Overweight and Asthmatic

This will actually be my first post so I apologize if this isn't the right place for it, I tried a forum search with overweight cat and it didn't help much. I have had my cat Tweek since I first moved out of my parents house a few years ago, I got her as a kitten and we went through all the trials and tribulations together, she had mange (From my roomates cat) she puked on my bed almost every night, and than I brought her to the vet for her "Fixins" as we call it and most of her problems seemed to go away, no more puking, no more sickness of any sort really, than when she was about a year old she started to put on weight, I changed her food and her feeding schedule and her weight just increased, I was gone one night and my roomate was playing with her and when I came home Tweek was panting and wheezing so I yelled at my roomate and immediatly went to the Emergency vet, they told me that she had asthma. So aside from changing her litter and giving her pills on a daily basis her losing weight became my priority. Well she is two and a half now and I really can't get her to lose weight, We play all the time, but I'm afraid to push her too hard because I don't want her to have an asthma attack again, it was really scary for me and even more scary for her. I guess I could just get to my question since I've somewhat been rambling... is there any advice out there to help me help Tweek, she is 15-17 pounds and she gets fed once a day, and if there is still food left at feeding time I don't re-fill the dish. She eats nNatural Choice Indoor Weight Management food and we play for about a total of two hours every day. Thank you in advance for bearing with my long post and your help!

OK, take a deep breath. We don't bite here.....usually.

What breed of cat is she? I have a Maine Coon that easily tops 18 pounds. I have a orange tiger kitty that is mut ( sorry Pete) ( apologies to muts) who is 21 pounds. Go figure.

I assume that the medication is for the asthma? Good, use the meds and keep that under control.

Now come and talk to us and let's see how we can make you feel better. Maybe you are worrying for no good reason.

How much do you feed her? You might lessen the amount.

Some of these weight management 'diets' are actually worse for the cat than just giving her a high protein diet.
How do you play with her? Does she chase an interactive toy? (Very fat cats and asthmatic cats can still chase these toys.)

If the problem is not her food or the exercise, it could be her thyroid, but that is something that only a vet would know.

My cat has asthma. I keep the attacks down by using a HEPA vacuum and two air filters--these last things dramatically decreased their occurrence.

Here is the ingredient list of the food you're giving your cat:
Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Rice Flour, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Flaxseed, Brewers Dried Yeast, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Natural Flavors, Oat Fiber, Menhaden Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Vegetable Fiber (Carrots, Celery, Beets, Parsley, Lettuce, Water Cress, Spinach), Tomato Pomace, Potassium Chloride, Soy Protein Concentrate, Cranberry Powder, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Taurine, Dried Egg Product, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Carnitine, Inositol, Dried Bacillus licheniformis Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Extract, Dried Chicory Root, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Niacin, Copper Sulfate, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Manganous Oxide, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Beta-Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite.

The red items are high carbs, they are in my opinion unacceptable in a cat food, particularly if the cat is asthmatic. My cat was allergic to corn and getting rid of the 'corny' food she was eating went a long way toward helping her.

There is very little protein in this food and I think that a brand with high protein and low carbs will solve your problem. I'd get a better brand of food and a toy like DA BIRD to get that kitty moving and losing some pounds.

What medication is your cat on for the asthma? If it is a steroid, then they are known for causing weight gain and weight control problems in humans, and I can only assume the same for cats!

It sounds as if you are on the right track in terms of exersize by playing with her.

I am not familiar with that particular food, but if it is dry you might want to consider switching her over gradually to a high quality wet food, which I understand is better for weight control than feeding dry.

She is a Tuxedo, I usually give her about a cup of food, she is on theophyline for the asthma. When we play we do different things sometimes I make the bed a bunch of times because when the blanket is in the air she runs under it and when it falls I run my fingers on top of it and she chases them around under the blanket and than we repeat because that is her favorite game, I have a huge toy boy with RC mice that she chases, but her favorite toy is this octopus thing I bought at cub foods it has a bunch of legs and a bell and some furry stuff on the top of it, she loved it so much I kept going back and bought all of them from the store, and I can't find them anymore, but she still has remnants of it, I just built her a huge castle and we are putting strings and all sorts of play things in it, she chases balls and when I do my own exercising she follows me up and down the first two stairs (It is really cute). I just get nervous because every Vet I've been to almost scolds me for "Letting her get like this" and I feel horrible, but she is happy. Plus we are adding a new member to our family in about three more weeks and I was nervous about that one bringing surprises with it as well. Thank you all for helping me calm down a bit... I'm almost as high strung as my parents cat Orange.

You might check out inhaled medications for asthma. They have less (or no) side-effects. Penelope has asthma and she takes a puff of Flovent twice a day and a puff of Albuterol only if she has attacks. You can get a special kitty nebulizer here:

http://www.aerokat.com/

I think theophyline (sp?) is a weight gainer too. If she is healthy enough and not having any other problems, you might want to check with your vet about the inhaled stuff.

You may find she will slim down a bit with a wet food diet (which is better anyway than dry food). Bijou was getting chunky on dry food (16.2 lbs) but has slimmed down now that I feed wet morning and night with a small measured amount of dry (good quality dry) for during the day while we are at work.

Sorry to hear your cat is asthmatic, I would try switching her to some wet, and if you cant, measure out how much she needs for the weight you want her to be, rather than what she is (unless that causes more than a 15% reduciton in food, then go for a higher weight and gradually reduce) and split it into 2 meals, not one - cats shoudl always be fed a minimum of 2 meals a day. I am surprised your vets have got an attitude with you without helping you with her weight - in the UK, we have 'weight clinics' where they weigh for free, and give any advice, might be worth asking.