Two fat cats, two thin cats- how to feed???

Hi All-
I have two fat cats- one is very fat and seems to be getting fatter by the minute. The other isn't quite as bad, but he's also getting increasingly fat.

The other two eat more sparingly and maintain a normal weight.

The problem is I keep their food down 24/7, which I know is bad for the two fatties. But I don't want to pick it up for fear the two thinner cats will just waist away!

How will the two thinner girls get enough to eat?

Do you see what I mean?

What should I do with them?

All have access to the outdoors (I have a 30 acre farm) and get lots and lots of exercise. They're all spayed/neuterd DLH and are pretty young, under 4 y.o.

Thank you!

what are you currently feeding

I don't want to completely hijack, but I'm having a similar situation. The two ferals/strays are heavy by comparison to our indoor kitties (strange, I know). Reagan is in *great* physical health -- very muscular and lean. Whisper's a bit on the slender side, Baloo is chubby but not unhealthy, and Molly's weight is stabilizing already.

Anyway, I was wondering how I can get a very slender cat to gain some weight? We free-feed dry at the moment. Will wet food improve *his* situation too?

I'm not looking for a lot. Eight ounces or so would be perfect. He's not *skinny* by any means, but much more slender than the others, with less lean muscle.

Hi All- Thanks for your input. What's a good wet cat food diet that I can easily get at a large grocery store or Department store? I live very far from any Petco type stores. I have thought of switching them all to a wet diet fed in meals rather than free-feeding dry. So I'm more than willing to make this change.

Currently we feed a "variety pack" of dry foods. I don't pick the cat food, my partner does, and she usually buys whatever strikes her fancy. Iams one day, then Friskies another. I have to admit, the cats do seem to like variety. They also get special crunchy treats for "hair ball" treatment, as they all have long hair. (The fattest one will do a trick for the treats- she "sits pretty" up on her haunches on cue and will stay there until she gets the treat- it's super cute.) We give them the "juice" from canned tuna once or twice a week and plain unsweetened low-fat yogurt once or twice a week (all of our animals get yogurt-even our chickens!) for the beneficial bacterias. And I admit we let them have table scraps once in a while - chicken (no bones, of course) or fish (heads and skins), typically. This is probably a nightmare diet for those of you who really know about what's good for cats! LOL!

So- if anyone has a good tip for feeding canned cat food. What brand? How much should each cat get? Do I pick it up if it's not finished within a certain amount of time? How do I deal with the cats when they follow me around the house begging pitifully for food? (They do this when the bowls run low.)

Thanks! This seems like a great site with a real nice group of people!

PS Ghosthunter- your more than welcome to use this thread to help figure out a diet for your kittens!

canned food is IMHO better ... 1/2 oz to 1 oz per lb.. so ave 10 lb kitty 5oz-10 oz per day if wet is only food .... 50 /50 wet dry is more realistic for most ... so 10lb kitty would get 3oz can and 1/3-1/2 cup dry ...

You may want to read up on here about premium foods the hairballs can be traced to what your feeding in many cats

scraps are fine ... I personally do not give yogurt ... but I have feed raw diets and now do homemade with one/.//

Your actually better off looking into small petstores owned by 1 person or a family than large chain stores like petco. Especially if you find stores that concentrate more on supplies and don't sell pets. They'll often have better quality foods and many will order something in even if they don't normally carry it. Even with a petco, petsmart, and petland within 50miles of me I shop at 2 little locally owned stores because despite more variety the others don't carry anything I want and aren't willing to order what I want even if I buy large amounts. I'd get out a phone book, call up some local petstores, and see what brands you can get.

Some pets always beg for food and everytime you feed them for it they'll beg worse. You have to realize they aren't really hungry they are just taking advantage of you for a treat and ignore them. Eventually they figure out it doesn't work and give up. I'd start limiting the dry (only refill certain amounts at certain times of the day and let it run out in between) and feeding the skinnier ones a seperate meal in a different room or shutting the fatter ones in a different room until the others have eaten extra.

Originally Posted by Sham

Your actually better off looking into small petstores owned by 1 person or a family than large chain stores like petco. Especially if you find stores that concentrate more on supplies and don't sell pets. They'll often have better quality foods and many will order something in even if they don't normally carry it. Even with a petco, petsmart, and petland within 50miles of me I shop at 2 little locally owned stores because despite more variety the others don't carry anything I want and aren't willing to order what I want even if I buy large amounts. I'd get out a phone book, call up some local petstores, and see what brands you can get.

Some pets always beg for food and everytime you feed them for it they'll beg worse. You have to realize they aren't really hungry they are just taking advantage of you for a treat and ignore them. Eventually they figure out it doesn't work and give up. I'd start limiting the dry (only refill certain amounts at certain times of the day and let it run out in between) and feeding the skinnier ones a seperate meal in a different room or shutting the fatter ones in a different room until the others have eaten extra.

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Yes call around .. here actually big boxes carry many of the foods I give a a good or better too , feed stores would be my second choice

some animals will always beg ... I would not recomend ignoring but diverting attention to something other than food

Has the vet said anything about wts >>>>??? I ask since I thought my dog was OBESE and turned out she was on the heavier end on NORMAL... Do you know how to do a rib test???

That's really a great point about looking up smaller pet shops! You know I hadn't even considered that! Plus it would supporting a privately owned business, which is always a plus. Thanks!

Any suggestions of good brand names?

We have stopped free-feeding dry. I thought there was going to be a revolt here! LOL! All of the cats were pretty upset! I didn't give in to the begging and pleading, though. And you're absolutely right- they gave it up after a while.

Yea, I am familiar with the rib test for determining the weight of an animal. Sadly, it's because we've taken in our fair share of starved horses and you have to monitor their weight closely while they recover. The two cats I mentioned that are fat- one is 16 lbs. and the other is 14. Neither is a large-framed cat, either- they actually waddle when they walk! They should both probably weight around 8 lbs. each. I'm worried b/c they just keep gaining and gaining! I don't want them developing diabetes or other health issues b/c of this. I'm somone who feels that allowing an animal to get so obese it gets sick is just as neglectful as not feeding it enough and letting it go to a bag of bones!

Thanks Sharky for the feed/lb. body weight conversions!

Originally Posted by Jean44



Here's a link to a site I consulted when I first switched my cats to an all wet diet. http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/catweight.html

Good luck in helping your kitties lose weight.

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I just wanted to say that I read that link and it was really good.