My oldest cat is ALWAYS hungry!! (picture added!)

[Charade]

She's driving us nuts! She's about 20 years old and quite thin but she eats like a horse (poops like one too!) but is constantly begging for food. She's on thyroid meds which the doctor thought would stablize her metabolism but the meds didn't seem to do that. Maybe even make it worse. It's not like there isn't food always available, it's that she eats some of what's down and then 5 minutes later, begs for something different. We've tried ignoring her but she sits by your feet and lets out a meow about every 3 minutes until one of us caves and opens up yet another can of cat food! For all she eats, she should have gained some weight (which she could use). Anyone else run across this?


I'm gonna make an appointment at the vet.

 

[alliecats]

Is she drinking a lot of water?

This was my cat's first symptom of diabetes. Maybe her thyroid meds need adjusting...

 

[Charade]

Is she drinking a lot of water?

This was my cat's first symptom of diabetes. Maybe her thyroid meds need adjusting...

Yes she is but I think she might have a UTI (again). She had one last year and was on antibiotics and that cleared up the UTI and the excessive drinking stopped. I used to use a waterer but switched to a bowl so I could see how much was being used. I do have two cats but I rarely see the younger cat at the water bowl. She's had blood work done a couple of times in the last year or so and diabetes was never mentioned. I don't know if they tested for that but I'll ask this time. Like I said, I'm gonna make an appointment with the vet for next week.

The vet did adjust the thyroid dosage a little higher from it's initial point but that didn't seem to make a difference.

 

[alliecats]

Sounds like you have your bases covered! I hope a med adjustment and a quick course of antibiotics help her...and you!...out. Keep us posted.

 

[MushyMushy]

I don't have anything to say about the excessive hunger, but wow, 20 years old! You must have taken really good care of her. How is her overall health?

 

[Charade]

I don't have anything to say about the excessive hunger, but wow, 20 years old! You must have taken really good care of her. How is her overall health?

She still gets around pretty good. Jumps up on the furniture, bed and manages two flights of stairs. Like to play a little. She's quite hard of hearing though except when the sound of a cat food can echos about the house. Then she's right there begging for food!

 

[yeartolate]

OMG, ours is driving us nuts, too.

She is 15 plus and has always been quirky, She has gotten in the habit of yowling for food at three am, It is no ordinary meow - it is a "I am dying here, get your butt out off bed NOW" kinda yowling. We have tried other feeding schedules...but 3 am she is always awake. She has alwasy had a fast metabolism so I can give her what she wants....but if the food has been sitting out for awhile it won't do.

Once I feed her, she is happy.

 

[ducklite]

Talk to your vet. Excessive hunger with no weight gain in an animal can also be an indication of some types of cancer. Glad to hear that you've taken such good care of her--20 years--WOW!

Anne

 

[RSoxFan]

My cat's like that too. He's 18 and diabetic. That's actually how we found out he was diabetic. He was eating a ton and actually losing weight. He went from 19 pounds to about 11. And he was drinking so much he was actually licking the bowl dry.

I know what the PP means when she said the cat howls a "Get down here I'm DYING" sort of howl. My cat does that too. It's enough to make me levitate out of bed in the middle of the night!

OP, I would definitely make a trip to the vet.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I was going to say diabetes too - have a couple sugar cats in the family....for some reason it is on the rise in cats, my vet said they don't even fully undersatnd why.....but this sounds just like my mom's cat when his levels are off!

20 years!!! hope mine are around that long!!!!

 

[chyam]

Honestly I wouldn't worry to much about it, you have consulted your vet and as others have said you have your bases covered, I maybe wrong about this but it has happened to me twice, my Keiki died 2 years ago at the age of 21 and he was the same way, now Binky in my siggy is going to be 19 and she is doing the exact same thing, with 7 cats here there is usually something left somewhere and she will clean every plate and still look for more, she too is very thin, I tell people she kinda looks like "road kill" just got that very thin look, but otherwise healthy, she still hunts her toy mice and can get up onto anything. I just think it is an "age" thing, kinda like when you see very old elderly women and how frail they look. 2 years ago Binky was very sick and I took her to the vet, test after test was taking it's toll on her and finally decided no more, she is old and doesn't deserve all of what they were doing, I had given up and knew she had had a good life, I took her home and started feeding her baby food, it's very high and calories and is easy for them to eat when they have a few teeth missing, she got better and is back on regular cat food........and just for the record, my cats all live to be old, they are all mutts and they all eat grocery store pet food, I know others believe only the high price stuff is good but like I said mine all live well into their teens, except for the 2 "pedigreed" cats I did have they lived to 10 and 12! Anyways good luck, hopefully we will both have a few more years with our Old ladies!

 

[Tiggeroo]

I had a cat like this. He was like this at 2 and he was like this at 20. he also lived a long, healthy life. When he actually got sick he began yowling all the time for no reason.

 

[Chloe'sMom]

Talk to your Vet about diabetes and have him do an x-ray to make sure there are no foreign masses.
~Amanda

 

[Oreo Cookie]

Talk to your vet. Excessive hunger with no weight gain in an animal can also be an indication of some types of cancer. Glad to hear that you've taken such good care of her--20 years--WOW!

Anne

Wow! 20 years, Charade you've taken wonderful care of your cat. I've got to agree with Anne regarding cancer. My cat was ten and started eating all the time and gaining no weight. As soon as I put her food down, she would eat it up so quickly, and I could put down more and she would keep eating. My cat was always small, and maybe weighed 10 lbs, so when I took her to the vet, she had actually dropped 1 lb in weight. The the vet ran blood tests and some other tests, and my little girl had pacreatic cancer. You mentioned the vet ran blood tests and there would have been cancer markers in the blood stream, so I'm assuming that it's not cancer.

 

[Lanshark]

20 years old is very impressive. I have dry food available to our 3 at all times. It's a high quality weight maintenance food so they don't seem to be gaining weight.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I babysit for a family who has a 20 year old cat. I love this cat so much !! But she does what the OP's cat does - she meows at you every hour for food - and different food, too! Not what you put out the proir hour! In her case, I think she is just bored!! When you're a 20 year old cat, there isn't much else to do than try to get something to eat! She is also quite thin but still active enough to jump on furniture and climb the stairs, and go outside and roam the yard. I think she just wants attention - and there's not much else to do but sample different food!

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

Hi, Are you sure my cat is not living at your house? You have described my cat to a T. He is 20 1/2 years old. He is on Thyroid meds (Tapazole) for Hyperthyroidism and has had numerous blood tests over the past couple years.

He eats like crazy.. meows every 20 mins for food. I think he forgets that he has eaten and like someone else said, he is bored and wants attention. He is also completely deaf now, poor thing. He drinks water like crazy. Though I think the vet said that is because his kidney's are not working like they used to. He is a walking skeleton but he eats like a cow. He used to be a 12 pound cat. Over the years he has lost half his body weight and is only 5 lbs now. I honestly don't know how he is surviving.

Question though... my cat takes Tapazole. Every article I read on cats with Hyperthyroidism mentions Tapazole and adds, "It's inexpensive and should improve your cats symptoms." Well, I do not see an improvement in his symptoms, but inexpensive? Wow, we pay $53 for 30 pills. His meds cost more than mine! lol. Anyone paying a lot less for Tapazole?
tink

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yes...our "college cat" (RIP) Honey was like that. She was 17ish, I think before I had to have her put down.

She was "starving" SO MUCH she would jump in your lap and steal food from your plate.
Of course we thought it was pretty funny at the time. Now in hindsight I realized she was suffering and I didn't realize it.

 

[Charade]

Hi, Are you sure my cat is not living at your house? You have described my cat to a T. He is 20 1/2 years old. He is on Thyroid meds (Tapazole) for Hyperthyroidism and has had numerous blood tests over the past couple years.

He eats like crazy.. meows every 20 mins for food. I think he forgets that he has eaten and like someone else said, he is bored and wants attention. He is also completely deaf now, poor thing. He drinks water like crazy. Though I think the vet said that is because his kidney's are not working like they used to. He is a walking skeleton but he eats like a cow. He used to be a 12 pound cat. Over the years he has lost half his body weight and is only 5 lbs now. I honestly don't know how he is surviving.

Question though... my cat takes Tapazole. Every article I read on cats with Hyperthyroidism mentions Tapazole and adds, "It's inexpensive and should improve your cats symptoms." Well, I do not see an improvement in his symptoms, but inexpensive? Wow, we pay $53 for 30 pills. His meds cost more than mine! lol. Anyone paying a lot less for Tapazole?
tink

My cat was never heavy. She's a small cat to start with. She only weighs 4.5 lbs (went to the vet today). The thyroid meds she takes is methimazole. I only pay about $18 for 30 pills. She had blood drawn today and is getting another thyroid test. I haven't seen any improvement at all either.

 

[bzelf]

My cat was never heavy. She's a small cat to start with. She only weighs 4.5 lbs (went to the vet today). The thyroid meds she takes is methimazole. I only pay about $18 for 30 pills. She had blood drawn today and is getting another thyroid test. I haven't seen any improvement at all either.

My cat who will be 16 next month is also taking methimazole. I paid $28.98 for 90 pills last month at Costco. It took 4 months of thyroid tests for the vet to determine the correct dosage.

He is generally a 11.5lb cat and had lost 3lb before the right dosage was determined. He is now back to his normal weight. He loves to get his medicine because the pills are put into Pill Pockets.