Cat always hungry, not worms..

[Catty1]

If it doesn't say weight control, it isn't.

Purina should have a weight control food - and hopefully you can free feed her and keep everyone happy.

hugs
Catty1

[Abigail]

We have a six-year old, otherwise happy and healthy cat who always complains for food. She is on a very healthy low-cal food that we purchase through her vet. When she was about 3, we did put her on a diet (vet monitored) and she went from 13 lbs to 10.5 lbs. It's understandable that she was hungry during that time, and the reason she got heavy is because we initially fed her too much because she seemed honestly hungry. But for 3 years, we have been diligently feeding her 1/4 cup of food at regular times, 3 times/day. For a while we gave two feedings of dry and one of wet, but it really didn't make much difference at all in her hunger level. She is playful, is indoor/outdoor and seems to think her life is pretty great...except for the empty belly. She does not have worms - we have never seen any signs but even so we give her regular de-worming pills because she hunts. The vet has continuously told me that her incessant meowing is just a habit. I understand behaviour modification, if that's what the vet is getting at, and after 3 years of us being really diligent about only feeding her a specific (and adequate) amount at a specific time (despite her complaining), it seems logical that she might get used to it. As much as we love her, I sympathise - it really is frustrating to have a cat who meows desperately for food. We want HER to be happy, and it's also really trying to have her complaining desperately for hours. She usually starts about 1 hour before her regular feeding times, sometimes up to 2 or 2.5 hours. When we have gone away overnight or something and put a full day's food in her dish, she eats it all right away. When she hunts, she eats ALL of what she catches. She really is nutty about food, and right from when she was a kitten, she did not seem to be able to regulate her own eating through free feeding. After three years of being really diligent with her feedings and not seeing her relax at all, we just tried upping it to 1/4 cup 4 times/day. She was very happy for about 4 days, and now she's used to it and starts complaining for food before this fourth feeding as well. We know that increasing her food intake again is not the answer. She's a well cared for, well loved cat with cat parents who have been firm but kind - we just wish she would not be do desperate for food. I am interested to hear any ideas.

[Medusa]

Don't take offense at this but are you sure it's hunger that's making her cry? She may have something physical going on that you're not aware of unless you've had her checked out by your vet and she checked A-OK. And if she has checked out OK, then perhaps talk w/your vet about her diet and see what s/he says. I know that her behavior indicates that she's hungry but it may be something else entirely. Good luck and please keep us posted. Prayers going up that all will be well w/Halo and things will calm down in your household.

[Catty1]

Also - she might still have some kind of food panic stress after fighting for her food with your mom's cats.

A vet checkup is a great idea...she may benefit from some Feliway calming spray. (The patent has come off it, so it is MUCH cheaper than it used to be!) One of my cats has to use it - He wears a stretchy collar, and I shake the bottle and put a tiny squirt right into the collar. Not supposed to go on fur or skin.)

Please update and let us know how she is doing!

[CathyBogart]

I would get a wellness blood panel run at the vet's to rule out thyroid problems or diabetes.

[Jessika]

This thread is over two years old, though I'm curious to know how the situation turned out

[agirlwithaguitar]

My cat will eat until she throws up or until she gets really fat if I just leave food in her bowl all the time. So I feed her at regularly scheduled times, and she starts meowing and begging 1 hr to 1.5 hrs ahead of her feeding time. Some solutions I've used to prevent her from waking me up were, #1) I don't feed her until an hour after I normally get up so the meowing usually starts right around the time I want to get up anyway and acts as a back-up alarm clock, #2) At one point I used to keep a spray bottle of water next to my bed, so if she woke me up I would spray her, and that discouraged her #3) I give her one feeding late at night so she won't be so hungry first thing in the morning.

Also if the pesky meowing gets really bad I sometimes squirt water at her with a spray bottle (even after I'm awake), which she hates and which will shut her down for a good 15 mins or so, or an idea I read on (I think) another blog was good - putting her inside a pillowcase for a little while or throwing a blanket on top of her. This distracts her and becomes a game, because it takes a while for her to find her way out, so it stops her from thinking about food for a few minutes. Finally, I also did find that putting out a wheatgrass plant for her to chomp on at her leisure did seem to help take the edge off her hunger a bit. The problem was I can't keep those darn plants alive so I had to keep buying new ones. Any tips on what to do with wheatgrass? They come without dirt in the box - are you supposed to plant them? I never could understand the logic there but then I don't have much of a green thumb.