New Kitty Perpetually Hungry

Our beloved Shadow cat had to be put down at just 3 months shy of 17 years old. She'd been in kidney failure for the past 13 months, and had been getting daily IV infusions, etc.

We went 2 weeks without a cat, and my husband couldn't take it anymore and we adopted a 9 month old from a local cat rescue. She'd been with them since she was a kitten. She's a sweet kitty, but very active, and we've been adjusting from having a 17 year old cat that barely moved off the couch to a kitty that won't sit still.

That being said, she's perpetually hungry. We can't eat in peace without her being all over the table and on our plates. She chews up the trash to get stuff out. Every time we got to he kitchen, she's in there and screaming for food. When we feed her, she eats, and then wants more.

I don't want her to get chubby. I also don't give in and feed her every time she cries, but I'm trying to tone down the bad behavior (getting on our plates, in the trash, etc).

She's on adult food, and according to the bag, she is to get 1/2 cup of food a day for her weight. I end up giving her about 3/4 of a cup total spaced out twice a day. Every other day, she also gets a small can.

She'd eat all day if I kept refilling her bowl. I won't use a self feeder for this specific reason. I asked the animal rescue how much they were feeding her per day, but they can be slow to answer, and it's been a week since I asked.

She's lean and lanky, and I have a feeling she's not done growing yet as her paws and legs are rather beefy.

Just not sure whether I should feed her more or not......

 

I'm so sorry for your loss. Shadow lived to a very good age surrounded by lots of love.

Your kitten is just like the first 2 kitties we've had. They were always hungry and literally in our faces and plates whenever we were eating. Our solution was to put them in a separate room whenever we ate. We fed them twice a day and some treats during the day and we don't deviate from the routine. They were not overweight. We fed ours kitten food until they turned around one.

Has she been checked for worms and bugs?

I think you're doing a great job! I wouldn't give her extra food although it might not be a bad idea to give her kitten food. She's so active and may require more calories/energy for optimum muscle, organs, and bone growth. Good luck with your new kitten!

 

I heard from the animal rescue people last night. She's been busy tending to a kitty who was tossed over a bridge. Makes my blood boil.....

Anyway, she said that Tabby always had access to food, so this may be some of it. Before they got her (she was a surrender apparently - the rescue lady looked before she e-mailed me back) she had been taken in as a tiny baby by an elderly woman who pretty much immediately after taking her in had to go to a nursing home, and probably just left food out for her perpetually.

We adopted her at PetSmart, but she's NOT a pet store kitty. Our PetSmart donates the space for the animal rescue to show animals to a larger audience and get more forever homes for them. The rescue volunteers take care of them at the store. PetSmart gave us a ton of coupons and a free bag of food, and it's what she was eating while she was there (ProPlan with no corn or gluten - our vet says it's good food). I can try switching her back to kitten food. She is extremely active, and I suspect she's going to be a beefier cat when she's done growing, as her bone structure suggests.

 

Poor kitty. How can anyone harm it like that! :x I hope it's ok.

Sounds like she's used to having food left out all the time and now she has to get used to the opposite. She'll be fine in due time.

Pro Plan is good stuff. My cat Milo loves the Pro Plan canned foods and he used to eat the Pro Plan dry. With your TLC, she's going to grow up into a fine lady.

 

The lady at the animal rescue said the kitty will be ok. We adopted a cat when I was in middle school (or rather, she adopted us) who had been tossed from a car window and required a fair amount of medical care, but we couldn't allow her to die. We had her for 6 years before she died - likely in part due to injuries she sustain

I'm sure Tabby will even out. It's been 17 years since we had a small kitty in the house (even though she's almost fully grown, she's still immature) and in the past few months she had left, Shadow wasn't active. I forgot how rambunctious little kitties are, but I wouldn't trade her for anything.

 

Thank goodness the rescued kitty will be ok. I'm so glad you were able to be adopted by the cat. You gave each other 6 more precious years of time together. RIP Socks and Shadow.

Tabby will bring lots of love and fun in the years ahead. Enjoy!

 

Thank you. We're enjoying her.

Here's a picture I just took of her to thank my mom for some new toys. She's too cute for her own good......

 

I was hoping you'd post a pic or two or your kitty and voila!

She's adorable! I love her giant ears, and eyes, and markings! Looks like she's still growing and can still pack on more weight. :mrgreen:

 

She's going to be a big girl. You can tell by her bone structure. Her paws and legs are meaty. I think that's one reason why she's constantly hungry - she's still growing.

She's gotten bigger in the month we've had her.

What I love about her are the facial expressions. She has such a sweet face. Hard to believe there are devil horns creeping under there sometimes, lol.

 

Her growth will slow down when she turns one.

She looks inquisitive and being a kitten, I'd expect her to be frisky for many years. :mrgreen:

 

I agree looks like a very busy kitty
But a very cute little girl!!!

 

I did. Her poop is really stinky, so I took a stool sample to the vet and it came back negative.

She's getting bigger (growing - not fat) and her eating is slowing down. Now if I could just get her to sleep all night, the world would be an awesome place. :mrgreen:

 

:mrgreen: good luck with getting her to sleep all night being nocturnal creatures....What you can do to help get her to settle some is play with her for at least 15-20 min before you go to sleep and also give her some food before bedtime that way it stimulates her to nap... I have a very active kitty I have 3 but 1 in particular is up all night...they get some moist food and I play with the laser toy and other toys to wear them out to the point that they stop playing and lounge...

good luck and hope that helps

 

I wouldn't care so much if she didn't decide that 5:30 is the time that everyone must be up, and is a great time to tear the house apart, lol. :lol:

 

I can understand that too...main thing is don't get up, don't do what she wants you to do that just reinforces the behavior...Instead use some negative things like a spray bottle when she acts up get up spray her then go back to bed and once she is quite get up on your schedule...keep doing that until she learns that she's not the boss (you need to be alpha)...

It can take several weeks to teach them but well worth it in the end!! ours have learned that chirping in the wee morning only gets them wet now :mrgreen: running across us gets them wet or banned from the bedroom where they want to be... playing with noisy toys in the middle of the night gets those toys put up til morning... they eat when we want them to eat not when they want to eat..

may sound mean but establishing alpha roles in your pack is key in the animal world.