Always hungry and will eat anything

Cha_94

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My cat Cleopatra is 2 years old and she is always hungry. She is constantly begging for food even 2 hours after I've fed and her she is still begging for food she gets fed once in the morning and once at night. When I don't feed her I will catch her chewing on boxes, trying to eat tape or paper, licking my chairs (which is not real leather) it has gotten to the point I think she is my hair off the floor after I brush my hair. I have to feed her in another room so she will not eat my other cat's food as soon as she leave the other room and runs to his bowl to eat his food. I'm trying not to over feed and she had gained A LOT of weight she is bigger than my other cat. I have changed her food several times to make sure she sure she gets nutrients she needs but she makes it seem like I never fed her. I don't know what to do?
 

sivyaleah

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What is it that you are currently feeding her? It's hard to give an answer without knowing this.
Just because a food has all the nutrients in the ingredients a cat needs doesn't mean the food is necessary good balanced nutrition overall. Protein content has a lot to do with how satiated the cat will be and if it's low in protein overall (by adding too much grain, vegetables etc) the cat would possibly wind up being hungry even though eating what appears to be a good amount of food.
Also, there is a medical condition called Pica, which humans can develop also, which causes them to randomly eat things which are not food per se. It's usually related to lack of certain nutrients and/or stress. So you may want to consult your vet about this too.
 

Kieka

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Are you sure she is getting enough calories? Is she overweight? If she is getting enough calories and protein then you probably should check with your vet for any medical issues. Some cats are just gluttons but it's good to rule out medical issues before assuming.
 

Azazel

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As others stated, it would help to know what exactly you are feeding and how much. Also, you might consider spreading out her food into more meals rather than just 2 meals a day.
 

kittenmittens84

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If she’s licking chairs and trying to eat tape there may be an underlying issue (worms? Anemia?) that’s causing pica.
 
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Cha_94

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What is it that you are currently feeding her? It's hard to give an answer without knowing this.
Just because a food has all the nutrients in the ingredients a cat needs doesn't mean the food is necessary good balanced nutrition overall. Protein content has a lot to do with how satiated the cat will be and if it's low in protein overall (by adding too much grain, vegetables etc) the cat would possibly wind up being hungry even though eating what appears to be a good amount of food.
Also, there is a medical condition called Pica, which humans can develop also, which causes them to randomly eat things which are not food per se. It's usually related to lack of certain nutrients and/or stress. So you may want to consult your vet about this too.
She is on a grain free high protein diet. I was wondering if it was pica I'm not sure how serious it is but I will consult my vetinairy about that. She was eating blue Buffalo wilderness but it got a little too expensive so I switched over to a store brand version of the Buffalo and then after a couple of months she still made it seem like she was hungry so I switched over to purina pro plan. I feel like I'm just giving her the wrong cat food at this point.
 

lisahe

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Purina is high carb which will run right through her, give her sugar spikes, and lead to diabetes down the road. Trying changing her to a high moisture high meat diet. It will keep her satiated longer and keep her leaner.
This sums up what I'd say about diet! Even canned grocery store foods like Fancy Feast Classics and Sheba pates are a good start. Just watch out for fillers like potato, grains, peas, and anything else that might be carby.

C Cha_94 is Cleopatra a rescue cat/stray, by any chance? Our two are rescues and one of them has food insecurity even after being with us for six years. The suggestion of feeding more meals a day is a good one: we feed five meals a day (plus I now put a few treats in an autofeeder that opens during the night) on a pretty regular schedule and that really helps.

Both our cats (they're littermates) also have pica-like tendencies. Between the two of them, they have gnawed (and/or sometimes eaten) stuff like wood, leather, cardboard, shoelaces, rubber bands, ribbons, and books. Edwina (the one with the food insecurity) loves licking plastic bags and paper. There are things we store where the cats can't get them: plastic bags, bread, ribbons, and string. Rubber bands and twist ties just get thrown away immediately.
 
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Cha_94

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Are you feeding dry or wet? How much does she get per day and how much does she wiegh?

Edit to add: which specific purina food are you feeding?
Purina focus indoor cat grain free. She gets both wet and dry food. Wet food in the morning and dry food at night I give her maybe 1/3 a cup of dry food.
 
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Cha_94

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Purina is high carb which will run right through her, give her sugar spikes, and lead to diabetes down the road. Trying changing her to a high moisture high meat diet. It will keep her satiated longer and keep her leaner.
Any suggestions?
 

Kieka

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Purina focus indoor cat grain free. She gets both wet and dry food. Wet food in the morning and dry food at night I give her maybe 1/3 a cup of dry food.
How much wet food? How much does she weigh?
 

Kieka

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The only Purina Focus Indoor I could find was not grain free. But the Turkey one would be 148 calories for 1/3 a cup and 172 calories for salmon. Same for the wet food line, no grain free focus indoor option, but the one I found is 78 calories for a 3 oz can. If you are feeding a full can of wet food it should be enough calories for a low activity 11 to 12 pound cat. If your cat is higher activity level then it is good for a 7.5 to 8 pound cat. It is possible that if your cat is more than 8 pounds the food isnt enough for her activity level. Plus you are feeding 78 calories in the morning compared with 148 or 172 calories at night; so your cat is probably more hungry after breakfast.

You can try doing half the dry midday and half at night to see if it is the portion size. It could be that the low calorie breakfast is too little to tide over until dinner. If your cat is more than 8 pound and has a high activity level, it could be too few calories. It's hard to know for sure since both are equally likely especially without knowing her body condition. It could also be that your cat isnt getting enough protein from her food as both have plant based protein in them so the protein measurement isn't fully accurate for protein your cat can utilize so she might legitimately be desiring more protein and therefore more food. OR it could be pica which is still worth exploring, especially if she is overweight.
 

Kieka

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Loaf positions are hard to judge from but I'd go with she is slightly overweight. I would find a less carb heavy wet food and feed more frequently but small meals. Right now she is getting too little in the morning with a huge gap to dinner. Imagine you have two eggs for breakfast at 7am and eat a giant bowl of pasta for dinner. That's it. You'd probably be hungry after breakfast and carb bloated after dinner. Between the two you'd probably want to snack and she cant find anything else to snack on.

Honestly, if you have classic Friskies (not gravy lovers or cuts) that would be a good but relatively inexpensive option. Switch to three meals a day and try to feed about 180-200 calories a day. If its stops the behavior then reduce calories ever so slightly (like 20 calories a day) and see if that helps with the weight. If more frequent meals doesnt help follow up with vet about pica.
 
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Cha_94

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I did what you said and feed her 3 times a day. She stopped trying to eat anything she sees but I'll do what you said and get more wet food that doesn't have many crabs. Now I have to figure out how to help her lose weight.
 

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Can you get her to play more? Try putting her food several steps up, or on a cat tree so she gets some exercise that way too. Can you take her for walks?

Also, there are members who have had cats gradually lose weight, which is the only safe way, simply by feeding canned food and not dry.

Do you have a bathroom scale? Step on it, write down the number, then pick her up and weigh both of you, the difference between the two numbers is her weight. Once or twice a week will give you a good idea of what's going on with her :)
 
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