6 yr old cat suddenly meowing for food before meal times!

[danaNM]

Hi guys, 

I have always prided myself on my cat (Toby) NOT being a beggar for food. When he was a kitten and through adult-hood, I was always very good about ignoring meowing, and not feeding him if he meowed. 

He was always great.... until recently. 

As a kitten he got dry food (because I didn't know any better), then for the past few years he got EVO canned food. He decided he didn't like that anymore, so now he gets Fancy Feast classic pate, and now he has become INSANE.

Apparently he LOVES the fancy feast, because he eats it much more quickly, and begs for it before meals. 

In the morning before we get up he will start running around the apartment meowing and harassing us to get up and feed him. If I even go near the kitchen before a meal he starts meowing. In the evening when I get home he starts up immediately. 

I have been trying to break up the feeding process (getting the can out, warming it, etc.) so it isn't a predictable sequence, but it doesn't really help. 

Sometimes he will be quiet, then right as I'm about to put the dish down, he'll meow.... then I feel bad NOT feeding him by that point. UGH. 

I am in a studio apartment, should I lock him in the bathroom? 

He weighs about 10 lbs, and gets 2  3 oz cans per day, plus a couple freeze dried chicken pieces as treats. 

He normally eats a lot this time of year, am I not feeding him enough? I'm concerned he is not getting enough food, which is why this behavior started so suddenly. 

But, his weight looks good to me, and using the calorie info on catinfo.org I calculated that he is getting enough calories given his body weight.....

HELP! He is driving me mad. 

-Dana

 

[mservant]

I'm not familiar with the brands of food you talk about here, but have read about others using Fancy Feast as a food to temp cats that are off their food.  The Fancy Feast may have the right calorie count but it will depend on the nutritional balance whether it meets his body's needs or not, and if it isn't high enough in protein then likelihood is he will want more of the stuff that's got that yummy feed me more flavouring in it -  a bit like eating a bag of crisps or sweets for a human I guess.  Worth looking at the different brands of food you can get and trying another one?

If he was loosing weight then maybe I'd be more inclined to think it could be a health issue but reckon it's worth getting different wet food and weaning him off the fancy feast if you can find something affordable.

 

[danaNM]

Hmmm. I had switched to Fancy Feast because he didn't like the EVO anymore. Plus Fancy Feast actually has MORE protein than some of the fancier, more expensive brands (even more than EVO). 

I have a  feeling is that he loves it so much that he eats it all more quickly (he was more of a grazer with the EVO), so that he gets hungry more quickly.

I've heard conflicting reports on whether it's better to feed many small meals, or fewer larger meals? Any one have thoughts on supplementing with some dry food during the day? 

My schedule is such that 2 meals a day makes the most sense....  

 

[mservant]

I was quite bad with my previous girls and fed a mixture, wet in the morning and evening when I was home from work but left dry for when I was out as never too sure when  I'd get back home.  (Mouse is on dry only). 

 

[danaNM]

That's the idea I've been toying with.... supplementing with a bit of high quality dry food for when I have extra long days. He isn't overweight, so I'm thinking it could be ok... 

 

[mservant]

I felt it reduced my girls' anxiety when I was out, and avoided them bolting food when I got home (one would tend to bring food up if she ate too quickly).  I know not everyone agrees with it but for me it worked as my hours weren't regular and the girls would never know when I'd be back.  Their weight was fine throughout their lives and they went on to nearly 18 and nearly 22 so it couldn't have been too terrible.  I didn't know that much about cat nutrition when I had them and the best I could afford at that time was Iams so that's what they got.  It had the highest meat / poultry protein count of the stuff I could get in the shops near by.  I think it's worth a go and see if it reduces the pestering.

I left a bit of dry food over night and a bit when I went out for the day.

 

[stephiedoodle]

Lilly does this with us as soon as she hears a cupboard open shes there to see what food is on the go though she gets 3 meals a day at about 100g a pop so not bad really I do leave about 20-30g of dry out if I go out for a few hours just incase and as usual fresh water is always available. Could it maybe be the flavour that your boy is craving so much i tend to find lilly wolfs her pate down rather than the chunky stuff and the pate does tend to be the smellier of the two.

 

[lamiatron]

if your cat likes the food you give him, there's really nothing you can do about the meowing. My kitties are the same. They will meow once they see the food bowl in my hand and i'm bringing them the food. 

I feed them a mixture of evo and sheba (high end + cheaper commercial food). they're both grain free and mostly protein. They get wet twice a day, in the mornings before i go to work, and in the evenings after i come home. I leave less than half a cup of dry food out for each of my kitties. so they can munch on it though out the day. You might want to look into a grain free dry food for your cat, and leave a little less than what is recommended. 

dry foods have A LOT of calories and carbs, so you want to avoid giving them too much of this, and definitely look into a grain free variety. but supplementing has worked for me. I don't worry that they're starving to death if i'm out later one day due to work or errands.

 

[juliek1975]

I feed my 4 kitties each 1/4 of a can of Friskies twice a day and they have dry food available all day.  None of my cats are overweight, so I think having dry food available is fine as long as you don't have a cat that has a habit of overeating.  In the morning all 4 cats always follow me out to the kitchen, only Nestle meows if I'm too slow...lol.  I don't think its because he is starving, he just really likes his wet food...lol.  However if I forget to make sure the dry food bowl is full before I go to bed and god forbid they run out in the middle of the night, I get woken up early by kitties pouncing on me, head butting me and whatever else they can think of to inform me that they are very hungry!  Lucky for them I love the little furballs so much, so I actually enjoy the attention...lol.