Cats and diets....

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  • AprilMae1975
    AprilMae1975 Posts: 726
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    My cat was really fat. About 17.5 pounds. I became concerned and decided to switch up her food. I looked for an organic type of food without the fillers. Basically healthy cat food for indoor cats. And i also make sure to chase her around when i see her relaxing.

    I also have another cat that is younger, but she is lean and mean, like the perfect weight (according to the vet). I thought she was too skinny, but she's just lean and tight. She moves fast too, a complete opposite of my fat cat.

    Try changing the food, and controlling the portions. I had a bad habit of just filling the bowl and letting it run out. Now i disperse food twice a day, and it's not a lot. And i agree with adding more wet food to the diet in place of dry food.

    Yeah, my teenagers keep his bowl full all the time. They feel bad when he meows for his food. I even feel bad when he wants his treats too.
  • AprilMae1975
    AprilMae1975 Posts: 726
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    I adopted a fat cat (20 pounds) and found it impossible to put him on a diet because of all the other pets in the house (I couldn't isolate him). He basically lived under the dining table and got fatter and fatter until he weighed 27 pounds.... so in desperation I "loaned" him to a friend who'd lost his cat due to old age. My friend put the fat cat on a diet and the cat now weighs 11 pounds, but it took several years. What he did: left no food out during the day and only put measured dry food out twice a day for meals.

    Wow!!! That really sounds like a kitty diet sucess!!!
  • DsAdvocate
    DsAdvocate Posts: 93 Member
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    If you are feeding primarily kibble, that is the problem. Cats are carnivores. Please read this........

    http://www.catinfo.org/

    After taking our fat 11 year old cat off of diet kibble and putting her on high grade wet food from a specialty pet food store along with a single source high protein kibble, she is now a healthy spunky lean mean machine at 14 years of age. :) They need protein, not carbs, and they need to get water through their food like they would in the wild, not from a bowl.

    This! There's no need to go to a low calorie food. Switch to a high quality cat food and feed him an appropriate amount. Don't free feed.
  • WeepingAngel81
    WeepingAngel81 Posts: 2,232 Member
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    This is my mom and her cat Harley

    390820_924420043233_2138485884_n_zps91cbac2a.jpg

    I'm pretty sure he weights more than my 4 year old. She took him to the vet, he was put on a special type of cat food and he refused to eat it. He held out until my mom gave him back the food he loved.
  • The_Enginerd
    The_Enginerd Posts: 3,982 Member
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    My cats have lost weight back down to a healthy weight. I meal feed them twice a day, as annoying as it is when they whine starting an hour before meal time :mad: I also use a food scale... I **** you not.
  • DesireeNL
    DesireeNL Posts: 220 Member
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    I have two cats and they both had to lose weight. We put them on diet kibble and weighed their portions for the day. They both lost quite a bit of weight. The youngest one 2kg/4.5lbs (currently weighs in at 5kg/11lbs). The oldest cat lost his weight and gained it back. We have no clue why, they still get diet food and controlled portions. The only difference is that the older one is super lazy, the other is a bit more playful.

    Another trick is to give them a device that lets them work for their food. Like an activity board:

    113460_trixie_funboard2_01_2013_7.jpg

    Or a rolling thingy:
    168877_1.jpg

    We've used both with success. We let the younger cat use the activity board because when we put his food in a bowl he'll be done in about 2 minutes.. and then throw up lol. So this lets him eat much slower. The food roller we used initially before we put our cats on portion control. We still use it when we're away for a full day, so they don't eat all the food at once.
  • ThePlight
    ThePlight Posts: 3,593 Member
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    Another trick is to give them a device that lets them work for their food. Like an activity board:

    113460_trixie_funboard2_01_2013_7.jpg


    I know what I'm getting my kitty for christmas!!!!
    Trixie Funboard, huh. Hope amazon has it, that's where I shop online. I've NEVER seen one at the pet stores near me..

    ETA: OMG!! THEY HAVE IT!! It's called "Trixie 5-in-1 Activity Center"
    -Adds to wishlist-
    Thanks for posting that, by the way :)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Sort that cat out before he gets old!!

    Had an elderly diabetic cat for a few years and twice daily injections aren't much fun. Not much fun for Thomas (the cat...) either when he had hypos and had to be dragged out of the fish pond a few times.
  • sizzle74
    sizzle74 Posts: 858 Member
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    If you are feeding primarily kibble, that is the problem. Cats are carnivores. Please read this........

    http://www.catinfo.org/

    After taking our fat 11 year old cat off of diet kibble and putting her on high grade wet food from a specialty pet food store along with a single source high protein kibble, she is now a healthy spunky lean mean machine at 14 years of age. :) They need protein, not carbs, and they need to get water through their food like they would in the wild, not from a bowl.

    This! There's no need to go to a low calorie food. Switch to a high quality cat food and feed him an appropriate amount. Don't free feed.

    Low calorie food is what made ours even more fat and likely very close to diabetes. She would eat and eat because it wasn't filling her up and she drank water all.day.long. I strongly recommend reading that site.......all of you! :)
  • alglenn2013
    alglenn2013 Posts: 97 Member
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    I worked in veterinary medicine for many years, and I second (third?) those who have mentioned switching to a high quality cat food, and incorporating (maybe switching completely) wet food. veterinarypartner.com is a great site we referred our patients to. It's parent site (VIN.com) is the site our vets used when they needed to do research for a case.

    ETA: I also have 2 kitties one fat and one thin and the weight game is very frustrating!
  • AprilMae1975
    AprilMae1975 Posts: 726
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    This is my mom and her cat Harley

    390820_924420043233_2138485884_n_zps91cbac2a.jpg

    I'm pretty sure he weights more than my 4 year old. She took him to the vet, he was put on a special type of cat food and he refused to eat it. He held out until my mom gave him back the food he loved.

    Ok, Symon looks like a little cat compared to this cat....WOW!!!! Did he lose any weight??
  • ThePlight
    ThePlight Posts: 3,593 Member
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    Okay, wow, that cat is FAT! o.o
    Can a cat that big even jump onto a bed, or ..a couch, even? lol
  • Hangnbang
    Hangnbang Posts: 141 Member
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    I thought it was a new Atkins ...cats only diet )
  • AprilMae1975
    AprilMae1975 Posts: 726
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    I thought it was a new Atkins ...cats only diet )

    I would have posted in the Food and Nutrition forum lol!!
  • Hangnbang
    Hangnbang Posts: 141 Member
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    I heard their mostly carb anyway so I'm out.
  • SkinnyFatAlbert
    SkinnyFatAlbert Posts: 482 Member
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    Is your cat eating it's exercise calories back? Also cut out it's cardio. Your cat needs to lift heavy.
  • AprilMae1975
    AprilMae1975 Posts: 726
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    Is your cat eating it's exercise calories back? Also cut out it's cardio. Your cat needs to lift heavy.

    He's eating his exercise calories back x10 LOL!!!
    On the lifting....not sure he has what it takes to lift heavy.
  • Hangnbang
    Hangnbang Posts: 141 Member
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    Cats can't lift heavy ,their all Zumba or billy blanks ti bo *****,s
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
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    y'all, cat food is totally in the MPF database. They have both wet and dry varieties of Hill's K/D food. ::barf::
  • ThePlight
    ThePlight Posts: 3,593 Member
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    y'all, cat food is totally in the MPF database. They have both wet and dry varieties of Hill's K/D food. ::barf::
    Are you serious?!
    -goes to take a looksie-

    OMG! hahaha. You are not kidding!

    084da4e79052a38dadfc190bb5debc95.png

    Wow lol.

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