Overweight cat needs to lose weight!!

spirita2010

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Ok, so everyone knows Lucky is overweight, right? She keeps gaining!! And I know it is VERY unhealthy for a cat. And I don't want to see her gone before her time! And Hunter is a little bit overweight too, but he is a kibble junky.
And I don't know what I should feed them to get them to lose weight! They need to lose some pounds. Here is a good picture to show what they used to look like, to now what they look like!

Here's Lucky before her spay..



Heres Hunter before his neuter..




Heres both of them before their spay/neuter..



After their spay/neuter, earlier this year, Lucky is a lot bigger now!!




Can you see what I am talking about?
I don't want them to be fat, I want them to be skinny. Those lazy house cats! lol Help would be appreciated, we are feeding Eukanuba, not the best, I know. Thank you for reading!
 

moggiegirl

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I understand what you're going through. I weighed my cats yesterday and My cat Spotty is 17 pounds and Rosie is 14 pounds. By the way you don't want your cats to be too skinny or too fat. You want them to be just right.

My cat Spotty is a kibble junkie too. Rosie has been eating mostly wet but I believe she has gained weight from finishing up Spotty's wet food and perhaps the raw diet that I've been feeding Rosie might have too much fat in it so I may have to substitute 50% white meat instead of feeding all dark, though I'm aware that cats certainly do need some animal fat. Well I'm guessing you're not a raw feeder so this is probably irrelevant to you. I also feed commercial cat food too.

A while back I had switched to Innova Evo because I thought the low-carb nature of the food could help my cat Spotty lose weight. I was wrong. It made him gain weight because Evo has 612 calories per cup and is very rich for a cat with lower energy requirements.

So I concluded that with weight management for a cat you have to take 2 things into account. Excess carbohydrates is one thing but more importantly calories and exercise. Canned cat food is best for weight management because of it's high water content and high protein content which will fill your cat up on few calories and canned food is very low in carbohydrates. For the cat that must eat kibble like my Spotty, the best choice would be a food with the highest protein and the least amount of calories per cup. Right now I am trying out Royal Canin Beauty and Fit which has 37% protein, 15% fat(according to the print on the bag but on the website it says 9% so I need to talk to them about that error) and 8% fiber. fiber is filling and helps with hairballs. The food has 339 calories per cup, a huge reduction from Evo's 612 calories per cup. I decided to try this for a while and see if it helps my cats lose weight and in the meantime I have to watch out for Rosie eating Spotty's wet food.

The California Natural has a reasonable calorie content too. $398 calories per cup, 36% protein, 16% fat but my cats gained weight on this food too. I must have fed too much. So I'll think I'll stick with the Royal Canin Beauty and Fit for now which has fewer calories than California Natural and then after my cats have trimmed down and they're ready for the maintenance phase I might switch back to California Natural, maybe.

Dry food in general is more fattening than wet so if you can, try to feed as much wet food as your cat is willing to eat and limit dry food. And expect slow weight loss results. Too fast is not healthy for the cat. Good luck.

Oh, and play with your cat as much as you can for exercise.
 

sharky

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Um I suggest talking with your vet


TAKING them off dry food if possible ... wet is better... if your are willing homemade and or raw is the best ....

Eukanuba is a HIGH cal food
 

dragoro

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When I adopted my first cat from Petsmart, he was grossly overweight. He was huge, his stomach would drag on the floor. I reduced his diet down to 1 can of wet food a day, and keep his dry food bowl full, and hes managed to lose all his access baggage, and is now the right weight. He does have alot of access skin now though cause of all that weight he used to carry.
 
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spirita2010

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Originally Posted by Dragoro

When I adopted my first cat from Petsmart, he was grossly overweight. He was huge, his stomach would drag on the floor. I reduced his diet down to 1 can of wet food a day, and keep his dry food bowl full, and hes managed to lose all his access baggage, and is now the right weight. He does have alot of access skin now though cause of all that weight he used to carry.
Plastic Surgery!!! lol, not really, but thanks everyone for the advice!
 

cinder

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My two remaining house cats Toby and Rusty were 22 and 20 pounds. When Toby was diagnosed with diabetes I switched both to Purina DM. They've been on it for 4-5 years and are now 14 & 16 pounds. DM is a low carb diet, which they both seem to like and over a long period of time have lost weight on. It's expensive, but I suppose it's an option.
 

debskats

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I used to feed Bailey Royal Canin Calorie Control canned and dry, and on that food he gained several pounds, eventually weighing 30 pounds 14 ounces the first of this year. In February, he was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. I switched him to an all canned diet (not low calorie). Yesterday morning he weighed 25 pounds 13 ounces!!!
With the vet's help, I decided what food I wanted to feed him and she then told me exactly how much to give him each day. And it's working!!!

I would definitely recommend an all canned diet and then talk to your vet about how much you should feed your kitties. Sometimes, when you have a really heavy cat, it's hard to find someone who can tell you how much they need so they don't lose weight too quickly.
 

beandip

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I agree that quality wet food is the way to go for an effective weight loss plan. I would suggest eliminating dry food from the menu, and talking to the vet about kitty's weight and how much to feed, like DebsKats said. A LOT of vets will tell you to feed a dry low calorie food, and won't be open to other options...if so, I would suggest finding a different vet.


PS congrats, DebsKats...that's great news about Bailey.
 

debskats

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Originally Posted by beandip

PS congrats, DebsKats...that's great news about Bailey.
Bailey still have a ways to go, but I think he's going to make it!
 

victimofchanges

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i have 2 half mainecoons, and one used to be about 23lbs and the other was 20, the heavier is now down to 17 and the other is at 14 being on sceince diet light weight hairball dry out during the day and 1/3 can wet in the evening of friskieys. I dont know but its worked really well for us, they lost all the weight in under a yr.... they are also rather lazy and now going on 10 yrs old....


this past yr while I was at school to become a Vet Tech, we were told the main differnce between the wet and dry food is that dry food is worse for thier teeth. they said people will always argue about how healthy the wet is to the dry but that its not true, people are looking at their cats these days as if they were more and more like humans, but this is not true, having cals in cat food is not as bad as cals in ours, WE ARE LAZIER THEN OUR CATS!!!! We might not see it, but even 20 yr old cats play enough to burn off the cals they might get from eating a lower cal dry food. Cutting dry food from your cats diet is NOT health on their internal system, they need the cals so they have the engery to be cats. Saying they cant eat fatty foods is like telling a kid to grow up as a veggitarian, its just not healthy. Look into facts yourself from spectialist that spend yrs looking into these things if you really want to learn about it.
 

beandip

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Originally Posted by victimofchanges

this past yr while I was at school to become a Vet Tech, we were told the main differnce between the wet and dry food is that dry food is worse for thier teeth. they said people will always argue about how healthy the wet is to the dry but that its not true, people are looking at their cats these days as if they were more and more like humans, but this is not true, having cals in cat food is not as bad as cals in ours, WE ARE LAZIER THEN OUR CATS!!!! We might not see it, but even 20 yr old cats play enough to burn off the cals they might get from eating a lower cal dry food. Cutting dry food from your cats diet is NOT health on their internal system, they need the cals so they have the engery to be cats. Saying they cant eat fatty foods is like telling a kid to grow up as a veggitarian, its just not healthy. Look into facts yourself from spectialist that spend yrs looking into these things if you really want to learn about it.
The reason I am a believer in wet food is not simply because it has been shown to be effective for weight loss. I can't speak for others, but calories are of little concern to me or my cats, although weight loss is the subject of this thread so that's what I was focused on in my reply. It's just one of the many benefits of wet cat food.

Dry food's only benefit is that is is convenient for humans. It doesn't dry out, rarely spoils...just dump it in the bowl and go to work. That's it. It's of no benefit to a cat. At only 10% moisture and average 40% carbohydrates, it couldn't be much further from a cat's natural diet.

Some cats can lose weight on "diet" dry cat food, but generally that's the exception rather than the rule. Dry food is loaded with carbohydrates, which cats are not "built" to effectively utilize. They utilize protein and fat more efficiently.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...=show&item=016

http://catinfo.org/
 

victimofchanges

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yeah but for an active outdoor indoor cat carbos are very good for the enrgy they put out while outside...
 

jean44

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Originally Posted by victimofchanges

yeah but for an active outdoor indoor cat carbos are very good for the enrgy they put out while outside...
The cat's metabolism is not designed to use carbohydrates for energy. Cats use protein and fats as an energy source. Excess carbohydrates are deposited in the body as fat. The natural diet of a cat is about 3%-5% carbohydrates as opposed to the average of about 40% in dry foods.

http://www.catinfo.org/felinediabete...y_and_Diabetes

http://www.catnutrition.org/obesity.html
 

icklemiss21

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As said above, cats metabolise energy from protein
yeah but for an active outdoor indoor cat carbos are very good for the enrgy they put out while outside...
Most people on here do not allow their cats to be outside and indoor cats will tyically be lazier. Cats also benefit from the added moisture in wet foods
 

icklemiss21

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Originally Posted by Spirita2010

Ok, so everyone knows Lucky is overweight, right? She keeps gaining!! And I know it is VERY unhealthy for a cat. And I don't want to see her gone before her time! And Hunter is a little bit overweight too, but he is a kibble junky.
And I don't know what I should feed them to get them to lose weight! They need to lose some pounds.
....
I don't want them to be fat, I want them to be skinny. Those lazy house cats! lol Help would be appreciated, we are feeding Eukanuba, not the best, I know. Thank you for reading!
The first thing to do is get your vet involved. Some cats can be much bigger and still be a 'healthy weight' (they both look tubby but it is better to be safe). My vet runs 'fat cat' clinics where she weighs them and checks them over (most do this for free or a very low charge).

You need to discuss two things with your cat and vet. The first is food, it may be that the food your cats are on just doesn't suit them, or the feeding schedule doesn't (most cats do better weight wise on scheduled feeding times rather than free feeding). Measure their food and make sure they are not getting more than they need. (you vet can help you work out how many calories to feed)

The second thing is to find time to exercise with them daily. With Scully we gave him two 20 minute play times a day (for overweight cats start at 5 and work up as they getting 'fitter')

There is an article on TCS with my experiences with a very fat cat that will explain a little more.
 
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