Cat with behavior problems costing us $100/month to feed.

[sagremus]

Two years ago we adopted a cat from a local rescue. He is a large male cat weighing upwards of 15 lbs.

What we didn't know when we rescued him is that he has behavior problems surrounding food. Any food he sees, he will gobble up so quickly that he chokes himself, vomits, or is otherwise a danger to himself. His appetite is insatiable and he quickly ballooned to 22 lbs after we adopted him.

We took him to the vet, who doesn't think it's medical related but rather behavioral. At his weigh, he was a 10 out of 10 on the weight scale for a cat, with 10 being morbidly obese. They were talking diabetes and joint problems. We were to put him on a very strict diet. The vet recommended wet food only, and a grain-free diet.

We currently feed him 8 oz of grain free, wet canned food. This is costing us $100 (about $2 per can, plus another $1.50 for a packet). He needs to be fed in small servings throughout the day, which is why we have been buying individual quantities versus in bulk. My fiance isn't as dedicated towards the cat as I am, and he is doing the bulk of the feedings due to my work schedule, so I needed to keep it simple for him (this can at this time, this can at this time, etc). The cat is now down to 14-15 lbs and is much healthier, although the behavior problems still exist.

I have considered feeding the cat raw meat from a local raw pet food shop, which would cost us $40/a month. There is also freeze dried raw food that can be re-constituted for cheaper. However, these methods require somewhat of a time investment and I'm not sure my fiance will be on board.

I have also thought about putting the cat on an anti-depressant. According to the rescue, he witnessed his owner's death and was then abandoned by her son. I wonder if going through emotional trauma is the source of his behavior problems.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

[bzbee]

Are the packets--dry cat food? Maybe you could buy a big bag and just give him a certain portion every serving. For example, you could empty the packet into a cup, and see how much space it will take, half a cup or whatever and mark that with permanent marker. Then you can use this cup to measure our the servings for the cat. If your fiancé doesn't want to measure it every time, you can make your own premeasured servings in Ziploc bags. It takes a few minutes of work, but will save you some money.

[sblatner]

We have a cat on prozac. She was spraying. 1/2 tab of prozac has worked wonders. It was either this or putting her to sleep. If you do try this, Target is cheap for a three month supply. Rite Aid was double the price.

As for the food, you could split it up into baggies and then your fiance wouldn't really have to think how much.

[sagremus]

He cannot eat dry food. It's too many carbs and lead to his enormous weight gain. He needs the wet food. All his food is wet/canned food, grain free, so that's why it's so expensive.

Sblatner what lead you to put your cat on Prozac? What kinds of behaviors did she have? What was she like before/after?

[RoadWorkAhead]

Who told you only wet grain free as opposed to dry grain free? Have you actually checked the carb difference? We only feed grain free (no time for raw at current) but we've never done wet grain free or had it recommended.

If eating is the issue, I doubt its his witnessing of an owner's death so much as prior or post-death food scarcity. Eating large amounts, scarfing food, etc are often a behavioral side effect of a history of not having enough. Alternately, I've had a couple that try to hide half their bowl for later in case there isn't more then. Even years after rescue, this behavior persists. I'd try some kitty Prozac in a heartbeat.

[TheKayla]

@RoadWorkAhead theres no such thing as dry grain free The grains are what keep the dry food together at all.

Just to check, has your vet checked the cat for parasites or other bacterial issues in the intestines? You said the vet has checked the cat out physically, but surely they could miss something. That was the first thing that came to mind with uncontrollable hunger.

Anyway, I'd recommend feeding the cat the recommended amount per your vet to help him/her lose weight safely, and then maintain that amount, no matter how much the cat begs for food. No matter how bad it wants the food, you have control over how much to feed it for the ultimate health of the cat. That issue being under control, I'm sure there are plenty of behavioral pet sites that can help more specifically with the behavioral issue at hand.

Have you looked online for bulk prices of wet food? Are you buying high quality wet food? I buy a mix of high quality wet and dry food that is more expensive, and my cat eats about 1/3 of what she used to, so theres really quite a savings in what I've spent overall. Even if your cat is still hungry off of that, he/she will have far greater nutrition.

[hamchan]

Not the OP, but I don't understand how anyone can get away with limiting their cat's food in order to get them to lose weight. My cat is an absolute horror if his food bowl remains empty for more than an hour. He wanders around the house howling constantly, knocks things over, eats whatever random objects he can manage to swallow, and bites me viciously.

[TheKayla]

Not the OP, but I don't understand how anyone can get away with limiting their cat's food in order to get them to lose weight. My cat is an absolute horror if his food bowl remains empty for more than an hour. He wanders around the house howling constantly, knocks things over, eats whatever random objects he can manage to swallow, and bites me viciously.

Sounds like youve trained the cat to know it gets food whenever it wants, and it gives into its instinct. Of course its going to behave that way if it knows it can get what it wants by making a scene.

I'm not talking about starving the cat, but rather feeding them quality food and correct portions so long as physically everything is ok, feeding them the correct amount of food is the most humane thing to do. Most animals want food all the time, certain animals may beg more to get food, especially in this case where there is believed to be a psychological factor. It's an instinct for the wild, if you give into it all the time now that we have the ability to give constant food, and make your own cat obese and unhealthy, thats incredibly inhumane.

I mean, I want to eat all the time too. However, we live in a world where theres an abundance of food where there once was not, but I certainly don't and I eat an appropriate amount of food every day to maintain my health -- not too much, not too little, and coming from healthy sources.

The right thing to do is feed healthy portions despite behavioral issues, and get to the root of behavioral issues, as the original poster is trying to do.

[sblatner]

Our cat was spraying so we put her on prozac. We did some research, tried the spray everyone recommends and nothing worked. Prozac has worked. She was a crazy cat before and now she is much calmer. We adopted two kitties at 4 months old and I think their first four months wasn't too good. They are now seven. She has been on prozac for at least two years and has only sprayed a couple times since. Used to be a few times a day. Yuck! If you try a pill, you can buy pill pockets which are a treat with a hole for the pill. Much easier to give cats pills this way.

[ua_guy]

I'm also confused on the wet/dry debacle. I think overall calorie content is what you're concerned about, not just carbs. Kind of like a human diet. Metering intake and overall calorie consumption is responsible for weight loss or weight gain.

It's possible to feed the cat dry kibble with better nutritionals than typical cat food which is heavy in grain and fillers. Will it be grain-free? Probably not, but the nutritional content will be better if you choose a high quality food.

What about feeding the cat several small dry meals, a few times per day? If you are not home, I believe you can buy a little automatic dispenser that will let some kibble out into the dish set on a program. The cat could presumably get onto a healthier eating schedule, and at predictable and fixed intervals, it might relax and learn that food comes often and on a regulated schedule again.

[hamchan]

I have tried multiple times to limit the cat's food intake, but eventually the lack of sleep from the constant howling and middle of the night attacks won out. The last time he bit me he actually left bruises. And if he were to bite my husband that could quickly turn into a medical emergency. I am a really light sleeper, and I live in a really small apartment. He is nine years old and I don't see it changing. I figure it would be worse to take him to the shelter because I can't deal with his bull**** than it is to just let him be fat. Not that my husband would ever allow that anyway.

[sagremus]

My cat is part Siamese. Around meal times he howls and howls and chases us around. Luckily, he's a very sweet and gentle cat and never bites, claws, or tries to wake us up. He sleeps at night out in the living room in his bed like a good boy. Sometimes I will find him patiently waiting, staring at me on the bed, but he's never woken me up. When it's food time, he purrs and purrs. It's just the amount of food he eats and the way he eats it ("scarfing") that's the problem.

Here's my vet's opinion: Dry food, no matter how you cut it, is going to have "fillers." Even when you feed the cat the same amount of dry food, it's not going to feel as full because of the fillers. When he eats the pure, protein-rich wet food (we do feed organic and high quality), he's supposedly meant to feel "fuller." It's also great for his health. For example, if you ate the same amount of calories in potato chips versus lean protein, which would make you feel fuller for longer?

I would never feed him as much as he wants. As you can see, it was cruel because he ate way more then he needed, became obese, and was at risk for the same diseases humans can get if they are morbidly overweight. That would have cost us in vet bills, too.

One idea I have thought of too is the amount of activity in your cat's life. My cat gets a lot of attention, but we could probably offer him more mental stimulation. He had a Kong toy with treats and he would spend a lot of time swatting the toy around and trying to get the treats to fall out. He loves to play, and I'm wondering if he just needs something else to do other than fixate on food/feeding time.

I'm going to call the local raw pet food store and see what options they have. I'll report back.

[RoadWorkAhead]

We have not found the same issue with dry grain-free food (which is available), but our vet doesn't recommend wet food for dogs except with meds, so YMMV. Our girl cat turned her nose up at grain free But I'd feed raw if I had the time/money. For our dogs, the cost would likely be higher, but for the cats, I can see it being closer to even. Grain free = way less poop, and raw = disintegrating, tiny poop. I'd totally do that with Sir Stinky, the world's smelliest kitten if I could. Maybe some dedicated tupper ware and pre-portioning would make it doable for the other feeder?

[KTP]

Feed your cat IAMS brand melamine laced cat food and you won't have a problem in a month or so. Won't have a cat either.

(sorry, still bitter over losing two cats to IAMS...a Siamese and a Bengal.)


I saw some thing awhile back that makes your cat exercise for food...I will try and find the link...pretty funny looking but some said it worked.

[sagremus]

Sorry about the loss of your cats. Our olther cat was fed MeowMix up until we got her, and she developed kidney disease at a relatively young age. The vet attributes this to her horrible diet.

I called the raw petfood store and they quoted me $14 for free range raw chicken that would last out cat 20-25 days. I think we'll be switching over needless to say! Its going to require quite a bit of pre-planning and portioning, but for that price it's worth it.