# Cat is driving me nuts!



## lucyloves (Sep 26, 2009)

We've had Tinks, our rescue cat, since October and at first she was very shy and didn't even eat. She quickly settled in however. For the last few weeks she has been whining/meowing every morning and from about 3.30pm in the afternoon. This is because I feed her when I get up, and at about 4.30/5pm every day. 
She wont shut up and it is doing my head in. We cant leave food out for her all day because we have a dog. She is fed 40g dry + 1 pouch wet a day which is enough for her according to whiskas. 
Please help!


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

Perhaps the whiskers is'nt filling her up, maybe try a higher meat content food our lot like Hi-Life which is pretty cheap from Home Bargins :thumbup: or could you leave her food up a height, our lots feeding station is on the work top in the utility room - well the washer is in there :lol: - or the dogs would have it


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

what age is Tinks? (if she is still a kitten she needs feeding more regularly than an adult cat) 

you can still leave food down for the cat if the gaps between her meals are too big.

Either put the cat food in a place where the cat can reach but the dog can't (i.e: high shelf, top of fridge freezer, a high wondow sill, a high piece of furniture) or fashion a box with a cat-sized hole in it and place the cat food in there. 

feeding guidelines on food packets are just ROUGH guidelines, many cats can eat FAR more than the guidelines on the pack.


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Do you think she is crying for attention? How much play time/interaction with you is she getting? 

Just a thought as sometime my two will cry & paw at me when they want to play


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## lucyloves (Sep 26, 2009)

Tinks is 3.5yrs old. She only whines when it's close to feeding time. She gets loads of attention during the day as I work from home. At the moment she is laying across the desk between me and the keyboard! 
She is a bit tubby so I dont want to give her more food unless I have to.


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## jomary-austin (Apr 9, 2009)

Perhaps she is that rare thing, a greedy cat! I can understand why you don't want to overfeed her as if you do she'll just want more and more!

Try splitting her meals into smaller ones but more often, that may trick her into thinking she's getting more food (then again maybe it won't but is worth a try)


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

lucyloves said:


> Tinks is 3.5yrs old. She only whines when it's close to feeding time. She gets loads of attention during the day as I work from home. At the moment she is laying across the desk between me and the keyboard!
> She is a bit tubby so I dont want to give her more food unless I have to.


if you work from home then I really don't see the issue with just feeding her the same amount she currently gets, but spreading it out more throughtout the day ?

Some cats (just like humans) can eat enough in one go to keep them going for a whole day. Others cant. If her crying annoys you then it's a fairly simple toss up between 
-get used to her crying and stick to your feeding regime, or 
-acommodate her by giving her an inbetween feed


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## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

that doesnt sound enough food to me, 1 pouch? my boy eats that in one go! 
remember all cats are different, on the box of whiskas im sure it says around 4 pouches a day, which is 1 can of tin food. mine eat that plus bics and arent fat or overweight. remember that she might be bored wanting attention aswell.


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## Kiwi (Nov 18, 2010)

Just a suggestion but have you tried a puzzle feeder and/or hiding little bits of food around the place (in little tin foil trays or bits of greaseproof paper)?  Hunting for her food would double as a play activity too. I am at home all day but have discovered that HRH Sweetie thinks there is a big difference between attention/company and playing. She sits on the computer to tell me that she's had enough of me sitting still and wants her servant to run around and entertain her! Cats for you  Thank goodness for laser-mice & staircases - I can give her a good 5 min intensive workout to release excess energy (and fight the flab) and then she flakes for a while. And so do I...:Yawn:


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Good idea from Kiwi regarding getting her to work for her food.

What are you feeding her at the moment? My cat Basil is very greedy & a bit on the porky side but was constantly whining despte eating his recommended amounts. We changed his food (to one with better ingredients) & this has improved quite a bit.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

Taylorbaby said:


> that doesnt sound enough food to me, 1 pouch? my boy eats that in one go!
> remember all cats are different, on the box of whiskas im sure it says around 4 pouches a day, which is 1 can of tin food. mine eat that plus bics and arent fat or overweight. remember that she might be bored wanting attention aswell.


good point.... 1 pouch of whiskas and 40grams of dry per day.... I guess a lot would depend on which dry food it was, but if it was whiskas dry (instead of say Orijen) then that does sound an incredibly small amount of food. And an overweight cat has to lose weight veryyyy gradually.


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## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

How much does she weigh?

Going by the feeding recommendations of the 'Oh So ..' pouches for an average 4kg cat it's 3 pouches a day! I can't remember what the feeding guidelines are for the dry food is, but maybe the 40g portion you give is equal to 1 pouch. So you could safely give her an extra pouch a day.

I'd also recomend having a look at the A-Z wet food thread too. There are much better foods available and some might make her feel less starved. The amount of fillers in foods like Whiskas don't hold any nutritional value for kitties, this is evident by the amount they poop and how bad it smells. When they are on a good quality high meat content food this lessens, which tells you their bodies are using what is in their food instead of pooping it out. Hope that makes sense


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## Kiwi (Nov 18, 2010)

I also second Tje's comment about feeding little but regularly. I feed my cat 3x meat up til 3pm (at least) and leave kibble available (on floor or up high) throughout the day. It doesn't mean that she gets more than her daily allowance but cats are 'grazers' by nature. I am working towards 2x daily but she is still a bit young for that I think (2 rys - maybe this is wrong and I'm just indlulging my instinct ). However, if I tried feeding her only 2x a day I think there would be MASSIVE whining, scratching of legs, and packing of bags...


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## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

Tje said:


> good point.... 1 pouch of whiskas and 40grams of dry per day.... I guess a lot would depend on which dry food it was, but if it was whiskas dry (instead of say Orijen) then that does sound an incredibly small amount of food. And an overweight cat has to lose weight veryyyy gradually.


thats what I thought, mine graze on biccis (apart from the old boy who only has wet) but they will still eat a few pouches eat! and I feed good biccis lol :thumbup:



Kiwi said:


> I also second Tje's comment about feeding little but regularly. I feed my cat 3x meat up til 3pm (at least) and leave kibble available (on floor or up high) throughout the day. It doesn't mean that she gets more than her daily allowance but cats are 'grazers' by nature. I am working towards 2x daily but she is still a bit young for that I think (2 rys - maybe this is wrong and I'm just indlulging my instinct ). However, if I tried feeding her only 2x a day I think there would be MASSIVE whining, scratching of legs, and packing of bags...


why do you stop feeding wet at 3pm???


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## Gem16 (Aug 5, 2010)

least your cat does it in the afternoon, mine gets fed at 6:30am in the morning but she likes to wake me at 4am very often crying and causing a fuss! lol


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## lucyloves (Sep 26, 2009)

She weighs 3.5kg and is a very small cat. When we got her she was skin and bone. After we'd had her a month she weigh 2.9kg so i cant imagine what she weighed when we got her. 

We've only just started feeding her wet as I didnt realise just dry was bad for cats (boris the dog is fed just dry). She's fed go cat indoor and was on 75g a day, but with the wet as well, it's 1 pouch + 40g or (according to whiskas) 2 pouches + 20g per day. 

She also regularly gets tinned sardines/tuna 2x a week same as the dog. 

I know what you mean with the ball feeder things, the dog has a much bigger version. I can imagine the havoc with the cat and dog running around the kitchen after their respective foods! ha ha!


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## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

i wouldnt feed tuna twice a week, a very odd 'treat' as its full of salt, or sardines that often either.

lol stop reading whats ont he packet as there is no such thing as a 'average cat' just go by how your cat feels and shes obviously saying 'food mummy food' lol


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## lucyloves (Sep 26, 2009)

wouldn't she be whining all day if she was hungry all day? just a thought.


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