Young cats always hungry

Windofchange

Hi all, 

We rescued two cats over the summer from a charity. We think they are about 18 and 24 months now, though charity couldn’t give us an exact age as they were found abandoned. Both are British shorthair, and the older one had had a litter of kittens if it makes any difference. We love them to bits but they are always always always hungry and begging. Both have had their vaccinations, have been spayed and given a clear bill of health by our vet. 

We have them on kibble (Iams) which we have been trying to get the right amount of. They are having about twice as much as the packet recommends for their age and weight, and we have started to give a pouch each of wet food (whiskers) a day, usually at night. They will scoff down their food and then immediately be scavenging for more. In the bins, miowing at us, trying to break into the bread bin. They never seem to be sated, and it’s worrying us as not sure if it’s that we are under feeding them or that they are just young cats and this is what they’re like? We’ve had a cat before but she was much older and so first experience with youngsters. Both are indoors only. Any advice / experiences from fellow cat parents!? 

marcia_

 I have a cat I adopted act like that. He was a stray we took in and obviously so, dirty and thin when we took him. 

 Took about a year for him to stop that behaviour and accept the 2 meals and kibble we gave him, 

CapricornLass

If they had been abandoned for a while as kittens and had to scavenge for their own food, then I'm afraid that they will be programmed to find and eat as much food as they can, as they wont know when the next meal will arrive.  This will persist even after they have had two square meals a day for five years from their humans.  They will also eat anything - ours loved sweet and sour sauce from the Chinese takeway.

All I can suggest is that you feed them the recommended amounts of food for their age and weight, make sure all your food is shut away, the bin is emptied as often as possible and that you ensure their worming treatment is up to date.

Windofchange

CapricornLass said:

If they had been abandoned for a while as kittens and had to scavenge for their own food, then I'm afraid that they will be programmed to find and eat as much food as they can, as they wont know when the next meal will arrive.  This will persist even after they have had two square meals a day for five years from their humans.  They will also eat anything - ours loved sweet and sour sauce from the Chinese takeway.

All I can suggest is that you feed them the recommended amounts of food for their age and weight, make sure all your food is shut away, the bin is emptied as often as possible and that you ensure their worming treatment is up to date.

Thanks and that is one thing I considered in that they are just so used to bin diving to survive they can’t get out of the habit. Makes me so sad that they had this existence. Both have put on about 30% extra weight since we’ve had them and you can’t see ribs etc - they look like normal healthy cats. We’ve had to clamp the bins shut with my building tools and everything that can be eaten is now locked away - they turfed the sink compost bin out last week which was lovely to come home to…

I’m hopeful that as they age they might calm down a bit and come to trust that their food is always coming.  The foster carer just left a huge bowl of biscuits out for them so they were used to grazing through the day before we got them. We’re considering trying that but they will likely eat to excess and pile on the pounds. 

Mnoee

Mine were similar - I used to feed them tiny amounts of wet food five or six times a day. It took a while for them to realise that there is always food available now, and settle into a routine. We've now got that down to a more standard two meals with a few treats at lunchtime just through trying slightly larger meals with slightly larger gaps and if yelling started, backtracking to more frequent meals. Not to scare you, but that took about two years. 

Distractions help - mine were indoor only when I got them (now they have a safe outdoor catio), and they really do need a lot of extra attention and playtime. I have some battery operated toys for when I'm busy, plus YouTube bird videos on the TV are always a hit. 

There's also puzzle feeders that can help slow down eating and provide a bit of extra mental stimulus - we went for something like this first as there's lots of different puzzles, but there's loads to choose from. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-Cat-Activity-Fun-Board/dp/B001O8L2UO/

One of ours really took to them, so we got her more complex puzzles. One not so much, but he's a fan of a snuffle mat - they're not just for dogs! There's also balls with holes in that dispense treats or dry food when batted about. If they're used to working for their food, hopefully they'll take to it quickly. 

baser999

You say they came with a clean bill of health. That was six months ago, have they had worm treatment? 

Silvertabby

British Short Hairs ( if that really is their breed) like their food!  We feed ours Hills Science Light (reduced calorie) in order to keep her weight in check.  

Whiskas is McD's for cats.  

SandyShores

Ours was about 4 months when we adopted him and he has always been very interested in food.  He like packed lunch sandwiches at one point, and even tried bread teacakes if we left a packet out.  We assumed it was because he was a rescue.  He's a bit more fussy these days and leaves the bread products alone.  Like the earlier poster, I find it best to feed half packets at a time.  I leave a bowl of biscuits out on the landing which he'll eat in the night, and we also have diet food and diet biscuits but he also likes treats.  It does feel like we are constantly feeding the cat - I think it would probably be easier to have a baby

Windofchange

baser999 said:

You say they came with a clean bill of health. That was six months ago, have they had worm treatment? 

Yup wormed and last visit to the vets two weeks ago for second booster jab where they were examined too and all good. That was my initial thought, worms. Don’t think it’s that though. 

Windofchange

Mnoee said:

Mine were similar - I used to feed them tiny amounts of wet food five or six times a day. It took a while for them to realise that there is always food available now, and settle into a routine. We've now got that down to a more standard two meals with a few treats at lunchtime just through trying slightly larger meals with slightly larger gaps and if yelling started, backtracking to more frequent meals. Not to scare you, but that took about two years. 

Distractions help - mine were indoor only when I got them (now they have a safe outdoor catio), and they really do need a lot of extra attention and playtime. I have some battery operated toys for when I'm busy, plus YouTube bird videos on the TV are always a hit. 

There's also puzzle feeders that can help slow down eating and provide a bit of extra mental stimulus - we went for something like this first as there's lots of different puzzles, but there's loads to choose from. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trixie-Cat-Activity-Fun-Board/dp/B001O8L2UO/

One of ours really took to them, so we got her more complex puzzles. One not so much, but he's a fan of a snuffle mat - they're not just for dogs! There's also balls with holes in that dispense treats or dry food when batted about. If they're used to working for their food, hopefully they'll take to it quickly. 

Thanks for the great ideas and I think that there might be some boredom. They’re both currently tearing around the house playing chase, and although I try to play with them daily it’s not perhaps as much as they want. They love chasing the laser pen and I have a few snakes and bird feather things on sticks that they’ll ‘hunt’. I think the feed in balls is a good idea - have seen some things on the internet, otherwise people seem to have cut holes in old coke bottles as an example and put some treats inside for them to get out. We have a puzzle feeder on order. 

Green_hopeful

My mum has a British shorthair who is absolutely obsessed with food. He will eat anything he can get his paws on. I wonder if he is a little bored perhaps.