Hangry Cat Pushing My Limits

Lisannez

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I posted before with reference to put two cats both are 13 years old and shelter cats. They became mine too when we got engaged. One is skinny and used to vomit and not want to eat but since I got some amazing advice on here we started feeding her earthborn wholistic food only and the change has been amazing. She’s a different cat! I suspect she was gluten intolerant her whole life and my fiancé did not know!

But the fat cat her sister is another story! We cut out her dry food as suggested completely but also switched her to the same food the Earthborn. She gets no treats and no table food. We did the math and started her out on it with food to maintain her weight and then gradually reduced it to the weight loss amount. It’s been three months and she’s gained a pound! And she’s become more and more hangry. She screams (not meowing) screams for food constantly like someone is hurting her. The only time she does not is when she’s asleep. She’s always tried to steal her sisters food so we put it up high when we are away . Before though we had a baby gate and could put it down on the floor when we were there and she would not bother her sister. Now one of us has to stand over her sister while she eats because fat cat has started running hard into the gate repeatedly to try to knock it over. When caught she sits on the other side and stares at her sisters every move. She is eating whatever she finds on the floor. She licks her bowl and mat hoping for food. We had to get rid of our house plants because she was eating them and getting sick. She even tried to eat plastic flowers. This am she knocked over a full vase of roses water and all after she jumped up on the counter and was eating the leaves. If we don’t get up right on time to feed her in the am she vomits to wake us up. None of her behavior is responded to. She’s fed four times a day and that’s it. No matter what she does. It’s smaller portions to spread it out. But if someone enters the kitchen or even gets up from a chair the screams start. Her sister is afraid to eat because of fat cats behavior. We are in a small condo and we have tried feeding in separate rooms but fat cat gobbles her food down like she has not been fed in weeks and then starts pushing and scratching on the door scaring her sister. Did we make a mistake in switching to the wet food? Should we switch her back? Doc says she’s fine all tests normal. The spray bottle does not work. She likes water. We tried free feeding before and she ate an entire day of food in one sitting! Automatic feeders don’t work she tricks them all.

Help!!! I’m going nuts.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi! Oh gosh I'm so sorry this is happening! That poor baby!
Would you consider trying a different vet? There are things health wise that could be causing this.
 
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Lisannez

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Hi! Oh gosh I'm so sorry this is happening! That poor baby!
Would you consider trying a different vet? There are things health wise that could be causing this.
Thanks. We have been to several, now granted all of them are at Banfield's as we have a plan with them, but no answers. Thyroid is fine, not diabetes , no tumors, no IBS. Honestly I think she just likes the new food so much she's become obsessed with it.
 

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A vet visit as Furballsmom Furballsmom suggests is probably in order. I would really start there.

One of my girls, Mia, is a food hoarder and she acts like I am trying to starve her to death. She is overweight since bringing her inside. (She was/is Feral)

Feeding her a small amount of canned pumpkin (a puree with nothing but pumpkin in it - no spices nadda - plain pumpkin only) does seem to help satiate her. I mix a bit in with her food.

It's very low calories and it does appear to make her feel fuller.

PS / Edit - I just saw your note about the vet, we were posting at the same time! :-)
 
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LTS3

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Can you take your cat to a non - veterinary chain? Banfield doesn't have the best reputation and just seem to want your money without giving any answers.

Were the cats former strays? Strays are often food insecure even long after they are adopted.
 

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I thinkyou have been unlucky in your vets. Some really don't care about weight except to sell their diet food. (We tried the Science Diet weight reduction food, the RD and the WD - the cats all gained weight on RD, they gained it slower on WD.

Something is definitely off here. If you read about human thyroid tests you will notice that the one most used by doctors often misses the fact that the thyroid produced, while of sufficient quantity, it is not of sufficient quality to do the job.

It is very hard for anyone to test a cat for diabetes as the stress of being at the vet and that of having blood taken shoots the blood glucose to very high levels. The vet wants to take hourly readings through the day. This is problematic. With my diabetic cat, after spending the night at the vet to calm down, the first reading was the only valid one. Once that blood was taken, my cat stayed in defensive alert mode which meant sky high glucose.

If nothing else her metabolism seems off. Less food should mean less weight. It's not like she can run out to the store and buy some to eat in secret. Unless, of course, you have mice.

In humans stress causes people to either gain or retain weight. Since this is a survival trait - for when there is little to no food -- I see no reason for this to be different in cats.

Therefore, I suggest you keep looking for a vet who is willing to try harder, perhaps a feline only vet.

I'd also consider that when you give the other cat treats and not her, she may feel you don't like her, or not as much as the other. Cats are easily 'offended' because being prey makes them insecure. I'd just be sure to give the other cat treats far away from this one, and before they eat to cover the smell. Or give her one treat.
 

LTS3

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It is very hard for anyone to test a cat for diabetes as the stress of being at the vet and that of having blood taken shoots the blood glucose to very high levels. The vet wants to take hourly readings through the day. This is problematic.
A blood glucose curve doesn't need to be done. A fructosamine test is what diagnosis diabetes. The test can be added to the regular blood work. I would have a new vet re-do bloodwork and run a senior panel.
 

di and bob

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I think you need to satisfy her hunger pangs a little by filling her up with low cal treats. Give her deli sliced turkey, turkey bacon, anything you can think of low cal and tasty. I get chicken thighs and legs in those big 10 pound pks. (.59 cents a pound) and cook them on the stove with water until they fall apart. Then I freeze the shredded chicken for treats in baggies. Bonus- chicken broth! Add salt, pepper, garlic,bouillon, celery, onion and bay leaves and you have a wonderful broth for chicken and noodles! You can freeze that too.
 

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LTS3, I'm glad they've got something a lot less stressful for the cat. I should have said that it'd been awhile since our experience. I'll try to keep that in mind in the future. In the meantime, and because I do forget, I'm also glad I'm not alone here. Thanks.
 

LTS3

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Add salt, pepper, garlic,bouillon, celery, onion and bay leaves and you have a wonderful broth for chicken and noodles! You can freeze that too.
Some of the plain broth / cooking liquid can be saved with the shredded meat and given to the cat. The rest, with the addition of garlic et al, is for you :) Nothing beats homemade broth to make noodle soup with :yummy:

LTS3, I'm glad they've got something a lot less stressful for the cat. I should have said that it'd been awhile since our experience. I'll try to keep that in mind in the future. In the meantime, and because I do forget, I'm also glad I'm not alone here. Thanks.
Feline diabetes management is constantly changing. I was browsing the FelineDiabetes board recently and noticed a few new Human insulins that are now being used off label in cats.
 
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Lisannez

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A vet visit as Furballsmom Furballsmom suggests is probably in order. I would really start there.

One of my girls, Mia, is a food hoarder and she acts like I am trying to starve her to death. She is overweight since bringing her inside. (She was/is Feral)

Feeding her a small amount of canned pumpkin (a puree with nothing but pumpkin in it - no spices nadda - plain pumpkin only) does seem to help satiate her. I mix a bit in with her food.

It's very low calories and it does appear to make her feel fuller.

PS / Edit - I just saw your note about the vet, we were posting at the same time! :-)
I do have some canned pumpkin in the cabinet, I will certainly try that and see if it helps. I know she likes it (she will pretty much eat anything) but we gave it to her a few years ago when she was not feeling too well. She was not feral, but was part of a big litter.
 
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Lisannez

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Can you take your cat to a non - veterinary chain? Banfield doesn't have the best reputation and just seem to want your money without giving any answers.

Were the cats former strays? Strays are often food insecure even long after they are adopted.
Sure I am going to ask for some referrals from friends in the area with cats. I live in the metro Washington DC area if anyone has a suggestion? We really have never had issues with them before but it does vary by location. I agree they know little to nothing about pet nutrition. They were both adopted as kittens from the same shelter. I think they were about six months old then. The skinny one has zero food security issues, it's just the other one.
 
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Lisannez

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I thinkyou have been unlucky in your vets. Some really don't care about weight except to sell their diet food. (We tried the Science Diet weight reduction food, the RD and the WD - the cats all gained weight on RD, they gained it slower on WD.

Something is definitely off here. If you read about human thyroid tests you will notice that the one most used by doctors often misses the fact that the thyroid produced, while of sufficient quantity, it is not of sufficient quality to do the job.

It is very hard for anyone to test a cat for diabetes as the stress of being at the vet and that of having blood taken shoots the blood glucose to very high levels. The vet wants to take hourly readings through the day. This is problematic. With my diabetic cat, after spending the night at the vet to calm down, the first reading was the only valid one. Once that blood was taken, my cat stayed in defensive alert mode which meant sky high glucose.

If nothing else her metabolism seems off. Less food should mean less weight. It's not like she can run out to the store and buy some to eat in secret. Unless, of course, you have mice.

In humans stress causes people to either gain or retain weight. Since this is a survival trait - for when there is little to no food -- I see no reason for this to be different in cats.

Therefore, I suggest you keep looking for a vet who is willing to try harder, perhaps a feline only vet.

I'd also consider that when you give the other cat treats and not her, she may feel you don't like her, or not as much as the other. Cats are easily 'offended' because being prey makes them insecure. I'd just be sure to give the other cat treats far away from this one, and before they eat to cover the smell. Or give her one treat.
Thank you. I did not realize that about testing for diabetes. I actually had a personal experience with the thyroid thing. One doc kept telling me my levels were fine, but when I went to another one she said no they are low. So ia m sure that can happen with cats as well. We have stopped giving the other cat treats at all, for the exact reason you describe. I mean to me it's like if I am on a diet and my sister is eating chocolate in front of me, not fair. But skinny cat grazes so sometimes she will be finishing up her breakfast a few hours later and fat cat thinks she is getting more food than her and she goes crazy with the meowing. Fat cat is never mean, and she would not hurt a fly. Her sister lets her take her food though she does not fight back.
 

leechi

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I remember reading on here from someone that was dieting their cat, that they added plain unflavored gelatin to the food to add bulk without many calories. I think they made the gelatin up with water, then mixed some into the food. Or maybe you could set the food into the gelatin like those retro jello recipes :think:. That way you wouldn't be adding carbs like with pumpkin.


Looks tasty right? :yummy: :p
 

vyger

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I think you need to satisfy her hunger pangs a little by filling her up with low cal treats. Give her deli sliced turkey, turkey bacon, anything you can think of low cal and tasty. I get chicken thighs and legs in those big 10 pound pks. (.59 cents a pound) and cook them on the stove with water until they fall apart. Then I freeze the shredded chicken for treats in baggies. Bonus- chicken broth! Add salt, pepper, garlic,bouillon, celery, onion and bay leaves and you have a wonderful broth for chicken and noodles! You can freeze that too.
Wow, $.59 a pound! and I thought .79 was a good price. Oh well, we pay more for everything because we live in the middle of nowhere. Our only grocery store, an Albertsons, is one of the most profitable in the chain. The store manager is a friend of mine and gave me the inside dirt. It ranks one of the highest in shoplifting and still is one of the most profitable. Of course the concept of dropping the prices to match the rest of the stores in order to lower the shoplifting rate is not even considered. Another mystery that escapes me is how it is possible to raise a chicken from hatchling to finished product in a bag for less than a dollar a pound while it apparently costs $3. a pound to pick and box apples. I guess feeding apple trees and keeping all the apples in cages is an expensive thing.
 
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Lisannez

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Wow, $.59 a pound! and I thought .79 was a good price. Oh well, we pay more for everything because we live in the middle of nowhere. Our only grocery store, an Albertsons, is one of the most profitable in the chain. The store manager is a friend of mine and gave me the inside dirt. It ranks one of the highest in shoplifting and still is one of the most profitable. Of course the concept of dropping the prices to match the rest of the stores in order to lower the shoplifting rate is not even considered. Another mystery that escapes me is how it is possible to raise a chicken from hatchling to finished product in a bag for less than a dollar a pound while it apparently costs $3. a pound to pick and box apples. I guess feeding apple trees and keeping all the apples in cages is an expensive thing.
Oh in DC it's just as bad the prices are insane. The food we are already feeding her is quite pricey and it looks like human food, tuna. But here's the thing I do not think she is actually hungry. So we could feed her until she explodes and she would still ask us for food. Based on what we are giving her she should not be hungry. It's high quality high protein food and the food itself has a lot of water/broth in it. No matter how much she eats she is still asking for food. Prior to switching to the high protein food we tried just leaving food out free feeding dry food. We thought maybe she was food insecure since she had a sister and was part of a big litter and if she knew the food was there for her to eat she would not gobble it up. That was an epic fail. No matter what we put down she ate it all immediately and looked at us asking for more, immediately. We tried this for a week, she ate three weeks of food in a week. She gobbled it up, did not even chew it. There is no way a cat can eat an entire day's worth of food at once and be hungry right away. The times she has snuck her sisters food, she ate double the amount for the day and turned right around again and cried for more. I think it's a medical condition or a behavioral problem. Redirecting her with play or attention works for maybe 2 minutes and she's right back at her bowl meowing for food.
 
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