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!

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 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 - or the dogs would have it

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All my children have paws!

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.

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

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.

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)

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

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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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...

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.