Anyone else have a cat that gets Hangry?

[emeraldsketch]

I have a cat that we are trying desperately to keep on a diet. The problem is, when his near constant crying for food is ignored he resorts to slapping at the dog or other cat, scratching things he knows he shouldnt, and generally throwing a literal hissy fit, till either we've had enough or its finally meal time. Then he's as happy as a clam till about two to three hours before his next meal, then it starts all over. He's about 2 pounds over what he should and the vet has ruled out any physical reason for his behavior and the anger never seems to be directed directly at us.   Anyone else deal with something similar, and can it be helped at all?

Ps. tried giving him smaller meals throughout the day instead of the usual two bigger ones and this only resulted in him thinking his food bowl needed to be full at all times. Even tried to use an autofeeder. it worked until he learned how to tip it over.

 

[molly92]

Yikes! Well, you should definitely do your best not to feed him when he's acting like that, because he'll believe his strategy is working and he'll keep it up. For the sake of your animals, maybe confining him in a bathroom or separate room will be enough to teach him that that behavior does not get him what he wants. It's tricky though, because you do have to feed him eventually. Try to time it for moments when he's being quiet and good. The key for behaviors like this is that any attention is perceived as getting him a step closer to getting him towards his goal, which is you getting him food, so try very hard to ignore him as much as possible once you've confined him.

What are you feeding him? My cat's on a diet too, and she still gets hungry a few hours before meals, but before she was on a food that had a lot of potato starch and she would get VERY hungry very quickly. Now she's on higher protein foods and she stays fuller a lot longer, even though she's actually eating fewer calories now than she was. She's a little less destructive with her "hanger," but she used to bite my face in the morning to wake me up so she could get fed. I got very good at pretending I was still asleep, and she eventually gave up and now just sits next to my face staring at me until my alarm goes off and I get up.

 

[red dog]

I think Molly is on to something, I saw similar behavior when i was feeding a dry food/canned mix. It disappeared after the switch to 100% canned, NVI, Hound & Gatos & Soulistic.

 

[marian100]

Woah! No way Jose! You so not get fed if you are shouting. You do not get cranky and then get fed. Remove empty food bowls, lock cat out of social areas if getting cranky. Feed at the same times every day. Talk sweetly but do not put food down if shouting starts, just walk away. Keep talking sweetly and only put down food when shouting stops. Encourage cat to say thank you when you do put food down. Gently sweetly very very firmly and yes it could take a long while.

 

[LTS3]

It sounds like your cat may not be getting enough calories to meet his needs. That would explain the constant meowing for food and acting out. What brands of of food are you feeding and how much for each meal? Simply reducing the amount of food doesn't work because less food can often mean not enough calories which results in a hangry cat. You need to feed your cat enough calories for his ideal weight daily. The general rule is 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. There are many threads on weight loss diets and tips here on TCS:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245236/mickey-my-27-lbs-foster-and-his-journey-back-to-a-healthy-weight

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263095/cat-wont-lose-weight

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/306378/obese-cat-not-losing-weight-at-all

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/313265/fat-cats

 

[Caspers Human]

My cat, KC, used to get like that when he wanted to be fed. I always thiught it was an attention-getting behavior.

Every day when I came home from work, he'd meet me at the door, meowing and wanting to be petted. After a minute he'd move toward the kitchen where his food dish was and meow louder. Another minute later he'd stand next to his food and water dishes and... MEOW! MEOW!
If I didn't feed him he would start with the MEOW-DAMMIT!
If I didn't feed him, right then, he would flip his water dish and spill it all over the floor!

I thiught it was cute, at first, but got tired of it after a while. I finally figured out that he just wanted attention after I had been away all day.

It was my habit to feed him every day when I got home and he must have learned the association between me coming home to give him attention and getting fed.

It was a textbook case of operant conditioning.

In the end, I discovered that all I had to do was put just a handful of food in his dish... just a few bites... to satisfy his desire for attention.

After a while, the behavior went away when we both understood that all KC wanted was a little loving when his human came home from work.

 

[molly92]

 
It sounds like your cat may not be getting enough calories to meet his needs. That would explain the constant meowing for food and acting out. What brands of of food are you feeding and how much for each meal? Simply reducing the amount of food doesn't work because less food can often mean not enough calories which results in a hangry cat. You need to feed your cat enough calories for his ideal weight daily. The general rule is 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. There are many threads on weight loss diets and tips here on TCS:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245236/mickey-my-27-lbs-foster-and-his-journey-back-to-a-healthy-weight

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263095/cat-wont-lose-weight

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/306378/obese-cat-not-losing-weight-at-all

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/313265/fat-cats

While that's possible, it's often very difficult to get a cat to start losing weight until you cut back the calories significantly. My 13 lb cat will gain weight unless she's fed about 175 calories a day, and her ideal weight is 11 lbs. Weighing them frequently will ensure that the cat is getting enough to eat and not losing too much too quickly. Many people who are on healthy diets feel hungry throughout the day, and the same is true with cats. The good news is their bodies do adjust to the lower calorie levels over time and they feel less hungry. Their metabolism is just used to receiving much more in the beginning. 

 

[cocobutterfly]

Omg our cat gets SO HANGRY! Ignoring her has worked, especially in the mornings. She used to smack us on the head, punch us in the stomach and jump up and down on us at 5am and assault us for food... I say that in the most endearing way =^.^=

As hard as it was, consistently playing dead and remaining silent until our alarm went off has worked. During the day, she'll still yowl at the top of her lungs and circle the kitchen for food. MEOWWWWW! MEOWWWWWWWWWW!

I used to give in, and feed her a little every time, but a little added up to a lot. At one point, our 8 pounder was eating 10-12 ounces of wet food daily to the tune of over 300 calories! She was very active and not overweight, but not surprisingly our vet said she WILL most certainly gain weight if she continues to eat like that. We've cut back a lot, back down to about 200 calories, and she's not happy about it, but I'm sure she'll adjust.

 

[emeraldsketch]

thank you.  Ive been avoiding giving him wet food because of the high calorie content in them( except in rare treat occassions). But I will start trying to do that with a bit more consistancy and see if that helps tide him over. As for locking him in a seperate room. I have been doing that when he shows signs of aggeression toward the other animals.  I will admit that at 4 am Im not exactly in the stay up and wait till he's being good before feeding mood but I will try to be a bit more patient. Thhank you also for the reading material I will read it. And I feed my cat, Purina[emoji]174[/emoji] Cat Chow[emoji]174[/emoji] Naturals Indoor Adult Cat Food - Chicken & Turkeyhttp://www.petsmart.com/cat/dry-food/purina-cat-chow-naturals-indoor-adult-cat-food-chicken-turkey-zid36-30448/cat-36-catid-200028

 Iknow not the highest quality but I dont have a huge amount of money and I tried to go mid range.

 

[molly92]

Canned foods tend to be a lot lower on carbs and much better for dieting cats. Just feed less to control the calories. Fancy feast pates or Sheba are good protein-full canned options for a budget!

 

[ginny]

Sammy would get very hangry, but not his brother Garfy.  I believe it was because I was feeding them Iams dry food plus Fancy Feast.  This was back in the 90's before I learned better.  I usually kept the dry food bowl for free-feeding and then fed them wet food twice a day.  Sammy weighed 11 pounds, so he was about 2 pounds over weight.  Garf was normal weight.  

I laughed when Casper's Human said KC would say "MEOW-DAMMIT!"  Sammy would say that too!  It started out with a simple meow, sometimes with a paw touch.  Then it would quickly progress to MEOOOOWWW and to MEOOOOWWWW-UH!  And so on.  If none of this got me out of bed, he'd pee on my foot through the bed covers.  THAT got me out of bed.  I learned I could only "reset the snooze" button with Sammy only about 3 times before I had to get up.  Lol.  He trained me.  

 

[impossible cat]

My cat is like that she knows when it's breakfast and she knows when it's dinner and she doesn't care what your doing, She will demand her food. she will sit in the middle of the kitchen floor, follow you around meowing, and the latest so far hop in the shower and meow at you.  The best course of action is to just stick him to his diet, it is what's best for him to stick to his diet even if he doesn't agree. 

 

[detroitcatlady]

My cat Pumpkin gets hangry, especially in the morning. He will wander around crying and if that doesn't wake me up then he will go behind my head on the pillow and chew my hair and bat at my head with his paws! He used to be hungry all the time when he ate dry food but feeding him wet food seemed to help a lot now he rarely wakes me up early to feed him.

 

[lissy0525]

Mine does! He is 1yr old and so fat! If his bowl gets under half full, he follows me around meowing until I feed him! If I refuse, he will lay down and slap me when I walk by I swear! Or start scratching the carpet! LoL! He is such a diva! I need to get him his yearly check up soon and I'm sure they're going to tell me to put him on a diet and I'll be exactly in the same position as you are. My other cat is so tiny. Probably bc he's such a pig !

 

[dorimon]

Our Coco definitely gets hangry!  She is very vocal, and will begin to be quite noisy when she thinks it is approaching mealtime.  She also bites my husband in the morning to wake him up (she knows I sleep like a rock, so she doesn't bother with me)!  She also knows how to push our buttons... she will start to scratch furniture if we don't wake up right away to feed her.

I think that Coco realizes that I am a little more strict about feeding her according to the schedule, so she doesn't go quite as far with me.  She'll annoy the heck out of my husband!!  Cats are smart and know your personality  Try not to give in to their demands too  much.

That said, we feed four small meals a day -- two in the morning (6am and 8-9am), and two in the evening (6pm and 11pm).  This helps keep the kitties from waking us up in the middle of the night.