# Overweight cat ALWAYS hungry



## kimmiess (Apr 11, 2016)

My cat is 20 pounds. He is very big boned and long, so probably should be about 15 pounds. He is only 2 years old. He has had blood work and everything comes back fine. Vet says he appears healthy, just overweight.

I feed Taste of the Wild dry food, a little less than 1/4 cup twice a day( as directed by the vet to try to help him lose weight), once immediately when I wake up, and once before I go to bed. He wakes us up in the middle of the night wanting to be fed. At first we thought he just wanted to be in the bedroom with us, but now he will get up on the bed and paw at our faces and lead us to the food. He is constantly stealing food from the dogs, even when he just finishes eating. He will meow by his food container even an hour or two after eating. He will try and eat inedible things as well, like plastic bags and he will chew on the litter bag if I leave it out bc he thinks its food. 

What can I do? He is driving us insane!:x


----------



## Nuliajuk (Oct 25, 2014)

Wet food might fill him up more, as the moisture will take up more room in his stomach. You might also ask your vet for a probiotic that works for cats. Sometimes the mix of bacteria in the gut biome can affect feelings of hunger and fullness.


----------



## kimmiess (Apr 11, 2016)

Thanks. How much wet food should I give him? I don't know how much his 1/4 cup dry would equal. Are there any good probiotics over the counter? He isn't due to go to the vet until next month.


----------



## Augustine (Nov 27, 2014)

I've used several probiotics, though most tend to have lots of fillers, sometimes grains. One I use that is strictly probiotic-only is called "Animal Essentials Plant Enzyme & Probiotics Dog & Cat Supplement". It comes in powder form and mixes well with food. (my finicky cats never had any issues with it; I don't even mix it in anymore) I get the 10oz bottle from Chewy.com - it lasts me a good couple of months with 3 cats + 1 dog.

As for feeding amounts, it will depend a lot on how many calories are in the food, so you probably won't be able to work out the specifics until you know which wet food you're going to feed. 

I started my overweight senior on around 25 calories per pound (using her targeted weight) and basically just worked my way up from there. 25 calories ended up being a little under so I started feeding her extra. I just adjusted it in about 1/4 cup increments until I found an amount that kept her at about the same weight. (post-weight loss, that is)

Otherwise, you can just go with the recommended feeding amounts on the can and go from there, adjusting as needed.


----------



## LakotaWolf (Aug 10, 2012)

Also, if you're going to transition him to canned food (which is much better overall for his health and future), it's super important to get RID of the kibble. Don't try hiding it in a cupboard - he'll still smell it and want it. He'll hold out for it and beg continually if he can smell it and knows it's there. 

And if you can somehow keep him away from the dogs' food - if they're fed timed meals, shut him in a room or bathroom until they finish. If they are free-fed, try placing their bowls somewhere he cannot reach. A cat should not be eating dog food - it can be very unhealthy for them. 

When you see him try to eat something inedible, if you can, immediately redirect his attention elsewhere. Wave a toy in front of his face, pet him, whatever you can do to distract him from the behavior of attempting to consume inedible things.

Feline Obesity: An Epidemic of Fat Cats by Lisa A. Pierson, DVM :: cat weight management, obese cat, cat weight loss

This site has some good info and a few stories of how the author helped several overweight kitties lose weight.


----------



## kimmiess (Apr 11, 2016)

Thank you. I will probably get Taste of the Wild canned food. I absolutely want all my animals on a quality grain free, not sourced in China food.


----------



## kimmiess (Apr 11, 2016)

I have been putting the dog food up after about 15 minutes. My one dog is very much a graiser, and I am having to get him out of that habit, which has been a challenge of its own. I watch the dogs eat and spray the cat with a spray bottle whenever he eats dog food.

I try to keep everything up that he gets into.

Thanks for the resource. I will check it out. Hoping canned food helps fill him up. I always did dry bc I thought that was what was better for their teeth.

He eats soooooo fast too. I wonder if that is part of his issue.


----------



## kimmiess (Apr 11, 2016)

Ok, so apparently Taste of the Wild's dry food has significantly more protein in it than the canned. I guess I need recommendations for a canned food, grain free, no sourced ingredients from China....


----------



## kimmiess (Apr 11, 2016)

*Best grain free canned foods?*

I just realized that Taste of the Wild's canned food has significantly less protein than the dry food, so I do not want to go that way. Looking for food recommendations. 

My requirements:
Grain free
Good amount of protein
Sourced and made 100% in the US
Doesn't break the bank

Thanks!


----------



## evince (Mar 9, 2015)

As far as I last checked, Weruva tends to have grain free foods that are lower in calories. But I am not sure about whether they source all their ingredients in the US. Some others here who live in the States may be better at advising


----------



## kimmiess (Apr 11, 2016)

I was just looking at them. They look ok, but should I worry about too low of calories? If I do the 25 cal/pound of ideal weight, he would be getting nearly four cans a day of it, which is not economical....


----------



## LakotaWolf (Aug 10, 2012)

Pet food companies label their foods VERY misleadingly. Percentages are NOT given in a "dry matter basis", which can make it seem as if kibble has more protein, when it does NOT - or that the protein comes from PLANT sources - as with the Taste of the Wild kibble - pea protein.

Taken from Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health :

"With regard to the overall protein amounts contained in dry versus canned food, do not be confused by the listing of the protein percentages on the packaging. At first glance, it might appear that the dry food has a higher amount of protein than the canned food—but this is not true on a dry matter basis which considers the food minus the water. Most canned foods, when figured on a dry matter basis, have more protein than dry food. And remember, even if this was not the case, the percentage numbers do not tell the whole story. It is the protein’s biological value that is critical."

The aforementioned site will give you a better idea of how to look at a canned food label - you should be considering the "dry matter" basis for protein amounts and not trusting the (often misleading) label.

Also helpful:

Commercial Canned Foods by Lisa A. Pierson, DVM :: reading cat food labels, canned versus dry cat food

The above link has a link to a listing of many commercial canned foods which you can quickly reference to see the REAL protein %s.

You should also look for a food that does not have fish - fish is not a good food for cats at all and can lead to health issues. And keep an eye on ingredients like vegetables and fruits - many companies will tout "grain-free" and then their second ingredient is something like kale - which of course cats cannot digest truly properly to derive full nutrients. It sounds great to us humans that a cat's food has blueberries and chunks of zucchini - but a cat isn't an omnivore. 

My cat is on a raw diet, but I keep many canned varieties on hand for days when she might be feeling a bit ill and wants something different to eat.

These are the brands I buy:

-Weruva
-Ziwipeak
-Dave's Pet Food
-Natural Balance Limited Ingredient
-Blue Buffalo

Weruva is an excellent brand and probably my favorite, but they offer several "lines" - and their more affordable ones have a lot of fish, which is no good. Ziwipeak is also stunningly high-quality and they offer several "novel protein" lines such as venison and rabbit.

Also, don't fall too much into the American-centric thinking for "sourced and made" - there are many facilities in America that are not held to high standards. I believe Weruva's pet food facility is in Thailand, where it is made in a human-food processing facility under far greater scrutiny and safety/cleanliness protocols than American facilities are.

Weruva - People Food for Pets - Tid Bits

This doesn't hold true for every company, of course, and I agree that many pet-food disasters have originated from China, but one should not shun foods made and sourced from other countries blindly.


----------



## Nuliajuk (Oct 25, 2014)

How big are the cans? We buy the 6 oz cans for our cats and they don't eat anywhere near a whole can a day each. Admittedly, I can't really say exactly how much they eat because some of their diet comes from kibble that we put down at night, but we'll have a can in the 'fridge for a day or two before it gets used up.
I think for a 15 pound cat, the recommended amount is something like one 6 oz can for every 8 pounds of body weight, but Saxon only eats about 1/2 a can a day at most for his 15 pounds.
Try a tablespoons at first, with a slightly reduced amount of kibble in the normal bowl.
Most canned foods will have feeding recommendations on the label.


----------



## Chewysmom (Mar 31, 2009)

Be very careful when trying to help a large cat lose weight. I know him not eating is probably not a concern but any severe drops in calorie intake can actually prompt his body to start digesting body fat which can lead to fatty liver disease which can lead to death. A pure protein snack late at night may be just the thing like, a half or third of a chicken breast cut up, either raw, steamed, or baked with no bones. I found that a pure muscle protein like that really fills the cat up and keep them full for a long time.


----------

