How do you put a cat on a diet with out feeling guilty?

cheylink

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Maia has, well, has gotten fat! I hate to say it but its true! Even last vet visit she was "extremely over weight" in his words, but shes my jelly belly. When I adopted her she was a tiny, skinny, runt of the litter, who has now become a healthy full size cat. She still eats like shes growing, the only place shes growing is in her stomach! I have a very hard time denying her a little food when she asks, problem is she asks all the time and her food bowl is in the kitchen so every time I go in there shes right behind me! She gets dry food, use to be Nutro kitten till 6 months old, then Nutro young till vet said diet! Well then to be honest I tried Cat Chow since my previous kitty was very happy with it and she never became over weight through her 16 years with a bowl always there. But she still gained a little, so I changed it to 7+ years Cat Chow. My little girl is not so little any more shes not obese, but I know it would be healthier for her to loose some weight. We also live in a smaller apartment but I play with her all the time to keep her happy and comfy!
What would be a good diet to try, food and feeding?
 

sharky

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Any known food allergies ?>??

Age currently???

current food since I have no idea what Nutro young is ...

You may want to look at Nutros indoor adult or either Natural choice wt mgmt
 
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cheylink

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Oh yeah, forgot to say her age.....duh.....1 year this month, Nutro max young cat dry is what I was referring to...... I feel bad putting her on a diet so young, but better now right?
 

jen

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I think you just need to stop basically free feeding her. A serving is like 3/4 a cup a day and if you are filling the bowl every single time she comes into the kitchen, well no wonder she is fat. She is only a year, there is no reason for her to be overweight. Don't give her food every time she moves. She has YOU trained really well. She may not even want food soemtimes, she may just be talking to you or wanting attention.
 
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cheylink

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Originally Posted by Jen

I think you just need to stop basically free feeding her. A serving is like 3/4 a cup a day and if you are filling the bowl every single time she comes into the kitchen, well no wonder she is fat. She is only a year, there is no reason for her to be overweight. Don't give her food every time she moves. She has YOU trained really well. She may not even want food soemtimes, she may just be talking to you or wanting attention.
No, no.... I don't fill the bowl every time, I just put in maybe 10 kibbles....... But your probably rioght, I need to just crack down!
 

sharky

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Do you know the amount she gets in a day???

can you substitute wet food for some of the dry ...

How much does she weigh and what should she weigh??
 
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cheylink

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The vet told me to keep her on dry food, although I do feed her a can of fancy feast once in a while, maybe 1 can in a 3 day period once a week. Last visit she was 7.1 pounds, shes probably 8- 8 1/2 now. She could probably loose 1/2 - 1 lbs. Honestly, being the sap I am, she gets 1/2 - 3/4 cups, maybe some days 1 cup of dry a day. Very little treats, she really prefers her food and hates kitty treats!
 

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I Would introduce wet food into her diet, regardless of what the vet says, it is more helpful in weight loss. And do change her back to normal food, rather than senior food. AT a risk of sounding harsh, you have to do this regardless of how guilty you feel, there are so many health risks to your cat being overweight, so you have to get her to lose it, while she is young enough.
 

pekoe & nigel

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Just a couple thoughts to share with you, though unfortunately nothing specific to the type of food you should be feeding.

Originally Posted by cheylink

I have a very hard time denying her a little food when she asks, problem is she asks all the time and her food bowl is in the kitchen so every time I go in there shes right behind me!
I think you're associating food with love, and therefore believe that denying your kitty food means denying them love. (This is something I have a problem with with too, so I'm afraid that someday I'll find myself in the same situation as you
) You just need to learn that by telling her "no" sometimes you aren't being mean, you are in fact ensuring her health and therefore her happiness. It would be infinitely more mean to allow her to develop weight-related health problems which cause her to live in pain and misery which could have been prevented. Think of her like a child: you wouldn't let a child eat chips and chocolate bars every time they asked just because you don't want to deny them the pleasure, would you?

The very hardest thing I had to do for my kittens was when Nigel was going in for surgery so I couldn't let him have any food the night before. He kept looking at the spot where the food bowls used to be and giving me this confused and angry look. It was heartbreaking because I knew he was hungry and didn't understand why he couldn't have anything. But it was for his own good and completely necessary, so I couldn't give in.

I hope you can be strong for the sake of your little one. Good luck!
 

sharky

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Try they indoor adult and see if that doesnt help... it is designed to aid in getting and keeping trim..
 

mzjazz2u

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Originally Posted by cheylink

Maia has, well, has gotten fat! I hate to say it but its true! Even last vet visit she was "extremely over weight" in his words, but shes my jelly belly. When I adopted her she was a tiny, skinny, runt of the litter, who has now become a healthy full size cat. She still eats like shes growing, the only place shes growing is in her stomach! I have a very hard time denying her a little food when she asks, problem is she asks all the time and her food bowl is in the kitchen so every time I go in there shes right behind me! She gets dry food, use to be Nutro kitten till 6 months old, then Nutro young till vet said diet! Well then to be honest I tried Cat Chow since my previous kitty was very happy with it and she never became over weight through her 16 years with a bowl always there. But she still gained a little, so I changed it to 7+ years Cat Chow. My little girl is not so little any more shes not obese, but I know it would be healthier for her to loose some weight. We also live in a smaller apartment but I play with her all the time to keep her happy and comfy!
What would be a good diet to try, food and feeding?
Maybe she has to eat more of the cat chow because it's inferrior and she's not getting satisfied? I'd put her back on a Nutro adult formula and stop free feeding her. Just feed her twice a day at the recommended amount.
 

vanillasugar

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How not to feel guilty? Easy. You're doing what's best for her health, which really is the best way to show you love her.

IMO there is more to feel guilty about in letting a cat get fat, then getting ill because of the extra weight, then by doing the right thing to keep them healthy
 

yosemite

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I also would try feeding her a good quality wet food (Fancy Feast is definitely not a good quality food - think McDonalds for humans). Bijou was getting to be a very big boy and now that I've changed his diet to more good wet food and less dry, he has slimmed down and toned up.

Wet food is also healthier for your kitty. Unfortunately a lot of vets don't know a whole lot about nutrition - they tend to "sell" us on whatever the sales reps leave in their clinics.

Our previous vet (we don't go there anymore) told me he had taken nutrition courses and then proceeded to suggest I feed Science Diet and even offered me a free bag. I feed ours Merrick's but it is pricey.
 

debskats

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I feel for you and I let my Bailey get up to nearly 32 pounds at one point because I felt bad for not feeding him whenever he wanted it. Silly, I know. So, right now, he's on a diet because the vets and his health have given me very little choice. He's 9 now and was just diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. Before his surgery to make that diagnosis, he'd been getting canned and dry, but once he got sick, I switched him completely over to canned. I'd never been able to get a vet or a cat food company to tell me how much such a big cat could eat and safely lose weight, but with a cat the size of your Maia, that shouldn't be too hard. If it was me though, I wouldn't go with what the can or the bag recommends because a lot of times that's just too much.

If you're going to keep her on dry, Jen mentioned that a serving is something like 3/4 cup a day. Why don't you measure out 3/4 cup of Maia's dry food in the morning and feed her from that throughout the day? So, when that 3/4 cup is gone, Maia doesn't get any more food.

It's hard, I know, but down the road Maia will be better for it. Good Luck.
 

naturestee

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Oh I've been there- and will be for the rest of Lily's life. She just doesn't know when to say no to food, while Eve has no problem walking away from food. I stopped free-feeding when Lily was about 6 months old (and giving Eve extra meals because she got too thin). I was feeding Lily about the recommend amount on the package for a kitten her size. But she was still getting more chubby. A month later the vet put her on a much smaller amount of food, which did help. I still have to feed her at that diet rate because she just seems to have such a low metabolism.

Anyway, it helps to have a routine with the food. Feed her only at specific times and make a ritual of it. That way she knows exactly when she's getting fed, and don't do those special triggers at other times because she will get excited. If she sits near the food bowl and whines, or if she pesters you, get out an interactive toy and play with her. It will be doubly beneficial because you'll help her burn fat and teach her that crying won't get her food at the same time. Plus it's a much more healthy way to show attention and love than food.

I do agree with adding canned food. Many vets recommend dry food because they really don't know anything about nutrition. Dry food has a lot more carbs than wet, so it's higher in calories per ounce. Decent wet food has lower carbs and higher protein plus more water, so it will make her feel full for longer with less calories. I feed one meal of canned food daily. I'd feed all canned if I could afford it.

Best of luck!
 

emmylou

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I think an easy way to start is to switch to a weight management or "lite" dry food. You may find that that alone will solve the problem, and you'll still be able to free feed and the cat won't even know the difference.

I agree with the others that dry food is the main culprit in weight gain. Introducing wet food should help.

If those two things haven't achieved the goal weight after a few months, then you could take the next step and stop free feeding.
 

vanillasugar

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Originally Posted by emmylou

I think an easy way to start is to switch to a weight management or "lite" dry food. You may find that that alone will solve the problem, and you'll still be able to free feed and the cat won't even know the difference.

I agree with the others that dry food is the main culprit in weight gain. Introducing wet food should help.

If those two things haven't achieved the goal weight after a few months, then you could take the next step and stop free feeding.
This is actually the complete opposite of what most cats need for weight loss. "Lite" foods are usually very high in carbohydrates and fillers which is not an effective diet for weight loss (which is why most of these foods don't actually work). Cats are carnivores. High protein, low carbohydrate diets are much more effective at weight loss.

Also, free feeding is going to defeat the whole purpose. The cat being able to eat however much she wants, anytime she wants, is not going to promote weight loss, that's what caused the problem in the first place. The first step to ANY diet for a cat is to pick up the food between meals. Otherwise it's just not effective.

http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/catweight.html is a great resource for feline weight problems and how to properly address them.
 

emmylou

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It was very effective for my cat. And I've read other people here say they had to switch their cats off of weight management foods (temporarily or permanently) because they lost *too much* weight on them.

A high quality brand of food doesn't have as many fillers. And adding wet to the overall diet will increase the protein intake and reduce the carbohydrate intake.
 

twstychik

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I have a quick suggestion. Find out (from the vet?) how much she should be eating in a day. Then measure out that much each morning and put in an airtight container or baggie. Then feed her out of ONLY that for the day. Since she doesn't like treats you could just give her a few pieces of food when she seems to be asking for it and having her daily ammount in one place ensures that you don't over feed her and it also allos you to meter what you feed her each time so you don't run out before the day is over.
 
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