Cat greedy or hungry?

[jumbyjack]

I picked up my cat from the rescue on Friday, he's a big chap, I could feel the bottom of the carrier bending! He's always saying he's starving, I have to admit he does look narrow for his size but he is reasonably well covered and very heavy. Is he having me on, I've never had a greedy cat before! He is such a nice cat and very chatty, I showed him his loo and he's been brilliant, no accidents! He's allegedly called Ted but doesn't respond to it at all, not a stray, owner had to go into care. He does respond to his biscuits being shaken, comes down the stairs like an elephant!

 

[Highmileagecob]

I have a standard sized cat who can get through four packets of food a day. He is very active and playful, but can eat for England. He was raised on raw food, but after a day on emergency rations when I ran out, refused to go back on raw.

 

[Rumtytum]

Sounds like you have become staff to a lovely, characterful cat!
Taking it that he’s been wormed it might be he is just panicking that the food might run out so he thinks he needs to gobble as much as possible now. Or he could just be a greedy cat. You will learn more over the next few weeks, he’ll settle down or your cat food bill is on the up! Either way he sounds a cracker, and photos are always appreciated

 

[Hackback]

I have two approx 18 month old, tiny ex farm cats that have three packets of food a day each plus dry food. They're both always starving and quite slim. Obviously wormed. Both look healthy but I'm told that's quite a lot of food for a cat. I'm just introducing them to raw (the dogs are raw fed) to see if that makes a difference. Looking forward to hearing how much other people feed their cats!

 

[ycbm]

How old is he? Over active thyroid is common in older cats and hungry but slim is a symptom.
.

 

[smolmaus]

We feed according to weight (roughly as the small but constantly plump will have the large but constantly lean boys leftovers) 2 wet meals and 2 dry at the same times every day which does mostly stop the "constantly hungry" as they learn when they're fed. You can set your clock by Duke.

They were on felix/whiskas packets at the rescue but the plastic waste and the cost was injuring me mentally and they are such a high proportion of water to meat that you do need to feed quite a few of them. Both ours transitioned onto a higher quality but overall cheaper canned wet pretty easily.

 

[jumbyjack]

Ah, he is on whiskas pouches and hoovers it up in seconds. Trip to supermarket on the way, photo on way!

 

[Shady]

Not a lot of meat percentage in Whiskas pouches ,so he will want more if he's a big framed cat. And more again if he's outdoor/ active
Companies have also reduced their pouch sizes to 85g from 100g.
I would just monitor him for a few days and let him eat what he wants while he settles in . Keep an eye on the dirt box too just in case he has soft/ runny poos as this will tell you a lot about his health.
If you decide to keep him on Whiskas, I would personally add a really good quality dried with a high meat content
He sounds lovely. Can't wait to see him !!

 

[Cloball]

My cat got a bit panicky when we moved and wanted to be fed all the time once he settled into the routine and knows he's getting fed regularly he calmed down.

 

[HollyWoozle]

I would ask the rescue for their opinion on his weight and get some baby scales to weigh him on, then keep track using those. He sounds lovely, enjoy him!

 

[jumbyjack]

This is a fairly poor picture of Ted checking out the garden! Today he has had awful poop, I'm sure it's my fault for letting him stuff his face! I've taken everything away apart from water and will restart him very slowly. Even with his hot bum he hasn't missed using his loo. What a star he is, sorry Ted for upsetting your tummy!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

This is a fairly poor picture of Ted checking out the garden! Today he has had awful poop, I'm sure it's my fault for letting him stuff his face! I've taken everything away apart from water and will restart him very slowly. Even with his hot bum he hasn't missed using his loo. What a star he is, sorry Ted for upsetting your tummy!

That is indeed a big cat! And your first post makes it sounds like he have a fabulous personality!

Even if he's happy with you, his tummy could be upset simply from having moved from his other home to the rescue, and from rescue to you. In your shoes, if his poops doesn't rapidly improve, I would be tempted to buy something like Royal Canin Gastrointestinal to help his intestines settle down, and if he doesn't get better, contact a vet.

The correct daily food amount can vary a lot depending on food brand, the cat's activity level etc. In general it seems to me as if you only feed wet food, they can get a little bit more in total grams per day, but if you mix wet + dry food the total amount of grams they should get is usually lower. But I take what it says on the packaging as a suggestion, and then I try to find what amount that actually works for each of my individual cats.

If you want to slow down his eating, so the food portion lasts longer, you could try doing what they do with dogs, put something in his bowl that he has to eat around, or if the food is dry, put a little cloth or something partially over the food so he maybe has to use his paw to get out a few pieces at a time.

Hope his tummy problems settles quickly.

 

[Shady]

This is a fairly poor picture of Ted checking out the garden! Today he has had awful poop, I'm sure it's my fault for letting him stuff his face! I've taken everything away apart from water and will restart him very slowly. Even with his hot bum he hasn't missed using his loo. What a star he is, sorry Ted for upsetting your tummy!

If he's stuffing his face on food that he's always eaten, he shouldn't really have runny poos, he would be more likely to just do bigger poos or one extra. However the change in water and home could be a factor so he should settle in a few days if it's that . If there has been a complete diet change , then yes he will get a dodgy tum, which again should settle as his gut flora etc adjusts. You could give him some prokolin or similar if you want to help him along
On the other hand he could have a giardia type infection as he's come from a rescue center. Very common ,but easy to test and treat. Because I got caught out with this once I make a point of isolating and testing now .
He looks like a lovely big cat !

 

[Rumtytum]

Love the Ears of Concentration
Nothing useful to offer re his tum other than best wishes for it to improve. He is one big hunk of gorgeous feline!

 

[jumbyjack]

He's back to normal now! I'm being very careful what I give him and the quantities. I have also found that if I use a higher tone with his name he does respond and comes down stairs using his elephant gallop! I can't believe I've not had him a week yet and his paws are already firmly under the table, plus occasionally on the table, that is being discouraged for sure!

 

[Nasicus]

How old is he? Over active thyroid is common in older cats and hungry but slim is a symptom.
.

For mine it was a symptom of liver lymphoma, Thyroid was where we went first though!
Looking at Ted though, I doubt he's got those issues, he looks like a big lad
Also, Prokolin do a cat version, always handy to have around just in case it happens again. Lymphoma Cat is constantly hungry from steroids but frustratingly picky, all she'll eat currently is Felix wet pouches, so when her poops go a bit rank she gets a bit of that to help firm everything up again.

 

[jumbyjack]

He is certainly a big chap, the thud when he jumps off something can be almost felt! He had bloods done at the rescue so I know hesok! He's fabulous!

 

[jumbyjack]

Slightly better picture of Ted, I must get one of him standing showing his two inch long tail!

 

[Rumtytum]

Slightly better picture of Ted, I must get one of him standing showing his two inch long tail!

He has such a lovely ‘blokey’ face!