Fat cats, and people who feed them....

2

Replies

  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    I also have a cat that is obese. I used to have two and they were free fed... He was thin, she was huge. She used to eat all his food so we put his food on a counter (she was too fat to jump up) in an attempt to control her intake.

    He has since passed away and she IS STILL obese.

    I've tried the following :
    - changed to canned food
    - two set meals a day

    I've moved into a two storey house and was sure all the stairs would help... But i wonder if maybe I'm not feeding her enuf and she's gone into starvation mode. Is this possible for cats?. Could it be a thyroid problem?

    Ps. My profile pics are not my cats... Those are my cousin's (aren't they cute?)
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
    put all her dry food into a treat ball. that way she has to work for each bite. it'll stop her from getting bored and it'll make her food last for hours.

    TreatBallIndexImage.jpg
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    Lol. I tried that and it ended up being more exercise for me... Constantly getting that darn thing out from behind the couch or the chair. Se also liked kicking it down the stairs... Lol

    Maybe its time to try again!
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    put all her dry food into a treat ball. that way she has to work for each bite. it'll stop her from getting bored and it'll make her food last for hours.

    TreatBallIndexImage.jpg

    That's a great idea, one of mine also plays fetch - honestly, you should see if your will, she loves chasing a paper ball and bringing it back to me. :laugh:
  • casy84
    casy84 Posts: 290 Member
    The quality of the food also matter, as it does for us. Most cat food has lots of grain in it and it shouldn't. Cats don't need to eat 'bread', that's like feeding them mc donald's every time. You should read the labels of pet food too and notice that cheap pet food=fast food.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,467 Member
    My cat eats as much as he likes (of high quality food) and he's slim! My dog was the same. My son's the same too, now that I think of it. I'm the only one who has a weight problem!
  • fitbum19
    fitbum19 Posts: 198 Member
    My cat is 8 lbs, she is petite. and i free feed her. the vet says that for her size, she is a healthy weight. and proof that free feeding will not always make your cat fat.
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
    You should go to your vet for safe advice.
  • nannyal
    nannyal Posts: 50
    What are you saying, you are still over feeding your cat or yourself or both? Animals will always beg and yes i have given my dog food i was eating. She will literally eat anything. But i have forgiven myself for being silly and now she eats her food and is slinky, and i am losing weight.:smile: You can both be slim it takes time
  • lausa22
    lausa22 Posts: 467 Member
    If it was up to my boyfriend my cat would definitely be fat! My cat is just turning one so I feed him 3 small pouches and he has dry food overnight (so he doesn't wake up and cry all night because he's hungry) I also hardly feed him treats.
    But my boyfriend would feed him 3-4 pouches, dry food through the day, give him tons of treats each day, feed him ham, chicken, fish off his dinner! So I told him to stop but he does it whenever im not there. He just wants the cat to like him I suppose haha. Btw my cat is an indoors cat!
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
    There seems to suddenly be a lot of odd cat threads. Is this an April fool?
  • squatsandlipgloss
    squatsandlipgloss Posts: 595 Member
    One of my kittens was starting to get really big, so we did portion control. We started really paying attention to feeding them what they need, nothing more, nothing less. And he really lost so much weight. We only feed them 4 times a day (wet food), and put out dry food for them to eat when they feel hungry. I don't care about them wining outside our bedroom door when they are hungry. I care about my cats and their health... That's why.
  • LadyPakal
    LadyPakal Posts: 256 Member
    My two have always been free fed. They are both fine - weighed twice yearly at the vets and maintain a stable weight and they are both 14 now.
  • squatsandlipgloss
    squatsandlipgloss Posts: 595 Member
    There seems to suddenly be a lot of odd cat threads. Is this an April fool?

    https://vimeo.com/

    Could very well be.
  • Dark_Roast
    Dark_Roast Posts: 17,689 Member
    My dog is overweight, but the cat isn't. I need some help too!
  • LovesStrays
    LovesStrays Posts: 41
    You should get your cat to a vet straight away, that's really unhealthy and could cause lasting problems. If you are unwilling to help I could take the cat if you are in the UK.
  • _SABOTEUR_
    _SABOTEUR_ Posts: 6,833 Member
    It's like when you are training any dumb animal or child. Ignore it's whines and complaints. If that doesn't work, give it a smack so it knows who is boss.
  • JGainingHealth
    JGainingHealth Posts: 194 Member
    My cat isn't fat, he's just fluffy ;)

    644111_10100678700116624_307423930_n.jpg
  • LovesStrays
    LovesStrays Posts: 41
    It's like when you are training any dumb animal or child. Ignore it's whines and complaints. If that doesn't work, give it a smack so it knows who is boss.

    Wow that's really horrible. I may have to defriends you. I mean bad enough a child - but to treat a cat that way? :explode:
  • amandajones1978
    amandajones1978 Posts: 140
    I just have one cat, Sebastian. I've been free feeding him since he was a kitten and he is a healthy weight. He only eats when he is hungry, but I do have him on "indoor weight control and hairball control" since he is a long haired cat and strictly indoors.

    I play with him every night with his toys and he'll get those crunchy teeth cleaning snacks once in a while, not every day. Also, I DO NOT feed him table scraps. He will still beg when I am cooking meats, but I am not leading him down that bad habit road. LOL!
  • aaronlawrenc
    aaronlawrenc Posts: 666 Member
    animal cruelty
  • treenuh_x
    treenuh_x Posts: 94 Member
    My cat is a fatty boy. He's on a good diet (1/4 cup of Taste of the Wild 2x daily) and runs around all the time jumping on things, playing, chasing squirrels and birds, etc. He's just chubby. I never free-feed or over-feed, and the vet says he's as healthy as can be and not to worry about his weight.
  • aaronlawrenc
    aaronlawrenc Posts: 666 Member
    tumblr_li2dusiCyf1qgnsnbo1_250.gif
  • wifealiciousness
    wifealiciousness Posts: 179 Member
    My cat is a rescue, we got him about 5 yo having lived on the streets. He was in a bad way, overweight (16 lb ish), scabby and fiv positive. He has since been diagnosed as a ' transient' diabetic, and so has huge problems loosing weig. He is an indoor cat
    , which means he gets little exercise (but having kitty HIV means he isn't allowed to play with other cats so can't be let out) , t he is on a very strict diet of low carb food, portion controlled. He is in a much better condition now, but he is still utterly massive two years later. The diabetes makes it hard to loose wight but then cats as a general rule have to be dieted very carefully.
  • Dark_Roast
    Dark_Roast Posts: 17,689 Member
    tumblr_li2dusiCyf1qgnsnbo1_250.gif

    If you could train the cat to do this, it would get plenty of exercise!
  • adriadawn19
    adriadawn19 Posts: 174 Member
    My cat weighs 19 pounds and eats all day. I have tried cutting back on what food I give her but then she just constantly complains and its really annoying. I don't know what to do.
  • shining_light
    shining_light Posts: 384 Member
    My cousins, all of whom are athletic and play soccer and other sports, have a cat that used to be so fat. They were free-feeding it and cut its food down. Then it started losing the weight, but the "fat mentality" has never gone away. It's been years and he'll still run downstairs whenever someone goes down in the hopes that someone might feed him.

    All of the cats I grew up with, on the other hand, have been free-fed and we never had a problem. We had one come into the family who was a barn cat before, and obviously she didn't get fed regularly in the hopes that she'd hunt and whatnot, so she'd overeat like a beast because obviously not having food was a major stressor for her. She got pretty fat, but when summertime rolled around, she lost all the weight and we barely ever saw her because she was outside hunting all day and most of the night. She'd come in first thing in the morning for food and then she'd be off again. Even as a slim cat, though, she was huge. We were shocked to find out that she was female, in fact.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    animal cruelty

    I agree, but you can get special diet cat food from your vets to help.
  • wow29
    wow29 Posts: 283 Member
    go to vet, cat went to groomer, she lost 2.lbs and eats less than 3/4 of a cup a day. She does seems ask for food sometimes just because and she used to go to the food to be pet so sometimes it just attention she truly wanted. I lost 4.4 lbs just logging
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
    should we set up accounts for our cats here - to help them be accountable for their food?

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