Family member needs to lose weight

pink_mint
pink_mint Posts: 103 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
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So this is Scrappy. She's about 17 lbs and for her small feline frame it's too much. She could stand to lose about 5 lbs. Our dilemma is that we have one other cat who is not overweight and I am wondering how it's possible to restrict one's food intake and not the other. They live together and have access to the same cat food. I am trying to lose some weight myself and thought it might be a good time to help our little housemate do the same.

Any thoughts?

Replies

  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    Scrappy is sweet. Dogs are a tad easier because you can portion their food out twice a day instead of one meal aday. It's better for their blood sugar. Do you put out an endless supply of food for both of them. Is there a way you can portion it out twice aday while you're there? Early in the morning before you leave for work and when you come home at night? Separate bowls with their mother supervising meal times.
  • mram3582
    mram3582 Posts: 2,482 Member
    Feed them separately at specific times. Good luck to yourself and Scrappy!
  • KrissFlavored
    KrissFlavored Posts: 327 Member
    edited May 2020
    😻
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    Do you give her dry food? That is notorious for causing weight gain in cats, because they aren't used to the high carbohydrate content, since they're carnivores. Try a grain-free canned food and no dry. My cat Big Boy went from 25 to 15 lbs after switching to it, with no portion restriction - there's always food in his bowl.
  • dhiammarath
    dhiammarath Posts: 834 Member
    edited May 2020
    So I had a cat who needed to lose weight. His sister did not -- she had perfect weight management her entire life, never deviating farther than a half pound above/below her general weight average. I put her food where only she could get to it (he was bigger, fatter, lazier), but it turns out, she didn't want her food.

    She wanted his food. So while he did lose some weight, I was afraid she'd end up losing too much if she kept eating his portion of diet food. So I had to give her double portions of his diet food mixed with her own food (she had to eat everything he did).

    I never did solve this problem other than trying to find creative places to hide his food.

    Unfortunately, they have both traveled over the rainbow bridge. The girls I have now are on a high-protein grain-free dry food (I learned a lot about nutrition not only for myself, but for my babies) with occasional (hp, gf) wet as "treats" (but also high protein), and I'm lucky that they don't have weight issues. (Well one sister is a lil' chunky, but not so much).

    Try and get your baby to play, as well. All that exercise!

    Good luck to you!

    She sure is a sweet, beautiful baby! :smiley:
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 7,145 Member
    I'm at that stage where I'm getting concerned about my cats, my Mom came over and said the one brave enough to be around people was getting fat, I gasped at her rudeness! My boys are part Maine Coon and 11 months, I figured it was more of the square body type of Maine Coons and kitten bodies but now I'm getting worried. Neither really likes wet food (at least I have yet to discover one they do more than lick the gravy off of) so they're mainly eating dry food. Jackson Galaxy (the guy from My Cat From Hell) says we shouldn't do free feeding of dry food but put it out at a meal once or twice a day. My aunt feeds her big girl separately but she still ends up eating the other cat's food and she's huge. Those feeder puzzles can help slow down how fast they eat, maybe signals reach the stomach slower like with humans. Don't have the answer obviously but good luck and share if you find what works!
  • pink_mint
    pink_mint Posts: 103 Member
    Thanks for the input everyone!

    Yes we do feed the cats a dry food. And the kids enjoy putting a heaping scoop in the bowls whenever they're getting low. We'll have to figure something out. Wet food only might be something to start with and see how it goes.
  • PKM0515
    PKM0515 Posts: 3,089 Member
    edited May 2020
    pink_mint wrote: »
    Thanks for the input everyone!

    Yes we do feed the cats a dry food. And the kids enjoy putting a heaping scoop in the bowls whenever they're getting low. We'll have to figure something out. Wet food only might be something to start with and see how it goes.

    Seriously, call your vet and ASK. It can be very dangerous (life-threatening) for a cat to lose weight too quickly.

    Your cat is beautiful and looks healthy! Call your vet and see what he or she recommends. 💞 🐈 💞

    Found a link to another thread where this was discussed:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10745884/not-sure-where-this-should-be-posted-overweight-pets/p1

  • pink_mint
    pink_mint Posts: 103 Member
    Thank you!

    Yes I was reading that transitioning cats to a weight loss regimen should be done gradually so I'll definitely keep that in mind. I don't want to give her problems by starting something abruptly.
  • PKM0515
    PKM0515 Posts: 3,089 Member
    pink_mint wrote: »
    Thank you!

    Yes I was reading that transitioning cats to a weight loss regimen should be done gradually so I'll definitely keep that in mind. I don't want to give her problems by starting something abruptly.

    💕💕💕
  • ghudson92
    ghudson92 Posts: 2,061 Member
    Please tell Scrappy I love her
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Well, this thread took a surprisingly pleasant direction!

    I recommend watching relevant Jackson Galaxy videos (his short Tips videos, not "Cat From Hell") on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCheL-cUqfzUB8dfM_rFOfDQ

    I had cats all while growing up and off and on as an adult, but when my OH and I got a cat we watched a few JG videos and learned so much.

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