we're giving him now so I'm taking that as a sign that he's starting to feel fuller hopefully but the proof will be in weight gain.