Problem with Fat Cat

Mdawn · 03-08-2007, 12:14 AM

I have 3 cats. I've posted pictures of them before.

One of my cats, Max, is overweight. He weighs 16 pounds. The vet lectures me about it all the time

He said that my cat only needs to eat 3/4 cup of food a day. That doesn't seem like a lot to me, but I thought that he's the vet, he should know. I started to strictly monitor his diet and feed him ONLY 3/4 cup of food a day. After a few days, I noticed that he was dropping weight. Then he started eating his cat litter. I did some research on the internet about it and changed his cat litter. He still ate his litter. I decided then to take him off his diet. He went back to eating about 1 1/2 cups a day. He quit eating his litter. My vet wanted to switch his food to Science Diet or Iams weight control. I started feeding him the Iams. He lost no weight at all, even though his coat looks great. I've read a lot of posts that people don't really care for Iams or Science Diet. What is a healthy, reasonably priced cat food. Also, my cats aren't allowed outside. So does anyone have any ideas on what could be good exercise for them. I've tried cat nip to make him more active and he does get more hyper, but also turns mean.

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!

DOBERMAN_07 · 03-08-2007, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mdawn

I have 3 cats. I've posted pictures of them before.

One of my cats, Max, is overweight. The vet lectures me about it all the time

He said that my cat only needs to eat 3/4 cup of food a day. That doesn't seem like a lot to me, but I thought that he's the vet, he should know. I started to strictly monitor his diet and feed him ONLY 3/4 cup of food a day. After a few days, I noticed that he was dropping weight. Then he started eating his cat litter. I did some research on the internet about it and changed his cat litter. He still ate his litter. I decided then to take him off his diet. He went back to eating about 1 1/2 cups a day. He quit eating his litter. My vet wanted to switch his food to Science Diet or Iams weight control. I started feeding him the Iams. He lost no weight at all, even though his coat looks great. I've read a lot of posts that people don't really care for Iams or Science Diet. What is a healthy, reasonably priced cat food. Also, my cats aren't allowed outside. So does anyone have any ideas on what could be good exercise for them. I've tried cat nip to make him more active and he does get more hyper, but also turns mean.

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!

Feed let, a lot less. A cat should always feel hungry because thats when they are most active (just like in nature). Im not saying starve the cat, but dont let spoil it. My cat is an out door cat. He doesnt eat for days and when he comes back home he only gets a can, maybe 2 while he is here. He is happy, active, and affectionate.

Great animals

animalcraker · 03-08-2007, 01:05 AM

You should be feeding the lower amount as the vet recomended. There are some additives that you can feed to dogs to stop the poop eating, you may want to contact your vet and find out if they have something for cats.

For the exercise there are a few things you can try. First off don't put his food on the ground where he can easily reach it, try puting it on a counter top so he has to work to get his food. There's tons of different cat toys out there, buy a few of them and engourage him to play with them, mine prefers the feathers on a wand. If he's really food oriented then you can make him walk or run around the house following you, as you randomly give him some food for following you from point to point.

Nagem · 03-08-2007, 03:11 PM

My cat for sure eats less than 3/4 of a cup a day. I would say that he probably only eats about a 1/2 cup a day, but some days he may eat less than that.
When I first got him I used to stick very strictly to the feeding instructions, but I have since learned that my cat is not inclined to over eat. Now I put about a cup of food in his bowl whenever it is empty and that lasts him around two and a half days.
And like animalcracker said, you shouldn't put his food on the ground.. make him work for it. A cat that is of a healthy weight has no problem at all jumping up to get its food.
My cat tends to find his own entertainment (it is usually the dog's tail), but I have bought him a rabbit fur mouse that hangs from a string that you attach to the door (similar to this). He loves it. He spends hours jumping at it and trying to run into the next room with it, only to have it fly out of his mouth. It's not very expensive to buy (depending on where you get it from, $5 max..) even though the fake mice don't last very long. I have taken to just going to the petstore and finding replacements to refasten to the string for him.

CrzyBritNAmerica · 03-08-2007, 03:52 PM

We have two cats and my 11 month old was starting to look a tad chubby, he's not really overweight, just could have gotten to the stage. I'd go back to the 3/4 cup a day and tell your vet that he had started to eat litter; ask him what you should do about that, to stop it. Our cats have their own room and we have LOADS of toys in there. It's a furnished room (bed, dresser, all that stuff as it's really a guest room) but it's big and we have about 5 hanging toys for them to play with as well as little balls, mice and other things. I have started to hang some of the hangy things higher so they have to jump up on something to even play with it. Bagheera (the 11 month old) also like to romp with the dog so he's been doing that more and quickly lost his weight.

As for food, we have been feeding Purina, (for dog and cats) and I've switched the dog and am switching the cat to Nutro Natural which scored high on the healthy food test for dogs, so I am guessing it is good for cats too...it has all natural ingredients, no by-products and is only about $3 more than Purina. You can get it at Petsmart.

opokki · 03-08-2007, 05:05 PM

1 1/2 cups sounds like a lot to me. When you switched to 3/4 cups were you feeding it to him all at once or did you split it up into several smaller meals? I find that several smaller meals helps otherwise they eat too quickly and are hungry again later.

My guys get scheduled meals of 1/8 cup 4x daily. They were'nt too thrilled when I switched to scheduled feedings but they adjusted pretty quickly. I'm feeding Purina ONE healthy weight formula...all the chubbies but one have slimed down considerably.

For activity -
My guys are facinated with the fishing pole type toys. Those really gets them going. I usually have one in each hand and try to make sure everyone gets a turn to chase after it and catch the "prey". I used to have a laser pointer and that worked well too.

briteday · 03-08-2007, 05:18 PM

My overweight cat is currently getting 1/3 cup per day split into morning and evening. She also gets one teaspoon of wet food at midday. I mix the tsp of food with about 1/4 cup of hot water. The extra fluid seems to fill her up when she really wants more food in the middle of the day.
I was feeding Purina One. If you have to buy it at the grocery store, Purina One is rated pretty high, relatively speaking. We are now feeding Natural Balance. I don't belief in the "weight loss" formulas, I just feed less.
I've never had a cat eat their litter. Ask the vet about that one and avoid clumping litter in the meanwhile. Maybe your cat is missing something in its diet besides calories!
Toys...the dogs chase the cat constantly! And we keep the cat food on top of the dryer so the dogs don't get it. But it also makes the cat jump up and down several times each day. We have one of the "ball in a track" things that the cat plays with at night. It has a scratching pad in the center and I put catnip on that for more fun. We also have some catnip toys that she likes. And when we are jsut sitting around we'll get out a laser pointer and run it on the walls and floor. She loves that the best. Just be responsible and don't point it into the cat's eyes.

LoveLilly · 03-09-2007, 02:05 PM

I have 1 overweight tabby, & 2 that are borderline. I switched to the Purina Indoor Formula which has fewer calories and he likes it. He also gets a cat of fancy feast in the morning so his food is staggered throughout the day. He never ate his litter when I tried to cut back on his food but he would destroy everything (like shredding toilet paper) or pull my hair when I was sleeping. I use the various toys on a stick to exercise him and coincidentally it exercises me too! Although his real weight loss came along when I got 2 kittens and they played chase.

Mdawn · 03-14-2007, 10:39 PM

I'm going to try his diet again. He's only going to get 3/4 cup of food a day, spread out in the morning and evening.

Their food dishes are up off the floor already. This is because I have a dog that loves to eat the cat food.

As for playing, he doesn't really want too. He's lazy and just wants to sleep. I guess from just being overweight. He goes to the vet on a regular basis and is healthy otherwise. I think I'm going to have to try the cat nip again, even though it turns him mean...LOL

My other inside cat is going on the diet also. I noticed he's put on a few pounds.

Jessica&Crew · 03-17-2007, 02:06 PM

I am personally thhinking about doing scheduled feedings for my cats, just as I do for my dogs. Mine arent overweight, but I've been reading more and am starting to think it may be the way to go.

sillylilykitty · 03-17-2007, 10:46 PM

I feed my Siamese cat Nutro Indoor weight management, since shes spayed. But is Nurto one of the best?

The Mack · 03-23-2007, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by briteday

My overweight cat is currently getting 1/3 cup per day split into morning and evening. She also gets one teaspoon of wet food at midday. I mix the tsp of food with about 1/4 cup of hot water. The extra fluid seems to fill her up when she really wants more food in the middle of the day.
I was feeding Purina One. If you have to buy it at the grocery store, Purina One is rated pretty high, relatively speaking. We are now feeding Natural Balance. I don't belief in the "weight loss" formulas, I just feed less.
I've never had a cat eat their litter. Ask the vet about that one and avoid clumping litter in the meanwhile. Maybe your cat is missing something in its diet besides calories!
Toys...the dogs chase the cat constantly! And we keep the cat food on top of the dryer so the dogs don't get it. But it also makes the cat jump up and down several times each day. We have one of the "ball in a track" things that the cat plays with at night. It has a scratching pad in the center and I put catnip on that for more fun. We also have some catnip toys that she likes. And when we are jsut sitting around we'll get out a laser pointer and run it on the walls and floor. She loves that the best. Just be responsible and don't point it into the cat's eyes.

Sorry, but no pet food worth a darn has ever come out of a grocery store. Unless you count raw chicken.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sillylilykitty

I feed my Siamese cat Nutro Indoor weight management, since shes spayed. But is Nurto one of the best?

If money is an issue, then it's fine.
If money is not an issue, it's still ok, could be better but it's ok.
California Natural is a good one that I've found helps control weight.

Shalva · 03-24-2007, 10:31 AM

remember a cat that loses weight to quickly can develop liver problems you want your cat to lose slowly but consistently..... personally my cats wouldn't eat Cal. Natural they hated it..... but whatever food you feed.... just cut it back..... think about the size of your cat and think about how big there stomachs are... especially if you consider that a human stomach is the size of a fist.... so consider that and then feed your cat with that in mind.... when I was taking weight off my cat he got between a quarter and a third of a cup.... and that was it.....

just don't do the crash diet thing for a cat yo ucan do more harm than good.

lexirocky · 03-25-2007, 05:43 PM

My cat is really fat,because she is lazy and eats to much!

Mdawn · 03-29-2007, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shalva

remember a cat that loses weight to quickly can develop liver problems you want your cat to lose slowly but consistently..... personally my cats wouldn't eat Cal. Natural they hated it..... but whatever food you feed.... just cut it back..... think about the size of your cat and think about how big there stomachs are... especially if you consider that a human stomach is the size of a fist.... so consider that and then feed your cat with that in mind.... when I was taking weight off my cat he got between a quarter and a third of a cup.... and that was it.....

just don't do the crash diet thing for a cat yo ucan do more harm than good.

Thanks for the advice. I've put them on a feeding schedule and have cut back a little on the amount of food they get. I'm going to cut it back more gradually. Max hasn't started eating his litter this time. I switched to Feline Pine cat litter and he doesn't seem to want to eat that! It breaks down to sawdust. They know the difference in the amount of food they get now, compared to the amount before. They spend most of the day following me around, meowing at me to feed them. The bright side to that is they are getting more exercise from following me around.

My vet has talked to me about the dangers of diabetes and the stress the weight is putting on their joints that will lead to arthritis when they get older. I'm taking this very seriously, though others in my house aren't. Twice I've caught someone sneaking them both food. I know they could get a lot bigger than what they are (Max is 16lbs) but I want them to lose weight before they get any bigger and it becomes an even larger issue. I always hear the excuse, "Well, so and so's cat is even bigger than Max and that cat does fine". Grrrr! It drives me crazy! Guess I'm going to have to start hiding the cat food, not only from the cats, but from the other people that live in my house.

poodleholic · 04-04-2007, 04:43 AM

When my 25-yr. old cat was getting a bit tubby, I didn't opt for a reduced calorie food (for several reasons), but I did gradually change her over to another healthier brand (Natural Balance), picked up her bowl after each meal (two), and gave her potted grasses (meant for that purpose) to munch on, along with a sardine snack (small portion, not a whole one) now and then. I scheduled an interactive play time with me twice a day. She lost weight gradually, and looks great. It's important to be careful about reducing needed calories, because cats can get seriously ill if they lose weight too quickly.

Good luck!

Mdawn · 04-04-2007, 11:37 AM

I'm looking into changing their cat food. Max has flea allergies and I suspect that he has other allergies because he sneezes frequently. Also, last year one of his eyes swelled up so bad it was almost swollen shut. I thought he had something in his eye or while playing with one of our other cats his eye was scratched, but the vet wasn't able to find anything. They both have been tested for FeLV and FIV and are negative. They are also vaccinated every year. He also gets hydrocortisone shots once a month during the summer for his flea allergy. I was thinking that he could be allergic to something in his cat food and want to switch. Although, I doubt it will work. As I said, he sneezes a lot and to me, that says it is probably something environmental, not his cat food. I would think that if it is his cat food he would scratch himself more. But I figure changing his cat food is still a good idea regardless. Right now, they are eating Purina, which isn't the best quality I know. I went to a local feed supply store (no petsmart) and they also sell crates and dog and cat food. I have to work with the brands that they sell there. They have Nutro, Chicken Soup for the Dog/Cat Lovers Soul, Diamond, Iams, Science Diet. I think that is about it. Would any of these be good for a cat with allergies and would also be good for a cat that needs to lose weight? I would also like to change my dog's food to the same brand if possible because I hate buying all different brands of foods. Any input would be great!

sillylilykitty · 04-23-2007, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mdawn

I'm looking into changing their cat food. Max has flea allergies and I suspect that he has other allergies because he sneezes frequently. Also, last year one of his eyes swelled up so bad it was almost swollen shut. I thought he had something in his eye or while playing with one of our other cats his eye was scratched, but the vet wasn't able to find anything. They both have been tested for FeLV and FIV and are negative. They are also vaccinated every year. He also gets hydrocortisone shots once a month during the summer for his flea allergy. I was thinking that he could be allergic to something in his cat food and want to switch. Although, I doubt it will work. As I said, he sneezes a lot and to me, that says it is probably something environmental, not his cat food. I would think that if it is his cat food he would scratch himself more. But I figure changing his cat food is still a good idea regardless. Right now, they are eating Purina, which isn't the best quality I know. I went to a local feed supply store (no petsmart) and they also sell crates and dog and cat food. I have to work with the brands that they sell there. They have Nutro, Chicken Soup for the Dog/Cat Lovers Soul, Diamond, Iams, Science Diet. I think that is about it. Would any of these be good for a cat with allergies and would also be good for a cat that needs to lose weight? I would also like to change my dog's food to the same brand if possible because I hate buying all different brands of foods. Any input would be great!

Did you switch yet? I think Chicken soup would be the best. Has your cat lost any weight yet?