Cat Driving Us Bananas!

CBFi

Hi all,

I've posted on here before about our lovely cat. He's a great pet in many ways - easy going and docile.

BUT I think he is addicted to food. Since we first got him, this has been a problem that the vet said he'd grow out of but he hasn't. In fact, it's gotten worse since we reduced his food (complete dry only - high quality vet prescribed) on our vets instruction as he's now fully grown.

Since then, he has taken to breaking into the kitchen bin, he has broken through his bag of food, he can break into his automatic feeder and eat all his food for the day in one go and he steals food from the kitchen.

He also obsessively cries for food and is constantly scavenging on the kitchen counters, dining table, etc.

It's getting tiring having to put him in the bedroom while we cook/ eat/ before we clean up after dinner - it's impossible to cook/ eat with him in the kitchen/ living room. However, I don't think it's fair, in a tiny apartment, to confine him like that but there's no choice.

Thinking of trying one of the foods for cats who are always hungry. Thoughts?

mymo

I don't know if this would help in your case, I'm assuming he's overweight?
I changed all our cats to grain free a few years ago, I find they all lost weight, I feed a mix of wet and dry, the wet at night as it seems to fill them up for longer.
I'm feeding bozita in gravy, you can get it on zooplus, one tetra pack feeds my four at night, I add a drop of water too, they love it as its all meat and they seem to be full until morning.
I feed applaws grain free during the day, 7.30 am and 4pm, and they are all doing great on it.

There are several grain free foods, I have tried a few, they seemed fuller on most of them. It's also costing me less to feed them than it did before, even if the food is more expensive.
I tried royal canin appetite control too for one of mine, it helped, but one is skinny, and stole the other cats food, he just got thinner, so had to change.

ABajaninCork

Has the cat been checked for thyroid problems? That can make the cat obsessively hungry.

DBB

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Has the cat been checked for thyroid problems? That can make the cat obsessively hungry.

Assuming he's maintaining weight, I would most certainly be investigating potential health problems, including blood and urine testing.

boomerang

I find my cats have an insatiable appetite when fed dry food only. I would at the very least feed half wet and half dry. Wet food is more filling. Mymo mentioned Bozita, that's what my guys are on and the fact that it's a carb-free food helps with satiety as well.

My guys have to work for their dry food, as well. At the very least, they have to run down the hallway for each piece I throw. Or I fill a big cardboard box with scrunched-up newspaper so they have to hunt for each piece I throw in. Or when I'm pressed for time, I put the dry food in a dispenser toy they have to nudge along. They seem more satisfied when they get the food slowly like this, than when I used to just put it in a bowl for them and they would gobble it.

Pumpkinseeds

Our cats are on tins of Bozita. We ran out and had to give them Felix/Whiskas until the Bozita arrived and the difference was shocking. They were constantly hungry on the supermarket grade food and were behind us every single time we went to the kitchen wanting food. On the Bozita they get it twice a day and we free feed dry food. They aren't looking for food and just get on with things.

A good quality grain free dry food also makes a big difference. I trust high protein cat food over the prescription diet stuff. A lot of vets push certain brands and tbh I don't think it works. The Bozita goes a long way because it's high protein, our 4 only get through about a can and a half a day between them and they finish all of it, instead of just licking jelly or gravy off the Felix/Whiskas stuff.

emzippy

Our cat used to be like this, even when we were feeding him Bozita wet food. He would meow constantly, break into any food left out and basically obssess over food.

What we did (rightly or wrongly) was over feed him for about two weeks. We'd fill his bowl twice a day with a good amount of bozita - way more than recommended until he started to associate that there will always be plenty of food available.

We definitely think this reduced his anxiety around food. We then started slowly reducing how much we gave him per feed by 5grams so he wouldn't notice at all.

Now we have him down to 120g of bozita wet food twice a day (their rda was making him fat) and he has never stressed about food since.

Don't know if it'll work for your guy but it worked for us. He wasn't overweight to start with though so we could over feed him a bit without worrying to much that he'd get very fat.

Qualitymark

I'd be inclined to ask the vet whether it's worth sending you for consultation to the veterinary hospital. (If you go on your own initiative it's very expensive, but if a vet sends you it's not.)

looking_around

emzippy wrote: »

Our cat used to be like this, even when we were feeding him Bozita wet food. He would meow constantly, break into any food left out and basically obssess over food.

What we did (rightly or wrongly) was over feed him for about two weeks. We'd fill his bowl twice a day with a good amount of bozita - way more than recommended until he started to associate that there will always be plenty of food available.

We definitely think this reduced his anxiety around food. We then started slowly reducing how much we gave him per feed by 5grams so he wouldn't notice at all.

Now we have him down to 120g of bozita wet food twice a day (their rda was making him fat) and he has never stressed about food since.

Don't know if it'll work for your guy but it worked for us. He wasn't overweight to start with though so we could over feed him a bit without worrying to much that he'd get very fat.

Did similar with a rescued cat once, was very afraid of being out of food, so would eat everything in sight, we did watch that he didn't eat so much that he got sick, but we basically just let him have plenty, when he started to relax, we started to reduce the food. Worked out very well.

On my current cat, as she has a tendency to put on weight. I make her "work" for her food, like another poster suggested. Throwing, hiding it, using "food balls/puzzle trays". It takes them longer to eat, so they get full on less.
I don't feed grain free, my cat is eating lidls finest, and not much at that, idk how people say grain free is cheaper. It doesn't add up for us. Though if I could afford it, I would, it much better for them.
Try the food balls op, try switching off the vet recommended, many of them are as pricy as grain free, but not any better than store bought.
And do the blood work if you can afford to as well.

CBFi

Thanks a mill everyone. I'm going to put all of this to use.

He's actually not a fat cat! Only 1 year old and was a rescue too. He's had extensive bloodwork and urine analysis done due to a problem he had months ago and so, when I mentioned this issue to the vet at the time, she ruled out any medical problems and said its just the way he is and is probably a psychological thing from when he was feral and prob hungry. She said he'd grow out of it possibly or that he maybe like this forever. It's driving us mad though and we HAVE to find a solution!

I think changing to grain free and the wet food you mention as well as over feeding for a couple of weeks will be my approach.

Thanks again!!

CBFi

Hey all,

Back again. Ordered the Bozita wet food for indoor, steralised cats along with the Applaws grain free dry food (salmon and chicken). My cat is approx 5 kilos.

How much should I be feeding him? The packaging of the wet food is not in english (thanks zooplus) and I'm not sure what the right balance is with wet and dry food.

I'd like to try the over feeding idea for a couple of weeks and reduce it down to the necessary amounts but I need to ascertain what is right amounts first!

Thanks!

Nody

CBFi wrote: »

Hey all,

Back again. Ordered the Bozita wet food for indoor, steralised cats along with the Applaws grain free dry food (salmon and chicken). My cat is approx 5 kilos.

How much should I be feeding him? The packaging of the wet food is not in english (thanks zooplus) and I'm not sure what the right balance is with wet and dry food.

I'd like to try the over feeding idea for a couple of weeks and reduce it down to the necessary amounts but I need to ascertain what is right amounts first!

Thanks!

It's listed on the Zooplus website though

Manufacturer's feeding recommendation in g/day per cat:

Cat's weight Amount in g/day
1kg 75
2kg 150
3kg 230
4kg 300
5kg 380
6kg 455
7kg 530

You can start with simply going 50/50; i.e. 50% of recommended wet and dry and see how that pans out and adjust as needed.

maggiepip

Try also supplementing with Taurine, even though Taurine is in cat food the amounts vary greatly and many cats are not getting enough. Ive been supplementing my cats with it for a good while and its calmed one of them down no end. He used to be always looking for food or scraps and since giving the taurine is a much more serene content cat. Its very difficult to overdose on it, as whats not needed is excreted. I give an average weight cat about 200mg daily.

CBFi

Thanks Nody-website....prob should have checked that. I was like 'but I ordered from Irish site for once!'

I'll try Taurine too Maggiepip.

boomerang

My guys each get half a carton of Bozita Indoor & Sterilised, and about 25g dry food daily.

They are smaller than your guy - both a little less than 4kg - but if your guy is overweight, the above should be fine.

Graces7

CBFi wrote: »

Thanks a mill everyone. I'm going to put all of this to use.

He's actually not a fat cat! Only 1 year old and was a rescue too. He's had extensive bloodwork and urine analysis done due to a problem he had months ago and so, when I mentioned this issue to the vet at the time, she ruled out any medical problems and said its just the way he is and is probably a psychological thing from when he was feral and prob hungry. She said he'd grow out of it possibly or that he maybe like this forever. It's driving us mad though and we HAVE to find a solution!

I think changing to grain free and the wet food you mention as well as over feeding for a couple of weeks will be my approach.

Thanks again!!

Our collie is like this. She was half starved her first five years. Food is the centre of her whole existence and I have to keep her away from any source. A total scavenger ...Reminds me of the Dr Barnardo kids who would only sleep if they had a crust of bread in bed with them. Collie is now 13. Now she grazes in her old age. Probably easier with a dog than with a cat. Less access to high cupboards and counter tops.