Good Diet Food - please HELP!

kittylover77

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Hi everyone!

I am new to this forum and so glad I found it, so much useful information here.

I have a girl kitty who is 6 years old and is rather overweight. She is about 18 pounds and should be about 6 pounds lighter. My vet was rather concerned but did not think it was necessary to put her on any prescription diet.

I was feeding her Innova Evo dry, recommended amounts, and her coat is so shiny and pretty and she is doing well on it, except she is getting heavier and heavier. She is a very lazy, inactive cat. Even laser pointer doesn't excite her.

I bought Innova Lite Dry and she is turning her nose up at it, I'm worried I am starving her.
Can you please recommend a good Lite food? Or am I misunderstanding the use of Lite formulas, can they possibly promote even more weight gain?

I am interested in feeding her dry food only.

Thanks in advance!!
 

sharky

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In SOME cat light foods , being higher in carbs can cause wt gain....

How long on the EVO???

Will she eat canned food??? Canned Evo is a great food with the same flavor and higher water levals in canned aid in a full feeling


Welcome to TCS
 
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kittylover77

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She has been on EVO for 10 months now. Within this time frame she gained about 3 pounds.
I have tried her on various wet foods, EVO being one of them, she really doesn't like it much, leaves most of it in the bowl. I tried mixing the two wet+dry, same story, she picks dry food out and leaves the wet. Some wet foods make her pukey.
She is really set on her dry food.

She seems to be doing well nutrituonally, just needs to shave off all those extra pounds, she barely runs anymore and it looks like she has so much trouble jumping and going up the stairs.

I don't free feed, just give her 3 meals a day.
I want to find her nutricious lite formula that will help her lose weight.

 

xxpunkkittenxx

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my munchkin is the same way. she is pretty heavy, but that was because my cats live at my boyfriends house and his fatehr kept feeding them friskies even though i bought them Premium edge Healthy Weight ((i halso have another cat there named Tai))

Due to certain curcumstances his parents have hopefully let off of them a bit realizing that myself and my boyfriend own them. everythign is provided.

i would love to feed them the brand of food you feed your cat, but its a bit to expensive for a 17 year old to purchase, ontop of other things...

because i work for a vet i have a easy time portioning their food, and when they get it, how they get it, and what treats to give them when they have eatten it all...

i feed them not only the Premium Edge Healthy Weight, but also i have my boyfriend use Euk. Vet. Diet Restricted Calorie Wet Food ((which i pick up)) with the hard food, and cut it into 4ths, and give 1/2 cup hard food on each side of the two sided bowl ((1/2 cup for each cat)) and 1/8th of a 4th of the wet food...

the vet diets r normally easy on the stomach, and the res. cal i have Muchy and Tai on is very very bland but they choose it over the friskies so i have heard... and since i have heard that the two are more active... you can actually tell thet muchy has legs and not stubbs!! lol...
 

xxpunkkittenxx

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oh... and they only get fed once a day and have water at all times ... they get TRIM TREATS ((brand of treats that is very healthy)) throughout the day ((not a huge amount but here and there...)) and 1/2 a Virbac Dental Treat before they go to sleep...

portioning is key...

try to cut down on the amount of food and the portions and when they are given... try to only feed 2 times a day at most...

my bf's parents freefed and they couldn't resist the "mc donalds of cat foods" at all hours of the night...
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by kittylover77

She has been on EVO for 10 months now. Within this time frame she gained about 3 pounds.
I have tried her on various wet foods, EVO being one of them, she really doesn't like it much, leaves most of it in the bowl. I tried mixing the two wet+dry, same story, she picks dry food out and leaves the wet. Some wet foods make her pukey.
She is really set on her dry food.

She seems to be doing well nutrituonally, just needs to shave off all those extra pounds, she barely runs anymore and it looks like she has so much trouble jumping and going up the stairs.

I don't free feed, just give her 3 meals a day.
I want to find her nutricious lite formula that will help her lose weight.

I would suggest finding a adult formula with moderate portein and fat 30-34protein and 12-15 fat and see
 
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kittylover77

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Heheheh. Thank you for your suggestions!
I feed 3 times a day but small portions, for the entire day she gets about .6-.75 of a cup.
EVO is wonderful wondeful food, but she still gains weight.
It is rather expensive.

I think I need to understand the labels and nutritional value. Like do kitties need lots of protein and fat and fiber to lose weight? Or?

I would love suggestions for lite foods that you guys feed your kitties.
 

sharky

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Evo has about 500 cal per cup... you may just want to cut back to half a cup to 5/8th cups....

have you been feeding according to 12lb guidelines
 
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kittylover77

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EVO has 612 KCals/Cup.
I have been feeding .6-.75 a day, which is less then the guidelines, if I remember correctly.

Kitty is hungry, and she is gaining weight.

Like I mentioned earlier, I am attempting to swith her to Innova Lite Dry. She is not liking the taste, so not eating much of it.
I suppose I could go to the store and buy all sort of Lite foods and try her on every one before she picks the one she likes and hope for the best.
That will be quite money wasteful way.


I figured maybe someone had similar experience and would recommend Lite foods that the kitties like a lot, that most importantly help with the weight loss.

Thanks again for all your replies!
 

cloud_shade

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Since she likes EVO and doesn't care for the cans, I would stick with the EVO but cut back on the amount. NaturaPet has a calculator for figuring out how much to feed:

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php...wiz&animal=Cat

Since you want her to lose weight, I would start by feeding her the amount for an inactive cat of a lower weight--I would start with 14 or 15 pounds. I think that 12 pounds is too low of a goal at this point as when overweight cats lose weight to quickly they are at risk for fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis). Keep feeding the three meals if you can--that should help stave off hunger.
 

sharky

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kittylover77

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mmm!
I will try 1/2-2/3 cups a day then. Thank you.

I know already she will be a really whiny kitty about it. she loves eating.

So much information out there:

How do I know which food to use?
Start your choice by selecting a food that is designed for weight control. The food should be designed to be used in the way you would like it to perform. Does your pet need to lose weight? If so, you should feed a food designed for reducing weight. Similarly, if your pet needs help gaining weight then a food designed for weight gain should be chosen. The attributes of weight loss foods are that they should have an ability to metabolically support lean body mass while enhancing fat loss. Science DietÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] Light, Prescription DietÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] r/d Â[emoji]174[/emoji]and w/dÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] have added fiber to promote satiety, they have reduced calories to promote weight loss and they have balanced protein to support lean body mass. In addition, “Prescription DietÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] m/dÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] is designed to metabolically increase fat use through its special macronutrient mix for cats. Your veterinarian can provide a recommendation specific to your pet.

Can't I just feed less of what my pet eats now?
Simply feeding less of the food you are currently using may not work, and it wouldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t have the satiety enhancing benefits of Prescription DietÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] or Science DietÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] weight control foods. Most foods are designed in such a way that changing the food amount by feeding a “weight loss†portion would result in your pet not getting the optimum amount of nutrients. Simply put, your pet may be hungry and may not be getting enough nutrients if you reduce what you feed now.

Perhaps that is why I am a bit misinformed.
 

sharky

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In short you dont know what to try first ...

Only thru alot of research and talking with my vet have I come up with the current feeding for my three small animals ..

what I have figured out is like humans there is no one diet plan for all cats...

many cats loose on the HIGH FIBER/CARB vet diets ... In wxtreme cases they help to get the weight off but often the lbs creep back on when normal food and portions are introduced again

more cats are loosing on high protein / high moderate fat diets... This in a canned food is closest to a "wild cat " diet without going raw ... I start here now

some cats just need moderation accross the board ... most high end premiums meet this ... protein 30-38% fat 12-22 %

Canned food is best but if an all dry cat the high protein ( feed moderately
) is a good start pt
 
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kittylover77

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Thank you thank you.
I will try reducing the portions.

Since I have EVO and Innova Lite, I will mix the two , in the meantime, so I don't have to throw it out.

I actually called one of the nearby shelters and wanted to donate my huge bag of Innova Lite, but was told that they accept Science Diet, Purina One and Iams only. :p

Oh well, I guess good food is not good for shelter kitties.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by kittylover77

Thank you thank you.
I will try reducing the portions.

Since I have EVO and Innova Lite, I will mix the two , in the meantime, so I don't have to throw it out.

I actually called one of the nearby shelters and wanted to donate my huge bag of Innova Lite, but was told that they accept Science Diet, Purina One and Iams only. :p

Oh well, I guess good food is not good for shelter kitties.
SHelters often get $$$ off or free food for UPCs of some brands you mentioned...
 

catsarebetter

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Actually, mixing the two might not be a bad idea. It might be encouragement to eat less, since she doesn't like the lite, but will potentially give her a little more food since some of it is lite.

Oh, I have a cat that would pick out all his dry and eat *only* his wet..and believe me, he was able to do it, too.. who we mostly duped by crushing the dry food before mixing it. Now.. he was still able to pick out some, but he was stuck with getting some of the dry too... so it might work in a reverse situation where they can't really get the dry without getting the wet too. I have learned, though, that my cats only eat certain types of wet (and each one of them likes something different, of course) and others they simply stick their noses up at.
 

gingersmom

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Silly question, but what about exercise? How much does your kitty get? Do you play with interactive toys to get her running around? For example, the cat fisher, or the laser toy?

My kitties get lots of exercise by running around playing every evening.
 
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kittylover77

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She is very inactive and a lazy girl.

I try to exercise her daily, but she will run after a laser pointer for 3 seconds and lay back down, it doesn't excite her.
I have lots of little mice and "da bird" toy as well.
She was more active as a kitten, but at 6 years of age, I don't know if I can get her out of her ways.

I did mix the foods this morning, she ate and was fine.
Then she was begging for food, so I gave her some more of the mix and she ate it and purged it right away.

Sigh.
 

gingersmom

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I think it's time that you get tough, then, and ignore her begging. No "diet" food will work if you cave in to begging.

Otherwise, you'll need to get prepared for the types of issues that obese cats must deal with. Best of luck with your furbaby!
 
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