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Post by munchkins on Apr 10, 2013 18:38:03 GMT
Evening everyone, The past month or so munchkin seems to hungry all the time, she's 10 months old and on Adult food now we give her a small bowl of biscuits in the morning and a small amount of chicken at night with a few biscuits in her bowl for the night. the problem being whenever we go into the kitchen she follows us howling, now is she just playing us up because she no's we'll give in and give her a couple of biscuits or is she hungry? she's been wormed and she's an indoor cat, i don't want to over feed her and make her over weight any ideas gratefully received
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Post by littlekitty on Apr 10, 2013 19:03:33 GMT
I'll be interested in reply's too as Mary does a similar thing, and now tries to get in the bin and even jumps on the units looking for food. Mary has lost weight, she was 4.2 and is now 3.9, despite her eating lots.
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Post by tonib on Apr 10, 2013 21:13:30 GMT
I'm sorry but I haven't any experience of this. However having had an overweight cat I've learnt the importance of feeding to your cats ideal weight even if they aren't at it!
Have you weighed Munchkin? She is still growing at 10 months so may need a bit extra but others used to growing kittens/cats would be able to answer that idea a little better than me. I had to feed Penny according to her target weight not her actual - in her case a reducing weight. Have you looked at her body shape in comparison to the ideal try this link [ a href="http://www.royalcanin.co.uk/products/products/cat-s-body-condition"]Cat body condition[/a] She could also be more active now the days have got lighter and need more food to fuel this.
However you could be right & she's trying it on & there's only one way to deal with that if you don't want to give her more food, ignore the cries etc.! Difficult I know but possibly directing her attention on to other things like throwing a ball for her.
I'd be inclined to keep an eye on her weight to ensure she isn't losing it. If she is I would get the vet to check her out assuming you've already checked she's getting the right amount of food.
Lynn, I'm sorry to read that Mary is still hungry, is she still losing weight after the vet visit or has she stabalised? Are you considering getting her checked out with blood tests to rule out any underlying conditions?
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Post by Ajax on Apr 11, 2013 7:48:58 GMT
When you say you give her a small bowl of biscuits in the morning - do you weigh out the advised daily weight for her? I find that if you weigh out the daily amount and then feed it in very small amounts over the day when they pester you for food they seem happy that they have had a snack but you haven't increased the amount of their food. At 10 months old she is still growing so may need a bit extra yet. It would be a good idea to weigh her to monitor her weight so you can see exactly what is going on.
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Post by Ajax on Apr 11, 2013 8:02:22 GMT
When you say you give her a small bowl of biscuits in the morning - do you weigh out the advised daily weight for her? I find that if you weigh out the daily amount and then feed it in very small amounts over the day when they pester you for food they seem happy that they have had a snack but you haven't increased the amount of their food. At 10 months old she is still growing so may need a bit extra yet. It would be a good idea to weigh her to monitor her weight so you can see exactly what is going on.
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Post by littlekitty on Apr 11, 2013 8:14:17 GMT
I'm sorry but I haven't any experience of this. However having had an overweight cat I've learnt the importance of feeding to your cats ideal weight even if they aren't at it! Have you weighed Munchkin? She is still growing at 10 months so may need a bit extra but others used to growing kittens/cats would be able to answer that idea a little better than me. I had to feed Penny according to her target weight not her actual - in her case a reducing weight. Have you looked at her body shape in comparison to the ideal try this link [ a href="http://www.royalcanin.co.uk/products/products/cat-s-body-condition"]Cat body condition [/a] She could also be more active now the days have got lighter and need more food to fuel this. However you could be right & she's trying it on & there's only one way to deal with that if you don't want to give her more food, ignore the cries etc.! Difficult I know but possibly directing her attention on to other things like throwing a ball for her. I'd be inclined to keep an eye on her weight to ensure she isn't losing it. If she is I would get the vet to check her out assuming you've already checked she's getting the right amount of food. Lynn, I'm sorry to read that Mary is still hungry, is she still losing weight after the vet visit or has she stabalised? Are you considering getting her checked out with blood tests to rule out any underlying conditions?[/quote] (Sorry Munchkin for hi jacking your thread) Toni, I haven't checked her weight since the vet visit, I have to wait a few weeks then take her back for bloods. As she is nervous I think they will have to sedate her before taking samples. She also drank 2 bowls of milk yesterday, one after the other. I will also ask to check for anything else other than diabebtes, maybe thyroid.
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Post by tonib on Apr 11, 2013 10:37:12 GMT
Lynn, Hope you get an answer soon.
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satori
Newbie
Posts: 14
Pets I own: Sassi, Rolo & Bruno
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Post by satori on Apr 11, 2013 12:36:37 GMT
Evening everyone, The past month or so munchkin seems to hungry all the time, she's 10 months old and on Adult food now we give her a small bowl of biscuits in the morning and a small amount of chicken at night with a few biscuits in her bowl for the night. the problem being whenever we go into the kitchen she follows us howling, now is she just playing us up because she no's we'll give in and give her a couple of biscuits or is she hungry? she's been wormed and she's an indoor cat, i don't want to over feed her and make her over weight any ideas gratefully received First off a 10 month old cat should be fed as much as they want to eat. You should not restrict their calories until they at least 18 months or so. Just weigh and more importantly check body condition, make sure you can see a bit of a waist etc. Secondly, you should not be feeding dry food at all unless you want to raise a diabetic bowling bowl with bad teeth and a urinary tract infection. Until you get a cat off dry food, all other discussions about weight, condition and optimal diet are off the table really.
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Post by munchkins on Apr 11, 2013 17:57:32 GMT
ok I feed my cat dry food on the advice of my vet, also she has wet once a day too,
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Post by tonib on Apr 11, 2013 18:22:33 GMT
Munchkins, Our vet tried to suggest that dry would be good for our Osiris's teeth as it would help clean tartar off them as he has had bad cases of gingivitis. Unfortunately he absolutely hates dried - see my comments on the what do you feed your cat thread.
Satori whilst I can appreciate some of the of your comments, dried food, especially with some wet, is often the practical solution for quite a number of cat owners & their cats. So long as a reasonable quality food is used whether wet or dried then it is about quantities, frequency & cat's needs. That's my personal view anyway.
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Post by munchkins on Apr 11, 2013 19:29:52 GMT
thank you tonib, we've tried wet food sachets and she was on hi life which are 50% chicken but the last three sachets I opened were not nice, it put us both off, so we give her boiled chicken and white fish a little everyday the rest of the time biscuits, she was on pah purely but went off them ,we gave her go cat when she had runny poos as it was higher fibre then the one she was on and she liked them , I no not everyone likes giving them to their cats but the price is in our budget, and she 's really good. think what we feed our cats is a personal choice, she has a sensitive stomach because of an earlier illness so we tend to stick with what she likes, and as go cat has a few more flavours now we can give her a bit of variety, lol
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Post by tonib on Apr 11, 2013 20:43:25 GMT
Know what you mean about sensitive tums, but our cat's does seem to be getting better, think hers is stress related. I understand what you mean about having a budget, however sometimes it can be cheaper using some of the higher priced ones as you often need less. Not saying that this comparison means they're better but the recommended feed for a 4Kg cat of Felix pouches is 4 for Sheba its 2-3. The same can apply to dry. Sometimes it's worth doing the feed quantity to cost comparison. Also look at the various online suppliers as their prices can be cheaper than the stores & it gets delivered to your door which can be useful especially if you order a larger quantity bag & with a little research there are often offers to be had. Apologies if you've already considered these options
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Post by Ajax on Apr 11, 2013 21:48:36 GMT
I can appreciate that the raw food diet is an option and is currently gaining in popularity but in the 2 years I've been on this forum I cannot recall that we have had a diabetic cat and the majority of them have been fed on dry/wet food. It's possible that such a diet can cause diabetes but not inevitable - the majority of my cats are in their teens and none of them have ever suffered from a urinary tract infection or diabetes. My view is that if a cat reaches their teens and has enjoyed a good quality of life then I consider it has had a good and healthy life.
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Post by munchkins on Apr 12, 2013 6:54:33 GMT
Thanks everyone for your comments, Tonib I see what your saying and I have thought that if we buy a better quality food she might need less, and believe me if I though her health was suffering I would change, but my partner has brought severel bags of the new go cat which seems better quality than the original, its so hard making the right decisions, I was told by a lady customer in pah that she was told giving a cat whiskas/felix pouches etc was like giving your child Mcdonalds everyday! its a mind field isn't it? my theory is if they only made one food it would be sooooo much easier lol
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Post by scallywag on Apr 12, 2013 7:51:09 GMT
Just a thought... are you up to date with worming ? Tape worms can make an cat / dog hungry all the time
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