My cat eats like a pig

[LinZ]

Oh yes, by the way I am new here. Hello everyone.

But about my thread. Kick back and grab a drink because this situation is a long and detailed one.............

My 13-year-old cat Mollie is a wonderful cat who loves to play and chase imaginary things and more or less act like a maniac. But his eating habits are strange...the bottom line is that he eats like there's no tomorrow.

Because he has developed a habit of swallowing dry catfood whole and throwing it up 20 minutes later, we've had to feed him solely canned food. Even then, he can't eat anything that is shredded - it must be something that can be crushed up.

He also eats like a pig. When we put our 3 cats in the batroom with canned food (we do this so the dog doesn't eat it instead), my other two, Caspurr and Rolly, will eat their fill and usually leave some behind. Mollie will scarf this. Let me say that whoever said that cats only eat until they're full is really full of it, because Mollie will eat until he throws up if given the chance.

If he's not fed he will either meow at whoever comes in the kitchen for food or get up on tables and counters and look for food. He once broke into a box of 12 donuts and took a bite out of 7 of them, and also into a box of cookies and did the same thing (same amounts too!). And this morning I was preparing for baking in the afternoon and I left butter out to soften. I even put a plastic container over it so Mollie wouldn't get to them and what does the little furball do?! He pushes the container off the countertop, knocks the butter on the floor, chews the wax paper off, and eats a healthy chunk out of the stick! And when I did get to making the cookies I caught him on the countertop 5 times trying to eat them as they were cooling! ACK!

Mollie gets fed 3 or 4 time daily, and I usually sneak him treats like a small piece of cheese or turkey or a cookie or some crushed chips and melted cheese (haha, yes Mollie LOVES junk food) once in a while. But he continues to eat ravenously.

It's amazing how he can eat potato chips but not dry catfood. I know his teeth are in working order because he bites me frequently on the hand or arm when I play with him. But his behavior can be destructive...he once broke a huge glass baking pan by pushing it off the sinktop in search of food.

I don't know if this is just Mollie being quirky or if it's something to be concerned about. Does anyone know what might be causing his constant hunger??


LinZ - avid cat lover/owner

[Traci]

LinZ, the first thing to do is get Mollie checked by your vet immediately...please opt for a complete geriatric blood profile, including urinalysis and thyroid function testing. These tests should be done on any cat over the age of 7, on an annual basis, or bi-annually, depending on the cat and situation.

Since he seems ravenous, there are a number of health conditions that could be underlying, such as thyroid disfunction, diabetes, kidney disease.

Don't automatically assume his teeth are in good shape. Many senior cats have exceptionally bad teeth, gingivitis, ulcers, decayed teeth, all of which can be really painful if not treated effectively. Biting skin is not the same as biting food....some cats feel intense pain when they chew dry food or certain textures if they have an oral condition. I would be willing to bet that he indeed has some oral problems that is preventing him from chewing his dry food, hence the scarfing of the canned food. If he's vomiting his dry food because he can't chew it, he is of course not getting his required dietary needs. Remember also, that there is a difference between caloric content, etc between dry and canned foods and you have to compensate appropriately by feeding correct amounts of one or the other (or mixing both) to ensure he is getting adequate nutrition on a daily basis. Since he is a senior, he might fair better on a low-calorie/low-fat diet geard for less active or mature cats/senior cats.....these are also formulated with less sodium and phosphorus to help prevent kidney disfunction/slow the process of kidney disease.

Since you described his desire to scavenge for food, it's clear he is not getting enough of the appropriate diet for his particular needs. Adult maintenance food may not be the best for him....your vet can recommend what he feels will best benefit him. Try to halt giving him human treats, these are often loaded in fat content, not something you want a senior kitty to have.

The bloodwork is necessary to detect hidden illnesses common in older cats. Once it is determined whether or not there is a condition that needs treatment, your vet can approach an appropriate diet geared for the particular condition (or particular life stage and individual needs if no serious health condition is present). The sooner you get him examined, the sooner you and your vet can pinpoint why he's ravenous, scavenging and seemingly hungry all the time, then you can work on a treatment approach/dietary approach for Mollie.

Please don't wait on this. Get Mollie seen promptly.

[LinZ]

I would love to get Mollie treated right away but unfortunately my mom has no money for the visit (yes I'm young - 16 in fact), and she would prefer to just let any of our animals die then help them.

I just can't see how Mollie can be unhealthy - most cats his age if they even live that long just want to sleep all day. But Mollie likes to run around a lot and play so much.

Thanks for your advice, Traci, but something tells me that Mollie won't be getting the needed help anytime soon.


LinZ - wishes vets wouldn't charge so much so Mollie could get the treatment he needs

[Traci]

Won't hurt to ask her...,inform her of what I've mentioned, the possibility of an underlying health condition that may worsen quickly, remind her that suffering is not fair to your animals. If he indeed has an oral health problem like diseased teeth, they will only worsen and he will begin losing weight, develop liver and/or kidney failure, amoung other things, and this wouldn't be fair to him.

I noticed in your other post about your dog, that you're feeding Meow Mix....at the very least, please try getting your cats on to a more appropriate food. Meow Mix and most grocery store foods/brands are pretty generic and don't contain appropriate amounts of vitamins and minerals...plus, most of them are only geared for one or two life stages, that being kitten or adult.

Try Purina Pro-Plan regular adult for your other cats, if they are under 7.....and for Mollie, try Purina Pro-Plan senior, or Iams senior, etc.

[LinZ]

Mollie hasn't lost any weight at all...his cat gut is about 3 inches from hitting the floor and I have trouble holding him up with 2 arms sometimes XD He's chubby.

My mom never listens to me and she just thinks our cats are a burden, especially Mollie and probably wouldn't help him live longer if she could because he's so annoying sometimes, so I know she wouldn't go out of her way to get him a special formula. Please don't think we're cheap, it's just that my mom's the only one around who brings home a paycheck and it isn't a whole lot so we don't have a lot of extra cash.

But are there any human foods I can feed him that are healthy? Is any kind of cheese or milk or yogurt okay to feed a cat? Mollie loves yogurt and cottage cheese but I don't know if there is any human food that's healthy for cats. He just gets really spoiled.

I'll try what I can to help Mollie. Thank you so much for your help, Traci. I appreciate it. ^.^


LinZ - thinks Mollie is simply "big boned"

[Raina]

Hi, I have some things to say that hopefully might help you. =)

First of all, I just turned 17 so I'm young, too. My dad is the only one that works (my mom is terminally ill) and we too are a low-income family. My dad also dislikes cats (though I think he's secretly beginning to like ours ) and he at first was very unwilling to pay for them. Not only that, but we simply couldn't afford a vet visit. I, like you, loved my cats a lot and wanted to give them whatever they needed, but I didn't see a way to do it. Finally, I did a search on Yahoo on low cost spay and neuters and that lead me to discover that there are programs out there for low income families (mainly from animal rescue groups or certain vets offices) that will give you a wellness exam, rabies and distemper vaccines, fecal test, and low cost spay and neuters. Some of it only includes the spay and neuters, some of them include others, some may even include just a wellness exam.. all of them vary - you might not be able to find a program as good as I did. But the program I found, through a rescue group called Silver Lake Animal Rescue, paid to spay our 3 cats and give them rabies and distemper vaccinations, a fecal test and a wellness exam. All we had to pay was $5 a cat. I can't guarantee you'll find something this good - you might be able to or you might not. But either way there are programs out there. You could try typing in "vet visits for low income families" "Low cost/low income spay/neuter" or a variety of things like that. If you want, I would even be willing to help you find something. My situation has been a lot like yours and I know how hard it is to be in and would be more than happy to help you with yours if you would like that. If you'd prefer to just do it on your own, that's fine too. =)

As for the food thing, for a grocery store brand I would recommend Purina. Not because it's necessarily any better, but because Purina is a more trustable brand IMO. The reason my dad finally agreed to buy Iams was because we found it bulk at Sam's Club and it was a lot less expensive to buy it that way. Also, cats eat less of premium foods than grocery store brands. Premium foods are more nutritionally dense whereas grocery store brands are packed with a bunch of useless fillers and by-products, and your cat has to eat a lot more of them to fill up. (The vet will even tell you this and I'm sure everyone here will agree) You'd be amazed at how much longer it takes a cat to go through a 4 lb bag of Iams than a 4 lb bag of 9 Lives or whatever. (I'm not sure if the same is true for canned foods or not, but.) We've used both since we've had them and we saw the difference big time. For us - the cost has evened out almost completely. Iams might be a little more expensive, but since the cats need to eat a lot less of it it's not much more expensive. Also, if he can keep down a bunch of human food and not canned cat food, and is eating THAT much, I agree that there really might be a health issue.

Sorry this post was so long! I hope it helped you, though.