Cat bad behaviour (wanting food)

1886

We have a five year old male cat and in the last year he's became very, very vocal with when he wants feeding. It's got to the point where it's effecting our sleep.

This morning at 4.10am he decided he was hungry and then meowed over and over again outside the bedroom door. He used to be very well behaved but this behaviour has crept in slowly and now it's a problem.

I went down stairs and closed the kitchen door without feeding him that early as I don't want to encourage this behaviour. My wife says it's unfair to keep him closed in the kitchen.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to why he's gradually got to be like this? We feed him at 7.00am one pouch of wet food and some dry food and then a pouch at 5.00-6.00pm whenever we're back from work. I don't think he's under fed, he just seems to want to eat 24/7.

When we feed him it's like he has'nt eaten for two days. A pouch is gone in less than a minute

sheramber

Get him checked by a vet in case there is a medical reason for him being hungry.

Your vet can also check his weight and whether you are feeding him the right amount.

AntoMac

It could be that he needs worming. Our cat gets a bit like this occasionally when he's near needing his next worming tablets.

Slinky

Our cat sleeps in the kitchen most nights, it's where she has a bed up high, her food and water and her litter tray. Can't see why anybody would think this is unfair.

nicter

One of ours became very noisy like this particularly at night and transpired he had thyroid problems. Once on medication the meowing stopped and peace reigned once more
Also we feed ours ( 5 of them) a sachet morning and night and they have free access to biscuits

peachyprice

Are you sure it's food he want and not your company? What happens if you leave your bedroom door open, does he come in and sleep or does he still cry?

seven-day-weekend

He may have an overactive thyroid. One of my cats had this, she was always hungry and looked like skin and bones (despite being on medication, her weight was always a problem). Get him checked by a vet.

StaffieTerrier

I'd agree with everyone suggesting to get him checked over by a vet. My cat's always been one that begs for food. Recently that increased to the point of driving us mad. We took her to the vets and she's been diagnosed with an over active thyroid. I'm feeling guilty that I thought she was being greedy when she was ill

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

1886 wrote: »

We have a five year old male cat and in the last year he's became very, very vocal with when he wants feeding. It's got to the point where it's effecting our sleep.

This morning at 4.10am he decided he was hungry and then meowed over and over again outside the bedroom door. He used to be very well behaved but this behaviour has crept in slowly and now it's a problem.

I went down stairs and closed the kitchen door without feeding him that early as I don't want to encourage this behaviour. My wife says it's unfair to keep him closed in the kitchen.

Does anybody have any suggestions as to why he's gradually got to be like this? We feed him at 7.00am one pouch of wet food and some dry food and then a pouch at 5.00-6.00pm whenever we're back from work. I don't think he's under fed, he just seems to want to eat 24/7.

When we feed him it's like he has'nt eaten for two days. A pouch is gone in less than a minute

Pouch sizes have been decreased over recent years and I wouldn't be surprised if the calorific value is much lower as a result. Most boxes say a cat should be having 3-4 pouches a day, which shows how little nutrition/energy is in each, to me (I vaguely remember when 2 tins fed 5 cats and a dog with the addition of some mixer crunchies for the mutt and they were not hungry until their next meal at 7pm the following night. Because pet food contained meat rather than grain and a bit of animal based slime).

As dry food is more calorie dense, that is likely to satisfy him more, so I'd try giving him more crunchies and upping the quality of what he's being given - Butcher's Classic is a cheap improvement upon the heavily marketed brands, and the kibble with more meat than starch doesn't have to be extortionately priced, as they do tend to adjust the quantities they eat after the initial few days of demolishing everything.

My two acted though they were starving when they had been given only wet food - and they had more than what you are feeding yours - I went back to buying relatively decent kibble and they were back to normal (ie, not chasing me around for food, hurling themselves into the fridge and cupboards as soon as they were opened, etc) within 48 hours. I was embarrassed to admit it on here, but I did - they were genuinely hungry. I expect your cat is quite active as well at his age.


You could start by trying leaving him a bowl of decent kibble overnight. See if that stops the 4am yowling. If not, I'd also wonder whether he could be seeing other cats in his garden and that's upsetting him, so when you get up, as he's reassured you're there, he thinks 'great, now you're up and the intruders have gone, I'm hungry'.

gettingready

I have 4 boys and none of them would be happy with just 2 pouches a day plus some dry to be perfectly honest.

They have good quality dry available for them 24/7 and get 3 tins of cat food between them split into 2 meals. They never wake me up.

I do not shut my cats out of my bedroom though... If you only have one cat, maybe he gets lonely/scared? Has he always been locked out of your bedroom or is it recent change? How old is the cat?

GwylimT

What is his mass?

Our cat is raw fed and eats around 300g a day and will sometimes also have an 85g pouch, shes a medium sized indoor cat. Even the best pouch food natures menu requires 3-4 pouches a day for a small adult cat.

To stop the crying you have to fulfil the need, eg company, food etc.