Is he really hungry?

[NKBurlington]

Or is he just being a little pig.

My boy Ritchi is five years old and we adopted him and his brother in February.

Ritchi is constanly begging for food. He is only eight pounds and very athletic. His brother on the other hand, well, not so much.

From 4:00 am until I get up and feed him he will beg for food by standing on my chest and crying and rubbing my face. It's very cute, mind you, but I'm trying to sleep :)

I get up and feed them and go back to bed. By the time I wake up at 6:30, the food is gone and he's begging for more. I don't feed them again until I get home from work twelve hours later and even then, I don't fill the bowl. I just fill it enough so he can't see the bottom and he thinks it's full!

Still, he begs for food.

Is Ritchi really THAT hungry or does he just like to eat? Am I starving the poor cat to death? I don't want him to get over weight and have to deal with that later in life. Been there. Done that. Didn't like it.

What do you think?

PS: I have no idea of his/their previous eating habbits prior to us adopting him/them.

[catnapper]

Is he still young and very active? He might burn up those calories in the food faster than his overweight brother. For example, I have a teenaged son at home who will eat us out of house and home. He easily eats 4000 calories a day. Yet he is stick thin and barely hit 140 on the scales at nearly 6' tall! I would think the same rule applies to cats too - the active ones are able to eat more because they are using more of the "fuel" than the inactive ones. Pouncer's always running up to me as if he's starving to death. I'll usually feed him because I see how active he is. He's a year old, so still a lot of kitten in him. Now his BIG brother? Allen gets fed only once a day, but he doesn't beg for it after he's fed either.

[lizzielou742]

My cat Tito is the same way. I have come to the conclusion that whether or not he's really hungry, I know how much he needs to eat (according to vet's guidelines) because I'm his mommy! At least your kitty is still in shape - Tito only eats 1/3 cup of food a day & he's still fluffy.

They can make you feel guilty so easily - meowing, looking at the bowl - cats are masters of their craft! ;)

My advice is to ask your vet how much he should be eating, and just stick to that. Good Luck! :)

[catcrazylady]

My Pepper Jack and Pete are both very skinny boys. Pete doesn't eat very much but normally Pepper is a Hoover eating anything and everything in sight and still wanting more. I give it to him because I know he is burning it off and when I start to see some excess fluff then I will start to tone him down. For now I feel like he must need all that energy for all the trouble he gets into!

[Laura's Babies]

These babies are so funny! Amy think everytime I go in the kitchen, that she gets a TREAT and gives me those "sweet eyes" in anticipation.. She KNOW she only gets treats at night but it don't keep her from trying..

I agree with everyone else though, if he is real active, he probably needs the extra food to keep up with his activity. As long as he isn't getting TO fat, I wouldn't worry about it and feed him when he wants.. I think they too, are like humans and sometimes eat out of habit more than hunger.

[catmandu]

If he is a Stary cat,he might be insecure,and even though you feed him, he might have memories,of long ago,when there was no food! Maybe try playing, with him, with an interactive Toy!