Fat Cat

MsFifers

I feel really bad this has happened - but I have just realised today that my 8-month-old neutered male cat is turning into a big fatty! I want to sort this out now before he gets any older and fatter.

I have been feeding either Husse or Science Plan Kitten kibble. I usually measure out the recommended daily quantity and leave it for them to nibble on all day. I also have been giving 1 sachet of Oh-So-Meaty/Fishy between him and his sister every evening - I guess I need to cut that out even though they both go nuts for it.

I think the problem may be that I put down enough food for the 2 cats, but he may be eating more than his share. He is also v. lazy and its really hard to get him to play - I do spend time every day doing this with them. (They are indoor-only cats as requested by the rescue place I got them from).

Should I start feeding them in separate rooms? I'm away from my home working all day - if I only feed them at say 8 am, and again at 6 pm would it be too long a period for them to be fasting between meals?

I would really welcome any suggestions from anyone who has put their cat on a diet.

luckat

a) Talk to the vet; it may be a problem other than food
b) Feed them in separate rooms. Put down food, and when they've finished eating, take it up and put it away. This is not normally how cats eat, but they'll change if you do it this way. Always leave out plenty of fresh, clean water, though.

Schlemm

Be careful not to let your cat get fat! Weight loss is generally difficult in cats and has to be done slowly. Commercial low calorie diets usually work very well if your cat is already overweight. Don't make any sudden changes in the diet tho, and it's good to talk to a vet if you need to make drastic changes. And feeding in separate rooms is good too.
The following are worth reading:
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/news/feed.htm
and
http://www.purina.co.uk/Home/All+About+Cats/Food+and+Nutrition+Cat/Choosing+the+Right+Food+Cat/Feeding+Your+Adult+Cat.htm

ztoical

I was just about to post about cats and diet lol. My cat is big but very active and my friends cats [who I got my cat from] are huge [size wise not weight wise] so I'm not to worried that she is getting fat but I am worried she may get fat. At the moment she only eats wet food. I've been trying to get her to eat a mix of dry and wet but she is refusing to eat the dry stuff. Is it very unhealthy for her to have a diet of only wet food?

MsFifers

ztoical wrote: »

Is it very unhealthy for her to have a diet of only wet food?

I did some research after posting and found it all depends on the protein content of the food. The first two ingredients listed should be animal meat - and not animal derived protein - whatever that is.

Most pet foods will list the % protein - the higher the better. Carbohydrate is the big no-no for cats - as a mouse is only something like 2% carb and 50% protein (or something like that!!), so the food should not contain corn, rice, grain etc

My vet did tell me however, that dry food is better for their teeth. The wet food encourages tooth decay. I see a few brands have tooth health supplements on the market - but I guess thats more calories!

summer_ina_bowl

kitten kibble is made to meet the HUGE energy demands of growing kitties, at eight months, your moggy has done most of his growing, changing to a normal adult food may do the trick, but hills (science plan) do a special formula for nuetered pets. many places don't have it shelved, but most pet shops and vets will order it in for you if you ask! as for the protein content, animal derived protein is not a reliable quality quide, eg, an animal derived protein could be hair, its made from keratin, keratin is a protein, but keratin cannot be utilised by the body for growth and repair, which are the main functions of protein!! lol, ok i'm ranting now!

wet food only diets are a disaster! can you imagine only eating canned muck for 15+ years and never brushing your teeth!? cats must go under a general anaesthetic to have thir teeth cleaned, there is always a risk with anaesthetics, especially as your pet ages - so now really is the time to prevent these problems by feeding dry food which acts as an abrasive to remove plaque from teeth and gums. also, canned muck consists of about seventy percent water, which means its no good for bulking up bowel movements etc, and besides why pay for seventy percent water when you provide your pet with water for free anyways!

a good tip with a fussydog or cat, fast her for a day (trust me this does no harm! - just provide plenty of water!), when they start looking for food, present them with the dry food, if she turns her nose up, take the food away and wait 4 hrs before offering her a fresh portion of the dry food, you may have to do this for a couple of days, but do NOT give in! your pet will not starve, you are not being cruel, it is really for the greater good! pretty quickly they'll realise that every time you feed them, this is what they'll be getting and so they give in and eat. the most important thing is to take the food away as soon as they turn their nose up so that they realise that when you put the food down, it is their time to eat what you give them! once they've swapped over you can return to your normal feeding patterns. dont treat with wet food tho, as this will remind them that there was a tasty food they preferred to eat!

comongethappy

I've had problems with my female cat - I knew she was heavy but I didn't realise she had gotten up to 5 kg! She was very fat as a kitten when I got her... the two old ladies that had kept her gave her around 3X the daily amount she should have eaten and gave her warm's cow milk - she looks like a sausage with a tiny head when she came to me! She had lost weight, but since the spaying she had put on more. I've cut the cat milk out of their diet as it was unnessesary, and we've banned any table scraps (though they now try to get into our bin for them, so we always have to weigh the top down with something!). It seems to have helped a bit and she's slowly losing weight. I was on to Husse as both my cats are indoors in regards to a light food, and they said that they're hoping to launch one in Spring 2008.

If you give wet food as well, just make sure to reduce the amount of dry food in accordance to the engery requirements of the wet food.

superficies

I worry that ours might be getting a bit fat too - especially since after being at the cattery for 10 days while we were on holidays she was lighter than when we left; as it's run by the vets I'm guessing this is partially because they fed her less than we do. The main problem for us is that we spoil her really but we're cutting down - she gets a tiny bit of cat milk in the morning with her food because she loves it, Go Cat left out during the day while we're at work, and then a good meal of Royal Canin in the evening. She refuses to eat wet food - hates it, which is just as well as a dry diet is far better for them. Also cutting out the table scraps as someone said above is very good idea. A weird thing we have found though - and I wonder whether anyone else has this experience - is that our cat goes absolutely crazy for fruit, particularly melon and mango, and will scream the house down for a little in her bowl if we're having them. This wouldn't do her any harm I imagine (would it?) but I just think it's really weird!

ztoical

summer_ina_bowl wrote: »

a good tip with a fussydog or cat, fast her for a day (trust me this does no harm! - just provide plenty of water!), when they start looking for food, present them with the dry food, if she turns her nose up, take the food away and wait 4 hrs before offering her a fresh portion of the dry food, you may have to do this for a couple of days, but do NOT give in! your pet will not starve, you are not being cruel, it is really for the greater good! pretty quickly they'll realise that every time you feed them, this is what they'll be getting and so they give in and eat. the most important thing is to take the food away as soon as they turn their nose up so that they realise that when you put the food down, it is their time to eat what you give them! once they've swapped over you can return to your normal feeding patterns. dont treat with wet food tho, as this will remind them that there was a tasty food they preferred to eat!

good advice, will give it a try starting tomorrow

MsFifers

Just a warning about making a v. obese cat diet - from ehow:

Forcing an extreme diet on an obese cat can cause severe hepatic lipidoses (fatty liver deposits). The greater the obesity, the greater the risk. Use extreme caution and consult a veterinarian before placing an obese cat on a diet.

I guess for a mildly chubby cat there wouldn't be much of a risk however.

Themadhouse

Feed them in seperate rooms twice a day. Give a lower portion than is recommended and maybe a quarter of a pouch. The wet food fills them quickly. None of mine gets the recommended amount as they dont need it and we have one that we have been dieting for the last year as she had gotten overweight.
If she doesn't eat it all take it away. I would change to adult food as has been stated your cat is fully grown now and doesn't need the extra calories, kitten food can put weight on a cat very quickly especially indoor cats.
They will get into a routine fairly quickly but it does take time for the weight to drop off. oh and weigh her regularly to see if she is loosing it.
Good luck with it.

Themadhouse

summer_ina_bowl wrote: »

a good tip with a fussydog or cat, fast her for a day (trust me this does no harm! - just provide plenty of water!), when they start looking for food, present them with the dry food, if she turns her nose up, take the food away and wait 4 hrs before offering her a fresh portion of the dry food, you may have to do this for a couple of days, but do NOT give in! your pet will not starve, you are not being cruel, it is really for the greater good! pretty quickly they'll realise that every time you feed them, this is what they'll be getting and so they give in and eat. the most important thing is to take the food away as soon as they turn their nose up so that they realise that when you put the food down, it is their time to eat what you give them! once they've swapped over you can return to your normal feeding patterns. dont treat with wet food tho, as this will remind them that there was a tasty food they preferred to eat!

The only thing about doing this is it is extremely harmful for a cat not to eat for longer than 2 days, they can become very sick and dehydrated. One of ours doesn't like wet food or fish at all and she still would not eat it even if she was starving. The same cat did not eat recently for a day and a half and ended up in the vets for nearly a week due to not eating and being extremely dehydrated, and she was drinking water. She was very weak and listless due to no food in her system. We dont know why she didn't eat but it was horrible to see her in that state after such a short period. Some cats dont eat wet food some dont eat dry food, try and find a compromise, mix a bit of both and see if it tempts her.

summer_ina_bowl

the cat won't become dehydrated from not eating for a couple of days as long as it drinks the water provided, cats that eat dry food get an insignificent amount of water intake from the kibble and subsidise with drinking. realistically, it would take more than two days off food for an otherwise healthy cat to become visibly physically weak.
themadhouse, i presume your cat went of its food because it was sick and thats the most likely cause for its listlessness/weakness. common illnesses in cats can often cause excessively frequent urination/diarrheoa/vomitting, coupled with a lowered water intake this could explain your pets sudden dehydration. What was ur vets diagnosis? I hope the little tyke is well now?!

Themadhouse

summer_ina_bowl wrote: »

the cat won't become dehydrated from not eating for a couple of days as long as it drinks the water provided, cats that eat dry food get an insignificent amount of water intake from the kibble and subsidise with drinking. realistically, it would take more than two days off food for an otherwise healthy cat to become visibly physically weak.
themadhouse, i presume your cat went of its food because it was sick and thats the most likely cause for its listlessness/weakness. common illnesses in cats can often cause excessively frequent urination/diarrheoa/vomitting, coupled with a lowered water intake this could explain your pets sudden dehydration. What was ur vets diagnosis? I hope the little tyke is well now?!

She had been fine and all of a sudden went downhill. She hadn't eaten but i was checking on her liquid intake, checking the tray after use, and she was getting some water. The vet couldn't tell us exactly what it was except that she had a bit of a temp.
After two days of no food their systems start to shut down, starvation issues can start to hit in. Problems with liver and kidney function can start up.
I'm just saying that i'm wary of "teaching" a cat to eat what you want it to eat using that method. I would worry about the lack of food over a few days regardless of water intake and i would check with the vet first!
My cat is fine now but had to be fed via drip and was on IV fluids for nearly a week. Thankfully her organ funtions were fine and hadn't suffered which the vet was surprised at after not eating for 2 days.

hadook

The horde were switched from Royal Canin Indoor 27 to Sterilized 37 as their staple dry food about 8 months ago as part of a weight loss plan for 3 of them.

I'd highly recommend it. I'm free feeding it as usual - they graze as and when they want to and have been slowly loosing the excess weight. The vet is happy with their progress and they don't seem to feel hard done by like they did when I was rationing the food because they were "on a diet". The other cats (the non tubby ones) are fine on it too.

summer_ina_bowl

Themadhouse wrote: »

After two days of no food their systems start to shut down, starvation issues can start to hit in. Problems with liver and kidney function can start up.
I'm just saying that i'm wary of "teaching" a cat to eat what you want it to eat using that method. I would worry about the lack of food over a few days regardless of water intake and i would check with the vet first!
My cat is fine now but had to be fed via drip and was on IV fluids for nearly a week. Thankfully her organ funtions were fine and hadn't suffered which the vet was surprised at after not eating for 2 days.

Thats more than a little extreme... Im a vet nurse and at any one time am usually treating several anorexic cats. Cats are often picky, and sometimes they refuse to eat for days just from the stress of being in the vets (even if their ailment is unrelated to the GIT).
Sure, overweight cats are at risk of developing fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis) if they suddenly stop eating for several days, but just a couple of days off food is really not life threatening, bare in mind that feral cats would rarely eat every day. Also, the method for changing foods I mentioned above rarely takes two days to be established - the key is to offer the new food very frequently for short amounts of time.

I am not condoning prolonged starvation, if the method is going to work with a cat, it will do so within two days.
Cats should not be fasted for more than two days, due to their requirments for specific proteins and the metabolic functioning of their livers.
Free-feeding is not suitable for cats who are prone to obesity. A constant supply of 'free from effort' food is not natural for a carnivore which evolved to hunt. We have domesticated cats and it is our responsibility to care for their health - this includes controlled feeding where neccessary.

Also, themadhouse, if your vet could tell you nothing more than that it had a bit of a temp, i'd be worried and seriously considering finding a new vet!!!

greine

I agree with other posters who recommend that you bring the cat to your vet. Hills Science plan do a number of reduced calorie dry food for cats and also for neutered cats. They probably wouldn't be too different tastewise from the kitten food. Hills Science Prescription Diet Feline R/D or Hills Science Adult Cat Light would probably be the best choices, but again ask your vet. Maybe get a few toys to get him moving and chasing things again. Sedentary cats can develop other problems too. They tend to groom more when they are idle and therefore get more furballs as a result so gearing the diet to take in all aspects of the cat's lifestyle would be ideal and the vet really is the best person to put you in the right direction. Best of luck, looks like its not just us humans that have to make New Year Resolutions!:D

hadook

Have you tried a laser pointer with the lazy kitty? Most of mine are active with the exception of Homer Fatso who isn't one for exercise if he can help it but he moves for the laser