Not sure where this should be posted - overweight pets?

ChrisCatMama

My cat Sweetpea (in my profile picture) is very overweight. I found her struggling to get out of her litter box this morning. I decided, enough is enough. She needs to lose weight. I’m feeding her only 2 times a day and gonna try to play with her more often (she does get her share of play time!). Of course I plan on always keeping water available for her.
Has anyone else had an overweight pet they’ve been able to help lose weight?

PKM0515

Please discuss this with your vet! It's very important that you not drastically cut her food. I can't remember the details, but cutting her food abruptly can lead to potentially fatal liver or kidney issues. (It's something to do with cats, specifically, as I recall.)

She's adorable and doesn't look overweight in her picture. Perhaps she has arthritis (mine does)?

Hugs to you both! 💞 🐈 💞 🐱

P.S. My girl came with the name Pookie, but I often call her Sweetpea (Sweet P).

ChrisCatMama

@SaraKim17 she is overweight. Her tummy swings side to side when she walks. She is so heavy that it’s hard to pick her up. She’s a Bombay mix with a slight feline dwarfism. I’m taking your advice seriously and won’t cut her food back so much. I do want to help her get more active though. 💓

PKM0515

ChrisCatMama wrote: »

@SaraKim17 she is overweight. Her tummy swings side to side when she walks. She is so heavy that it’s hard to pick her up. She’s a Bombay mix with a slight feline dwarfism. I’m taking your advice seriously and won’t cut her food back so much. I do want to help her get more active though. 💓

She's a cutie! Mine just turned 14 and isn't as playful as she used to be, but she likes the "Snake" toy and she LOVES "Da Bird".

ChrisCatMama

@SaraKim17 thank you! She’ll be 9 in the Fall. Still playful- but she’s been sad since our other cat Daisy passed away in October. I want to get her a friend but we’re currently without a car.
I love hearing about others cats! Yours is s adorable!!

John5877

my pet in this pic is overweight too...and he eats things he's not supposed to.

seltzermint555

I definitely agree about making a plan with your vet's input. Best for all involved. Most veterinarians will be thrilled that you want to help your pet in this way and will be happy to help. So many people just don't bother.

I had a miniature dachshund who was always quite small/thin but after about age 7 she reached 13 lb but was supposed to be in the 10 lb range. She didn't seem to have any problems but I was concerned about the strain on her back and just stopped feeding her treats or any form of table scraps, opting instead to give her extra toys, walks and attention, but just her normal mealtime food w/ no treats. It worked very well and she wound up at 10-11 lb for the rest of her life (several more years).

PKM0515

ChrisCatMama wrote: »

@SaraKim17 thank you! She’ll be 9 in the Fall. Still playful- but she’s been sad since our other cat Daisy passed away in October. I want to get her a friend but we’re currently without a car.
I love hearing about others cats! Yours is s adorable!!

Thank you! 💞

promisesstandin

So, I went keto myself and Kitty always thinks she needs to eat when I enter the house. She wasn't overweight but I thought less eating would help her because she seemed neurotic about it. Thinking different eating has helped me so much with my energy levels, I decided to not leave food down for her all the time. She went to eating twice a day and now she has SO much energy! She's about 7 years old and his become an active kitten again, so playful and fun! Looks to me like she feels much better, too! Lots of energy and very lovey. She's even changed in her hormonal levels, I think, because she is less skittish about strangers during my yardsale. Nice benefits from only two meals a day. Hope this helps!

xGreatWhiteNorthx

My old akita mix should have been 90lbs and he got to 115lbs. I got him back down to peak weight by cutting his food and exercising him more.

My elkhound was 73lbs at his last weigh in. He should be between 50-55lbs so I'm doing the same thing.
He was in peak form last summer when we were super active but we get so much snow and it gets so bitter cold that even he, who is made for cold would barely even want to go outside to pee. I didnt even think about how much I was feeding him, I just kept feeding him the same as I was last summer.

Kathryn247

Hi! I have 3 cats, 2 were overweight and one was underweight. They are all a normal weight now. It's very similar to people in terms of CICO. Like others have said (and just like with people), you don't want to cut too fast too soon. My cats would wake me up at night if they were hungry, so I save a little food to give them before bedtime.

It's definitely possible to help pets lose weight, she will be so much healthier! An overweight cat I had years ago became diabetic, and was determined not to let that happen to another pet. Good luck!

Cahgetsfit

Love your kitty I have 2. One, Jack, would be obese if I let him. He's the one who is ALWAYS asking for food. Like just finishes eating his bowl of food and wants MORE.

I feed both of mine twice a day only. In the morning they both get one scoop of biscuits (roughly 1/3 cup), and at night they get half a pouch of wet food and half a scoop of biscuits each.

I agree that you should discuss with you vet. You can get special diet food for your cat - i've seen the bags of special diet food. It helps to keep them fuller or something like that.

Were you feeding SweetPea more than twice a day?

ChrisCatMama

@Cahgetsfit basically I would leave food in her bowl and refill if she wanted more. I’m not cutting back so drastically like I said in my original post. I want to take her to the vet but we need to get a car or someone to take us.
Thanks everyone for your advice! So much appreciated!! 💞💞💞

JenSD6

My Keeshond is perpetually 5-10 pounds overweight because other people won't stop feeding her when I take her to work with me! They have no concept of how many calories are in that people cookie (despite my attempts at educating them) and that it's really not good to give her a couple at a time.

TeaBea

ChrisCatMama wrote: »

My cat Sweetpea (in my profile picture) is very overweight. I found her struggling to get out of her litter box this morning. I decided, enough is enough. She needs to lose weight. I’m feeding her only 2 times a day and gonna try to play with her more often (she does get her share of play time!). Of course I plan on always keeping water available for her.
Has anyone else had an overweight pet they’ve been able to help lose weight?

My cat's vet suggested gradually reducing dry food by 1 teaspoon each week until I got down to 1/4 cup dry + usual wet food. I had been feeding him 1/3 cup dry plus 1/3 of a 5.5 oz can of wet food. My cat was 15.5 pounds. Several months later he's down to 14.5. He's pretty close to goal I think.

I recently purchased a feeding toy, a ball he rolls around on the floor to get 1 or 2 pieces of food at a time. That keeps him from scarfing down his food as quickly.

Calories are listed on bags and cans. It's amazing the calorie differences.
https://www.petmd.com/blogs/nutritionnuggets/cat/jcoates/2012/june/how_much_should_you_feed_your_cat-23694

featherchannel

I would recommend getting her a Cat Exercise Wheel, which would tremendously help her losing weight. You can find a recommendation on this page #25 Cats get overweight because of feeding them too much. Also, if you have time, I found this article has pretty good information about feeding cats.

Unknown

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Motorsheen

HIIT training is the answer!




That...... & Apple Cider Vinegar.

(but everyone already knows that.)

nooshi713

It is sad how many pets are overweight nowadays. My vet told me that most pet obesity issues are due to unlimited supply of food, human food, too many treats, and not enough activity.

Pet owners think they are showing their pet love by giving them human food treats but they are actually harming them. Pets also get many of the same diseases we do.

For cats and dogs, you have to find your pet’s ideal weight and then feed appropriate amount of calories for weight loss.

unstableunicorn

First, kudos on stepping up for your furbaby.

Second, my sister was able to help her cats lose weight with some information gained through Googling. I don’t recall the exact details, but the most important part was maintaining a feeding schedule. I believe they’re fed three times daily, plus two treats that they recive as part of a “fetch” game. Meals and treats are measured. Since losing the weight (female lost about a third of her body weight and the male about a quarter) they are exponentially more active, healthy, and socialable. They’re greedy guts though and will swipe food any chance they can get (the female has developed a taste for brocolli and they have to wash dishes immediately or the male will lick them clean in the sink), so be ready to safeguard food like you would with kids lol.

vanityy99

A family member of mine, her dog has diabetes and needs insulin.