I’m posting this because I’m at my wit's end with my 8-month-old kitten. She was spayed two months ago. When we first got her at five months old, she was quite reasonable with her food and was able to pace herself. Over time, she started eating her daily ration faster and faster, and by the end of the day, she had nothing left, so we decided to split it into several smaller meals. At the moment, since being neutered, she’s on 25g of dry food and 50g of wet food (a premium brand, so it's very high quality). However, it’s become completely unmanageable. It's been even worse since she was spayed.
She is totally obsessed with food, to the point where she’ll scavenge anything left out (even non-food items...). She steals a lot too; we can’t leave anything lying around (she’ll be licking the olive oil out of a cold frying pan the second my back is turned for two minutes), she rips open loaves of bread to eat them, etc. It’s even worse when we give her wet food—she’d practically have our fingers off to eat it faster. Otherwise, it’s just non-stop meowing whenever she decides it's time to eat...
We tried giving her more, or even free-feeding her, but she ate two days' worth of dry food in 15 minutes, which just resulted in three days of diarrhoea...
We’re really stuck for what to do now... Does anyone have any tips or tricks?
Cheers!
Translated from French
The forum content is sometimes translated from another language, and posts may concern countries with different animal laws. Do your research before making any decisions.
Since the forum is translated by AI, the translations may contain errors.
I’ve always left dry food out all the time plus wet food on demand (which usually works out at 6 or 8 times a day, or even more), and I’ve never had an obese cat, whether they were an outdoor cat or an indoor cat.
Brilliant, thanks so much! I’ll give her a deworming booster too, just in case. I’m going to slowly increase her food portions as well to see if there’s any improvement! I also give her a bit of courgette; she absolutely loves it, so it’ll help fill her up. As for the diarrhoea, yeah, it’s a real problem… as soon as she eats more than usual, she gets soft stools, and because she’s semi-Angora, it gets all over her fur… not exactly a pretty sight, haha!
Hi there,
I was worried you might take it the wrong way, but you didn't, so that’s good.
It's quite strange that you're worried about it giving her the runs. Actually, overeating might make them regurgitate (basically being sick 😂), but it doesn't cause diarrhoea UNLESS... it's grain-free food!
Also, contrary to an idea that I think is spreading a bit too much lately, feeling full isn't down to the amount of protein a cat eats. It's simply about their little tummy being nice and full; they don't have a gauge to count calories and animal proteins to tell them when they're supposed to stop being hungry.
Honestly, in my opinion, dry food should be left out all the time, but failing that, you could at least double the portions of both her dry food and her wet food. Just make sure she's drinking regularly; since she isn't having a large amount of wet food, you really need to compensate by offering her plenty to drink and encouraging her to hydrate (fresh water changed often, a water fountain, and so on).
I know she’s not very big at around 5.5 lbs (2.5 kg), but I really do think she’s hungry on the one hand, and on the other, if she has diarrhoea, it’s not because she’s eaten too much. It's directly linked to the grain-free diet; many, many cats simply can’t digest it, even with a proper transition and doing everything by the book.
If you like, you could top up her meals with real meat, raw or cooked—chicken breast, white fish (or salmon, but that’s pricey), or beef (stewing steak or braising beef is quite cheap). You can be sure that won't make her put on weight.
Hi everyone, thanks for your replies!
I understand what you're saying, but my vet told me she only needs 25g of dry food and 50g of wet food... so I’m not really sure what to think! At the moment, she’s on dry food for sterilised cats and a high-protein, grain-free brand of wet food.
She lives in a flat and is only a tiny thing; she weighs about 5.5 lbs (which is a normal weight for her size), so I’m worried about her becoming obese. I’m probably a bit paranoid about her putting on weight because my old cat had major weight issues and I don't want to repeat the same mistakes.
Besides, if I give her a bigger portion, she gets diarrhoea, and that’s no fun for her either...
I agree—he’s not getting enough to eat, so he’s hungry.
You need to leave out dry food that’s high in animal protein, with meat as the first ingredient and a good percentage—at least 25% (and even that is quite low). The more animal protein it has, the less he'll actually eat in terms of quantity, as he’ll hit his protein requirements quicker since he’s an obligate carnivore.
He’ll self-regulate, so there’s no problem with leaving out dry food for sterilised cats (with or without grains) all the time, plus at least one portion of wet food a day to make sure he stays hydrated.
I agree. Your cat is hungry, which is a major source of stress for a cat and drives them to bolt their food, potentially leading to vomiting or diarrhoea. Give her free access to some 'light' dry food and at least double the amount of wet food she’s currently getting. Your cat is in emotional distress because the most fundamental fear for any animal is hunger.
I’m pretty much in agreement with Yuna; my cat isn’t a huge fan of dry food. It’s left out for him all the time but he eats it quite sporadically... more as a "snack", I’d say, as he also hunts and eats his prey. On the other hand, he eats 2 to 3 85g pouches of wet food a day; he’s 4 years old and weighs around 9 lbs, and his weight stays very steady.
So yes, I think your cat is still hungry... The fact that she scoffs any food she can get her paws on suggests that to me. It’s normal for them to bolt dry food when it’s left out at first... they all do it, but eventually they realise the food is always there and start to self-regulate.
To give you some peace of mind, you could try giving her food specifically for neutered cats.
