# Cat constantly scavenging and hungry



## Ssimon (Mar 10, 2013)

Hi there. Our cat is now around 5 years old. He's always been on prescription food since a couple of months old due to crystals in his bladder. It's the "Urinary s/o" food. 
He's always loved his food and been a bit of a scrounger but recently in the last half year or so he's become crazy for food. He opens all the kitchen cupboards and steals food or goes through the bins on a nightly basis.he tries to steal food of our plates and out of the hands of our baby son. We feed him well and he's not got worms. He's mostly an indoor cat but he does go out a few times a week. 
On top of that if he doesn't get his own way he destroys our carpets. Nothing we do seems to help and I'm fed up of telling him off to be honest. 
If its of any use, he also had the snip when he was a kitten. 

Anyway, what on earth can we do?!


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

It's a tough one!
Do you feed wet or dry food?
I would try to feed him a RAW (never cooked) chicken wing to see if gnawing at the meat will keep him occupied and fuller for longer.


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## Ssimon (Mar 10, 2013)

His prescription food is dry food. He has had wet food every now and then but it seems to upset his tummy. The dry food he actually seems to love more and wolfs it a down. He would literally eat until be was sick if we let him. 
I can try the chicken wing but I'm doubtful it'd work. Nothing he hasn't fished out of the bin before and left all over the kitchen. We've even caught him rooting through our baby's nappy out of the bin when our son was younger. You get the picture im sure! It's literally uncontrollable.


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## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

Dry food typically leaves them hungry which is why some cats scavenge like this. I know of at least three cases of this on the forum which have been solved by changing the cat to a high meat, no grain, all wet or raw diet. Although your food is presctiption food, if you feed wet only, and no dry, then the risk of him having crystals is pretty bloomin small. Dry food is the biggest culprit for letting them ofrm, believe it or not.

What I'd suggest: If you will feed raw, then do so. They need to eat so little of it, and it keeps them feeling very ull for a long time. Initially, as he's such a greedy guts, he'll eat shed loads. Let him do it, because gradually, his tummy will learn that he needs only a little bit to get the nutrition he requires. It took on average 2-3 weeks for mine to self-regulate. Natural Instinct provide a ready made, nutritionally balanced raw cat food at a very reasonable price. It will appear expensive initially, but once he self regulates, it really is cheap. I feed 4 fo an average of between 50 and 60P a day each.

If you won't feed raw, then move him to a high quality wet food which will also keep him feeling fuller for longer. Grau is good but expensive. Animonda and Bozita tins are also reasonable, and a lot cheaper. Feringa is excellent but a bank breaker. You can get all of these from Zooplus.

The problem with dry food, well, one of just a long list actually, is that the meat content is so low and the grain content so high that cats are constantly searching for food to increase their nutrition.

I really would recommend giving this a go and seeing how he goes on it.


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## CoCoTrio (Jan 3, 2013)

Wot Carly said. 

We had to help our cat to get used to raw chicken at first - by shredding it up a little to expose the flesh, warming it a bit in a bowl of warm water before serving, and sometimes holding it up for him to get his teeth around. 

Now he devours the whole thing in about 60 seconds, and he obviously loves it, much more than his wet food. He eats mostly canned with a bit of raw chicken once or twice a week, and after being wary of the raw meat at first he now obviously enjoys it the most of all. 

Keep looking for wet food that your cat will like. If you can find some Nature's Menu pouches in the pet shop or garden centre I'd recommend it, it seems to be delicious. 

Whatever it takes to get him off a 100% dry diet will be very worth it, even if it takes time for him to adjust.


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## CoCoTrio (Jan 3, 2013)

PS welcome to the forum Ssimon. :wink:


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## Ssimon (Mar 10, 2013)

Thank you for the advice guys. Gonna give this food change a go. Will let you all know how we get on!!


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

My knowledge of crystals is rather vague....we need Ianthi to confirm, but what I remember is that at about his age, the risks of him developing further crystals reduces...even the vet would probably advise change of his 'prescription' food at this stage.
As Carly said, the dry food leaves them permanently starving all the time. Some cats are extra sensitive to the carbs like this and no amount of dry food would ever fill them up.
Also....and this is anecdotal based on my experience of diabetic cats, these cats do seem to be a higher risk of developing diabetes. All the risk factors are in place...male, tending to over eat and put on weight, poor blood sugar control evidenced by the huge appetite which puts stress on the pancreas.
Feeding a high meat content food such as Bozita or Animonda....or even better a raw diet, could really be the answer here.


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## Ssimon (Mar 10, 2013)

For the last couple of days we've tried giving him a treating some tuna for supper. So far he seems a lot more chilled although his food drawer in the kitchen was wide open this morning. On the plus side the bun hasn't been raided for a few days now. Will keep you all posted but this is looking positive so far!


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## CoCoTrio (Jan 3, 2013)

Be careful not to feed too much tuna. I don't know how much is too much, but it sounds like it should be very sparingly given, if at all:

_'Can I feed my cat human grade tuna? 
The short answer is yes, but feeding tuna should be restricted to special treats only, and only fed extremely infrequently. 
Tuna is quite addictive to cats & they can quickly develop a taste for tuna & refuse any other foods. The term "tuna junkie" has been used to describe such cats. 
Feeding too much tuna can result in a condition known as Steatitis. 
Raw fish also contains the enzyme thiaminase which destroys thiamine (Vitamin B1), resulting in thiamine deficiency. Cooking destroys thiaminase, thus protecting thiamine.'_

Steatitis (Yellow Fat Disease) in Cats-Causes, Symptoms & Treatment | Cat Health Collection


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

CoCotrio is right in warning about feeding tuna....but if=t does show that more protein keeps him filled for longer. Try some minced beef or turkey, or chunks of chicken thigh....all easily available in the supermarket. None of these is suitable for long term feeding if it is all the cat is getting, but could be used short term or for a top up feed.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi Ssimon, I agree with the others, your cat is showing all the signs of being desperately short of the right nutrients and this is driving him to scavenge constantly. 

He needs much higher meat protein levels than he can possibly get from dry food. All that happens if you give him more dry food is that you are making his blood sugar levels even more unstable. He either needs a balanced raw food diet or a good quality wet tinned food that is high in protein, low in sugars, and no added fillers or grains. As mentioned Grau is a good one, as is Feringa (which is a bit cheaper than Grau.) Both these are available from Zooplus on line. 

Or from the supermarket or [email protected] there is Hilife Nature's Essentials pouches, fair quality but more expensive than the tinned stuff mentioned above. Tins will always be cheaper than pouches. 

I completely agree with Carly -- having changed his diet to a wet high protein one let him eat as much as he wants and within a couple of weeks he will regulate his own intake. 

And as Cocotrio and PP say, only give tuna as a very occasional treat. Like all deep sea fish it is contaminated with mercury which is very toxic to cats (and humans).


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