he has three, sometimes four pouches a day but he`s begging for food every time i go in the kitchen.

he`s due a worming anyway but he doesn`t have a pot belly and he`s a very slender cat. he is probably a little underweight but he`s getting on.

he`s healthy and happy as usual otherwise.

any suggestions?

He's eating too much. He's learnt that if he whines mummy feeds him. 4 pouches a day is way too much food, you really aren't doing him any favours.

Feed him a little bit at a time instead, or just ignore him.

He needs a maximum of two pouches in a day, can you put biscuits down for him to snack on during the day instead?

He's bored. Find him something exciting to do.

I don't think a vet check would be out of the question Annette, 4 pouches is a lot for one cat and if the cat is not putting on weight there could be some underlying cause of the hunger.

Could be something easily sorted too. Hope you get to the bottom of it.

If he's getting on a bit then it could be his thyroid. My unce's cat had an insatiable appetite but failed to gain weight despite his intake. He was a lot better when he was prescribed medication for an over active thyroid.

4 pouches a day is at least twice what he should be eating.

Stop over feeding him. He isn't hungry. He'll be overweight in no time.

Annette says he is underweight, needing this amount. Don't shout at her she is doing her best. I still think a visit to the vet would be a good idea.

Agreed on both points - I sometimes wonder if some posters actually read beyond the first line.

He might be getting hyperthyroidism so get him checked by a vet.

I would not start to give dry if he is getting older as they need to drink a lot to cope with the dry food. My cat just came unstuck with being on dry all the time (previous pet's advice), in fact he could have died.

My new vet recommended 3 pouches a day while he was getting rehydrated and now he has to go down to two and no dry atall. He is much healthier on the wet food.

I do think cats are like us though, they get bored and then think they are hungry. Mine gives up begging in the end and goes to sleep.! hope you sort it out.

is this a sudden increase in appetite? Is he normally an outdoor cat - mine have been beyond bored in this bad weather, reluctant to go out in the cold / snow. Asking for more food and chasing, fighting and trying to eat one another have been the main boredom-busters for them

Agreed, Marella. I'd be getting his thyroid checked.

Yes it sounds like he has overactive thyroid. Our old cat has been on tablets for nearly two years now. Before her diagnosis she was constantly sitting at her bowl as if she was starving and she was thin too. The tablets have made a huge difference and she is back to being the content cat she was before her thyroid went into overdrive

Cats tend too eat more if the meat content in foods is low. Mine have at least 2 thirds of a tin a day each plus buiscuits at dinner time. I have all different size cats and find the larger ones eat less. a vet check does sound a good idea

i`m going to get him checked out by the vet, thank you all.

three pouches a day is the recommended amount [on the box] and he only gets another one on top if i forget. he does tuck in like he`s never been fed for a week and polish the lot off. i stopped feeding him dry food altogether a couple of years ago when i discovered how bad it is for older male cats and now he`s not got the teeth for it anyway.

i wonder how long it`s been going on [now] because he used to visit his cat friends every day [before i moved house] and have a bit of a snack there too [i think] so he may have only seemed to be eating normally before.

i`ve not seen him drink since i moved either, he`s never drunk from a bowl but i`ve taken him to the taps several times when he`s asking for food but i just get a withering look and he walks off.

stud and milmol:
he could well be bored as i havn`t started letting him out properly yet, he`ll chase paper and string for a bit but i`m sure it`s not as much fun as hunting and he does like going out normally.

whover:
that`s the point, he`s eating and not putting weight on, i`ve noticed it since i moved house a month ago.

mollie: thank you he`s my baby i worry if he`s out and i havn`t seen him for three or four hours


thank you all, a thyroid check is a good idea, i`m going to start letting him out proper this week and see how that goes.


edit: he`s just called me a liar and drunk from the bathroom basin so perhaps he`s hungry for thirst.

My cat was always eating and crying for food all the time and when I had him checked he had an over active thyroid. He was drinking loads as well.

i`ve just read the complete run down on hyperthyroidism in cats, he doesn`t have any of the symptoms apart from being hungry, and he hasn`t lost much weight if any, it`s that he`s [seemingly] eating more i`m wondering if it`s just that he was getting heartily fed elsewhere, he had two or three places he visited [he`s a bit of a character and missed from my old road]

worming and then vet just the same, if it is a thyroid problem at least it`s early on.

Hope you get to the bottom of it Annette, they are a worry sometimes aren't they !

I invested in a cat fountain, in a bid to encourage my old male cat to drink.

It arrived Thursday and now it's Sunday, he still has been nowhere near it!

Hope I have not wasted my money!

I'd get him wormed, as that may be a problem as you say he's about due. also what wormers are you using, not all target all worms.

Just a word of caution on them the bacteria levels can build up quickly.

Thank you. Do you have experience of this?

I understood that the water would be ok for a few days as it is filtered. I don't really want to do anything that would cause him harm naturally and as he is not using it I may be wasting my time and electricity!

They seemed to get so many positive reviews on Amazon etc.

It took my dogs a week to work it out but cats may take longer as they tend to be fussier. Once they get the idea they love it.

Thanks Molliepops. I don't really want to give up just yet as it seems such a good idea (barring the bacteria problem) not to mention I spent quite a lot on it with special delivery too!

I guess I will just have to keep cleaning it out and put it through dishwasher to be extra safe. I do thank that previous poster though as no mention was made of bacteria and on googling it does seem to be a serious problem in some cases.

I did see one person said their cat took 2 months to click that it was for them!

my cat gets between 3 and 4 pouches a day. The box recommends 3 if they don't eat anything else so it's not over feeding them to whoever said it was. The pouches of some of the brands have got smaller now 85g instead of 100g.

My cat is also always hungry but has also lost weight (1/2kg last time she was weighed) which we have put down to the pouches getting smaller as she is in perfect health.

I hope your wee cat is ok Annette. God they are a huge worry but just sooooo worth it. My lad is a pain in the ass but I wouldn't be without him.