Hungry boy!

[beachygirl]

Any advice please! I adopted my boy from Cats Protection in Feb weighing 5.3kg, but since then he has just gone up to 6kg. CP said vet thought he was correct weight and very healthy. He is a big, strong boy, nearly 4 yrs, unneutered and unchipped until he went to CP, and he was quite bony around the ribs when I got him. I do not want him to get overweight. He has 3 Felix Good as it Gets 100g pouches a day and a handful of Purina One biscuits and occasional Dreamies/Seaside Mix. But he is always looking for food. I just gave in and let him have a few more Purina biscuits and he has now gone straight to sleep. Should I feed him as he wants or limit his intake? I would say he is quite solid but has a slim waist and is not fat. He goes outside and is energetic and playful, but is constantly round my ankles looking for nibbles!

Sounds like he might have had issues getting his paws on food in the past, so he grabs every opportunity he can. I have to supervise my two's dinnertime as next door's tom (who starved when younger and is now like a sausage), will try to get his nose into the dish and would eat the lot of I let him.
Someone wiser will come on and tell you how to deal with it.

My new boy is also incredibly greedy, so watching with interest!

As PP said he might have experienced some food insecurity before and still not quite trust it will always be there. You could try him on a different food with more protein content if budget allows? He also might just be a foodie like my greedy little monster who has only ever lived a completely pampered existence but still tries to eat the food whilst I’m still getting it out of the pouch.

I have 2 boys that used to be unneutered strays and identical in size to yours- essentially they have lived very tough lives and their next meal was never guaranteed so it triggers some kind of survival mode in their brain to just constantly be looking for food. One of my boys hit 7kg before we cottoned on and then we had to diet him down.

Now both boys are totally calorie controlled. We know exactly how many calories per day and messed around with biscuits/pouches and timings until we settled on a pattern that works. They get 3 meals a day at completely fixed times which eventually they learn so it breaks the anxiety. One of mine can squeak on the exact minute that it’s biscuit time! It’s taken about 2 years post adoption to get them to relax more about meals- feeding them the same foods and the exact same time every day. In the morning they are fed by an automatic timed feeder so they don’t always hassle us for food (they learn that it comes from the feeder and it breaks the association with you as the sole source of food!). We find if we go away and the cattery feed them on a different schedule, it will take a few weeks back at home to get them back into routine. It sounds regimented but cats LOVE routine and predictability and mine are hugely more settled with it.

I had a very small cat (2.35kg) and she had 2x felix pouches and 2 handfuls of biscuits a day (plus treats). Your big boy, who is 6kg compared to less than 2 and half, is only getting one extra pouch so not surprising he's starving!

According to the Felix website you are under feeding him too.
For an average adult cat (4kg), feed 3 to 4 pouches per day in at least 2 separate meals. The adult maintenance averages are based on moderately active cats at normal environmental temperatures. Individual needs vary and feeding should be adjusted as required to maintain your cat at a lean, healthy body weight.

@Pixiedust1234 that guidance is based on feeding wet food alone - OP also gives dry food and treats everyday.

OP - we have an overweight cat who would (literally) eat until he was sick - if he's putting on weight then do be careful with feeding on demand as it's much easier for them to gain it than to lose it 🙈

You can get satiety food which is basically designed to leave them feeling fuller for longer - we strongly considered it but in the end we just reduced his food but spread it across more meals so he felt like he was getting more.

I know but the guidance of four pouches was for a 4kg cat. Hers is 6kg!! That leaves plenty of wiggle room for four pouches AND biscuits.

If he's otherwise slim, he might be a bit hungry. Wet food is good for kidneys and urinary function, but a lot of popular brands aren't very high in protein. Offer a few more biscuits or maybe some meat/fish? I buy bags of cheap frozen fish and cook it for my cats. It's not a complete food but amongst biscuits/pouches it's fine. They enjoy it and it's satisfying.
Keep an eye on his weight as some cats are poor at food regulation. Aka greedy!

We recently transitioned our cat away from felix to a much better high protein food (thrive) and he's gone from eating 6 pouches/600g to 3 tins/210g but has put on weight (which he needed to do). I know lots of cats can do perfectly well on felix, and there's a cost element to as it works out much cheaper, but I'd consider finding a food with a decent protein content that makes him feel more satiated.

Thank you, there are some interesting ideas to pursue here.

I just know from experience that it's very easy to over feed them and many don't have an off switch!

We're currently dealing with an overweight cat who is arthritic at a young age as a result (he's a rescue) and it's heartbreaking to see.

I’d feed more if he’s slim generally. That’s a big cat you’ve got there. My Bengal Asbo used to have 4.5 pouches a day and a bit of dhs dinner. He was 6.3kg but he didn’t have biscuits due to uti.

You are always bloody arguing on every thread. A 6kg cat needs more than three pouches of felix. The OP needs to either up the pouches or up the meat content so he feels fuller. She gave him a small bit of extra biscuits and now he's full/asleep. He's hungry not greedy.

It's a discussion forum, not a "nod along and agree" forum.

I'm going from my own experience of having a large cat. Unfortunately his previous owners fed him on demand and he came to us very overweight and now has permanent joint issues and pain.

If I fed him the amounts you're recommending he would absolutely love it - he'd also balloon back up in weight and still ask for more. Three pouches of wet food plus biscuits and treats is a lot of food for a cat 😬

Also if I annoy you so much, you can just..not respond. There's no need to get personal 🤷‍♀️

I adopted a adult male cat that before he was found by CP and probably about the same age as OP's cat. He's also the same weight now.

I was told how he'd been searching for food in bins before he was rescued so I always now leave biscuits down for him in between his meals of wet food and to start with he was very possessive but now because he knows food will always be there he is less bothered.

To get to the point, I would do the same with OP's cat and give what he wants and OP may find that once he knows he can always have as much as he wants he'll actually stop wanting so much.

Then don't quote me or tag me like you have done repeatedly in this thread. Every one of your posts has been directed at me. It's argumentative. Direct your opinions to the OP instead please. Many thanks!

Because you're the one I was disagreeing with 😂 maybe don't post on a discussion forum if you can't handle a discussion 🙈

Our rescue cat is nearly 7 kilos he wasn’t neutered until he was about 5. He just adores his food. Has two sachets a day plus a few dreamies and a few biscuits. The biscuits have to come after the wet food. There is always a clean dish. I think it is rescue cat syndrome he is always worried that we might forget him. However he is such a gentle giant so cuddly and laid back. I am afraid he gets a few scraps from my 98 year old Mother who adores him. He sits on the bottom shelf of her mobility trolley gazing at her. Loves a ride on it as well. I don’t look at the guidance on the sachets as he would be even bigger. A 7 kilo cat charging across the room and leaping on you for a cuddle can be heavy