He's staaaaaaaarving.....

[ndo4000]

We are a week and a half in since rehoming Freddie and he's gorgeous! Only problem is he is starving. All. The. Time.

I am in the process of moving him over from Whiskers pouches morning and evening to Natures Menu and also moving him from Whiskers biscuits to Acana dry for during the day and he is taking to the new food well. But he is still very hungry! He hoover's his wet food in the morning and then inhales the dry food which he is meant to graze on in the day.

I don't want to over feed him! Especially while he is not even going outside to use up energy.

Any ideas?!?

(Photo for cat tax)

I just feed my lot when they say they’re hungry. Which is normally about 6-8 times a day. They also have dried food. None of them are over weight so it seems to work.

It can depend a lot on their background. If they have been a stray food would have been scarce so needed to be gobbled up as much and as soon as possible, If they were in a multi-cat household there may have been competition for food, which again leads to snaffling as much as possible and as soon as possible.

Or he could be just plain greedy!

You might try feeding little & often if your schedule allows that, but if its learned behavior then it's just a matter of time for him to get used to there being plenty of food when he needs it. Tobias took quite a few months here to not gobble every last spec of his food then finish off Girlcat's, but now he leaves some & comes back for a snack later.

You do need to keep an eye on his weight though, as with some cats (like humans) just need more food than others. If he does start putting on too much weight, then maybe look at the "diet" kibble that you can get from some of the better brands like Royal Canin or Hills (I'm sure there are plenty more available) - this is what Annie has had to do with 2 cats with mis-matched appetites & eating patterns. If he's losing too much weight, then he's just a cat who needs more food than some.

How old is he and how much are you feeding him? Does he go out?

Meant to say - he looks VERY cute!

Nothing to add except that he’s gorgeous!

My cat was a rescue of uncertain background. We assume something in her background had stopped her natural self regulation when it came to food.

We couldn't leave out dry food for her to snack on, or feed on demand, because she'd gorge herself and then be sick, so she was given morning and evening meals to a fixed routine.

Woe betide if you were late, but she did get used to this routine and didn't fuss between meals (unless you were eating a ham sandwich, or tuna, or a fish supper, or custard, or rice pudding).

I feed my cats 3 pouches of 100g between 2 cats first thing in the morning, 1 pouch each for lunch and 3 pouches between them for evening with crunchies left out for overnight. They are not overweight cats. Look at size of your pouches. Some have shrunkflation and now only 85g. They need at least 300g per cat plus crunchies per day.

I have never in my life fed a cat more than. 100g of wet food a day, let alone 300g!

The cost must be absolutely extortionate

My average size boy gets 1.5 x 100g pouches of top quality wet plus a spoonful of top quality kibble.
whiskas pouches are rubbish. Nutrition more important than quantity. He may slow down once he’s off the cheap high carb stuff and getting the meat he needs.

My average size boy gets 1.5 x 100g pouches of top quality wet plus a spoonful of top quality kibble.
whiskas pouches are rubbish. Nutrition more important than quantity. He may slow down once he’s off the cheap high carb stuff and getting the meat he needs.

So 350g wet a day plus kibble, though you don't say if they get any treats at all.

On the other hand, I feed my pair one 85g pouch in the morning between them, and the same in the evening (Tobias eats probably 2/3 to 3/4 of this), plus I top up the kibble probably around 100g every day (Girlcat eats more of this than Tobias). Plus they get a small amount of cooked chicken or beef (probably around 25-30g) between them as treats. Girlcat gets a very small handful of Dreamies a day, Tobias gets maybe 8-10 tiny pieces of dried chicken liver.

I'm having to think about moving onto a "diet" kibble, as Tobias is still rather overweight. I know they are indoor cats, but very active chasing each other around the house & playing with toys especially fatty Tobias.

Should have said - these aren't tiny cats. Last vet visit both were around 5-5.5kg, and Girlcat is long, slim and svelt, Tobias a little smaller but chunky built

Twice a week they share a chicken breast too. My cats prefer wet food/chicken to kibble. They get a slice of beef each if I roast a joint. My kids are adults now and in their own homes so I can afford for my kitties to have the food they prefer. They get the odd meaty stick too.

Sounds like they're very lucky @caringcarer!

My boy is big (tall and long)
He gets 1 pouch of Sheba first thing (the only wet he will eat and he throws up if he has dry first)
Then measured off the bag of dry - usually around 60g dry split over 3 meals
Plus 1 treat a day

He's beautiful, and looks exactly like my Lionel, who still inhales his food at 13. He won't grow out of it!

All going to prove as I said above - some cats need more or less than others! Trial and error is the only way.

Is he only getting 2 pouches a day? Mine have 3 each, morning, dinner time and before bed. They also have dry to graze on during the day.

Check the feeding recommendations on the box, you might be under feeding him

@fieldsofbutterflies

I hope that you check the feeding guidelines on the box and aren't under feeding.

100g per day is a bit stingy!

I have a very greedy formally obese cat who I was instructed by the vet to put on a diet. Concept for Life light biscuits are brilliant, cats love them and they don't put on the weight like her previous royal canin ones did. She still get a half packet of wet food everyday but that's just a little treat. Although I think concept for life do wet food as well. I get it from zooplus online.

Personally I don't pay the slightest bit of attention to what's on the box.

Also, if you read my post properly, you'd know that I feed 100g of wet a day plus dry food. They also get treats like dreamies or Lick-e-lix as well has roast chicken and tuna most days.

So, far from stingy imo!

I understand your problem OP. I have a very overweight cat that was a stray. It's very difficult as she's always hungry.

Our cat was very hungry and very anxious about food when we first took her in as a stray.
She would gobble everything then throw up.
We just kept giving her regular wet food and a constant plate of dry for eating when she wanted.
She did settle eventually when she realised she was not short of food. Now she is a picky puss!

We had an ex stray who was supposedly always starving.... but he very quickly got overweight. He ate anything and everything we would give him, scavenged, hunted, stole food from other cats and, we think, managed to convince someone he was a poor homeless boy so they would feed him every morning (that stopped after they tried to keep him we think as he didn't come home for 2 days them burst into the house in the middle of a downpour. After that he was always home when we came downstairs in the morning vs making his way over garden fences as we came into the kitchen. Plus the morning fish breath disappeared.). He was SHAMELESS.

Vet said it was very common with ex strays. We eventually put him on one of those diet foods but upped his portions and that helped a lot with the weight. But to see his pathetic begging, even at his fattest you would think he had never had a decent meal in his life!!!!

Our current ginger boy LOVES his wet food.so.we have to limit it as otherwise he acts like he hasn't eaten in a week. 1/2 pouch morning and night and about half a cup of dry twice a day too.

Our girl was hungry when we first got her, I upped her food and she’s still a healthy weight.

The Bengal at 450g of wet a day plus a bit of dhs dinner.