The greedy cats who always take their meals every day and play snacks. However, it can be due to physical or psychological problems if you are always hungry. Reveal 10 reasons why cats are hungry.
1. Malnutrition
Cats are clever animals that know what they need. If you do not get the right nutrients even if you feed, there is a habit of eating more. It usually happens when you eat poor quality feed, but neglecting it can lead to health problems. To ensure that nutrients are adequately met and maintained, feed high-quality feed. What if the feed value is burdened? It will be cheaper than the cost of hospitalization for illness that will occur later on as a low quality feed.
2. When boredom comes
Boredom does not come only to humans. In this case, both people and cats often eat a lot. Cat can be solved by eating cattle or toy, when there is no play partner, or when it is not received social education from guardian. Moreover, these habits may lead to overweight or obesity. Give your cats the necessary toys and enough physical activity to get rid of both obesity and boredom.
3. Loneliness
If the cat is depressed, it can cause anorexia and overeating. This is a sort of genuine action that cat wants to appease his loneliness, and if it continues, it can invoke behavioral changes such as attack or avoidance.
In humans, depression is considered a multifactorial disease, and depression in cats can also be caused by a number of factors. If a cat is suffering from depression, it should express interest and affection by reducing environmental stress, such as eliminating unnecessary furniture and items to secure a place for cats to play.
4. Food competition
Some cats do not enjoy eating with other cats in the same place. If you eat together, you can of course behave like eating faster or eating at a later time in order to keep your own food, because of the psychology that does not want to compete for the food.
5. Drug Attention
Certain drugs can cause side effects and increase appetite. Especially in the case of steroids, lipid metabolism becomes active, so even if you eat, you may get hunger. If your cat is taking steroids or anticonvulsants, you may notice a tendency to eat more as your appetite increases.
6. Parasites
If there are roundworms in the cat's body, they will take away all the nutrients the cat has eaten. Usually these parasites are excreted as feces, but sometimes they are parasitic in the intestines and cause the stomach to swell. Roundworms are also transmitted to humans, so if a cat suspects that this is the case, a sample of the excreta should be provided to the veterinarian for examination.
7. Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is an endocrine disorder that is common in cats. At this time, about 67 ~ 81% of appetite increase occurs. This can lead to excessive thirst, frequent urination and diarrhea, but it can be difficult to diagnose because it is similar to some other diseases such as other diabetes, chronic renal failure, inflammatory bowel disease, and the like.
Veterinarians usually do a simple blood test to show elevated levels of thyroxine, but about 2 to 10 percent of cats with the disease do not have the hormone levels so it is very difficult to know perfectly.
8. Diabetes
Diabetes is also one of the causes of appetite. Some cats can not convert the sugar from the feed into energy and feel hungry. Feeds continue to eat but lose weight at the same time. Also, there is a phenomenon that urination is increased due to persistent thirst.
9. You should also suspect the possibility of cancer. When abnormal cancer tissue grows in the body, the nutrients in the body are absorbed by both the tumor and healthy cells, and can feel constant hunger. Cancer cells are like parasites, helping abnormal cells grow in the nutrients supplied.
10. Pregnancy
In the case of females, pregnancy causes physiological changes such as hormones and behavior, resulting in a strong appetite. Like a human being, a cat also sheds a morning sickness or hungry during pregnancy.