My 15 year old cat Dylan has been ill with diarrhea, excessive hunger but with weight loss. He is being treated by the vet with food thickeners to conrol the diarrhea, steroids and a low dose thyroid tablet as his thyroid levels were a little bit high. He is a bit better and slowly putting weight back on but he is still so hungry and constantly asking to be fed. The problem is that since birth Dylan has never been able to eat dry food it swells up in his stomach and he just brings it back up, in fact about the only food he can eat is Felix as good as it looks. Can anyone on here recommend a food that will keep Dylan fuller for longer so that I can get a full nights sleep.
Apologies for the long post and thanks in advance for any help.

Have you spoke too the vets about this. The reason i ask if its a special vet food that is all he should need. He might be getting hungry because of the steriods. How is his diarreha now is it getting better and how long as dylan been like this.
He sounds a little poppet by the way.

Hi Maisey and thanks for your concern,
He is not a poppet when he has woken me up for the third time by scratching at the doorframe, it's a horrible noise to wake up to and so difficult to ignore
Dylan first got ill just before Xmas and the weight just fell off him. His poo is not liquid anymore just soft so the food thickeners and kaogel mixture is working and he is starting to fill out again. Just the abnormal hunger that is the problem now.

Think you need to speak to your vet again. There are a number of specialist foods on the market that deal with specific problems but are only available at vets or specialist pet shops.

Have you tried giving him finely minced chicken and rice, or some cooked, cooled fish?

Feeding him frequent small meals throughout the day, with perhaps a larger meal just before you go to bed might help. Keep away from things like cat treats as these are not good for cats with sensitive stomachs (I know!!!!!)

It does seem as if the steroids might be part of the problem.

Hills Science Diet and Royal Canin both make excellent dried food for cats with sensitive stomachs and diarrhea. Try mixing a small amount in with his wet catfood.

Good luck!

edit......not sure if you are allowed to recommend brands by name but too late now!

I'm bit confused about why he is taking steroids? Is it re the diarrhoea?

Steroids increase appetite. So if he is hyperthryoid AND taking steroids he will be ravenous. However if his T4 levels were only 'a little bit high', I am surprised the tablets have not resolved the thyroid problem. How long has he been on the meds? My cat had a very high T4 level, 150, and was constantly ravenous, but the tablets had her appetite back to normal in a fortnight.

I would not try to self treat with alternative foods, you need to see your vet again for further advice and possibly adjustment of his medication.

I knew one of as a cat with the same problem couldnt remember who it was.

Depends on the cause of the diarrhoea - eg is it due to overactive thyroid or due to an inflammatory bowel in which case the vet will have prescribed steroids to suppress the inflamed bowel and reduce diarrhoea. However, as everyone has pointed out, steroids increase appetite and it will be difficult to suppress that hunger until the steroids have been weaned off.

Poor chap. Hope he does well. Can't you leave food in a timer dish for him - I have one that keeps wet food moist for up to 24 hours and the timer can be set to open the lid at night or early morning for him.

Thanks for your replies.
The steroids are to treat the bowel and because he lost such a lot of weight in such a short space of time. Hopefully when we take him for a checkup we will be able to stop the steroids.
Thanks for the idea of the timed feeder MarellaK I can't believe I never thought of this, I don't want to mess about with his food if I can help it as he is a very fussy cat and it has taken years to find a food that he likes (apart from beef flavour) and keeps down.