How to control weight of one cat among 5??

chupi

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Hi all! I have 5 cats, all of whom are very healthy (touch wood) but one of them is starting to get pretty big. Its funny because even when he was a baby, he weighed a lot more than the others despite being the same size, so we assumed it must have been due to him being a muscly cat.

So some of the weight is due to that, but ever since he was neutered about 6 months ago, he has steadily gained weight. Our cats are all fed together (Nutro Choice Complete dry and felix as good as it looks wet), so how can we control his food? Is it ok for all our cats to go on the Nutro Light (as the dry is free fed and is probably the biggest culprit). If anyone can suggest anything other than feeding them separately, it would be really appreciated!! Thanks!
 

booktigger

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Stopping free feeding and feeding separately are the only ways to go sadly. Feeding separately doesnt have to be that big an issue though, and the cats do get used to not having food down all the time quite quickly - or you could put a magnetic catflap on an internal door, and put the tags on all the other cats bar him, so they can get dry and he can't. I dont know what Nutros ingredients are like, I dont like Felix as good as it looks personally, and I dont know what age your cats are, so can't say if they would all be OK on Nutro light - but if you are free feeding, he could still be eating the most. Keeping his weight under control is very very important though, there are a lot of health risks to being overweight, and it is very hard to get cats to lose weight, so better to nip it in the bud. You also need to look at exercise rather than just food.
 
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chupi

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thanks booktigger.

i dont personally like felix, any of the lines, but we have tried other brands such as hilife, and carny etc, which are better foods at a manageable cost, but sadly they havent taken to it. Felix as good as it looks, there is never any left over, its amazing! :S

They are 2 years (2) and 1 year (3 of them) and he is 1 years old. We do have one toy which all the cats love, its a feather toy on a 'fishing pole' - it flies like a bird, its fun and the cats love it! You should see how high they jump!


Think I wil try that first, and see how it goes, if that doesn work I will try separate feeding as I do realise how important weight management is for cats..
But does anyone else know if Nutro Light is ok for 1yr and 2yr cats, (they are indoor/outdoor so are fairly active too)
 

booktigger

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Typical cats!!! My girls do like 'normal' cat food, though they rarely get it!! I am not sure I would like to put cats that age on light food to be honest, hopefully someone else will be able to come up with some suggestions.
 
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