Previously, 40% food restriction of male Siberian hamsters over 21 days in short photoperiod (SD) induced characteristic changes in expression of hypothalamic arcuate nucleus energy balance genes; mRNAs for neuropeptide Y (NPY), agouti-related peptide (AGRP) and leptin receptor were up-regulated, and those of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) depressed. The present study examined the effect of refeeding hamsters for 6 days (c. 50% recovery of weight differential), or 19 days (resumption of appropriate weight trajectory). Hyperphagia continued throughout refeeding, but differences in fat pad weights and leptin levels had disappeared after 19 days. CART gene expression was depressed by prior restriction in both refed groups. The depressive effect of prior restriction on POMC gene expression had disappeared after 19 days refeeding. There was no effect of prior food restriction on NPY or AGRP gene expression. Expression of the anorexigenic brain-deprived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) was down-regulated in the ventromedial nucleus after 12 weeks in SDs. In the SD food restriction study, there were effects of photoperiod on BDNF gene expression, but not of prior food restriction. Hypothalamic energy balance genes in the hamster response asynchronously to return to a seasonally-appropriate body weight. The achievement of this weight rather than the weight at which caloric restriction was imposed is the critical factor. The differential responses of hypothalamic energy balance genes to food restriction and refeeding are poorly characterized in any species, a critical issue given their potential relevance to human weight loss strategies that involve caloric restriction.