Help with my fat cat

bobbyblaze

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Hi all, I don't know what to do. I have 3 cats in the house and i do open feeding (keeping food in the dish at all times) 2 of the cats are healthy and normal weight, and then i have my 25lbs cat. I love him to death he is the coolest cat i have and i know this weight is going to kill him early. So what can i do, I thought about taking the open food away but then the other two cats would suffer. I've tried special foods that were supposed to help him loose weight, but that didn't work. Please help if u guys have any opinion on what i can do would be great. HE JUST LOVES FOOD!!
 

icklemiss21

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There is some more help here, but the basics

Cats like humans work on a calories in - calories out process. To lose weight your cat needs to take in less calories and/or use up more in exercise.

Cats will not suffer by not being free fed. It is better for them and it will take a while to get used to it, but they will get used to it. Measure the food they need and give it to them 2-4 times a day in small meals. That way they will eat and then use up those calories before eating again.

Find the time to play with your kitty, twenty minutes a day can make a huge difference
 

shorty14788

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Also, when you are getting foods what does the label say? does it say "weight control" Or does it say "light"?? Foods that are labeled "weight control" do not meet aafco standards for a light food. (i.e. Iams weight control has more calories in it then science diet regular adult food) Weight control simply means it has fewer calories then that brands regular adult food. Read the labels carefully!
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Shorty14788

Also, when you are getting foods what does the label say? does it say "weight control" Or does it say "light"?? Foods that are labeled "weight control" do not meet aafco standards for a light food. (i.e. Iams weight control has more calories in it then science diet regular adult food) Weight control simply means it has fewer calories then that brands regular adult food. Read the labels carefully!
AVOID Either.. see wt control or light or lite ... are all HIGH in carbs NOT in the fat and protein that the cats need
 

lmunsie

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Originally Posted by sharky

AVOID Either.. see wt control or light or lite ... are all HIGH in carbs NOT in the fat and protein that the cats need
What about wellness healthy weight, that's what I use on my overweight guy, it's a 'low calorie' food and he is doing amazing.......but is there anything bad in it for him?? My other little girl eats it a bit as well and it doesn't seem to affect her.

I combine it with orijens and wellness wet (little girl gets feline plus as well.....all she would eat after her sickness)



Advice for problem with the fat cat is do as these people say and get your kitties on an eating schedule. It took me awhile as these guys were used to being free fed, but I got it to work. And my initial 18lb siamese is down to less then 16 lbs now. I combine this with exercise though. When I first got him in the summer I walked him outside on a harness and he loved it, that's what we did for exercise, then I shopped around until i found a toy he couldn't resist, and now that it's winter I make sure he runs around inside everyday for awhile, and he is looking amazing.

Basically when I get up in the morning fatcat gets a spoonful of wellness wet (it fills him up for a bit) and I feed my healthy weight cat 1/4 cup of feline plus while he is eating. She has learned to eat it all pretty much in the morning. Then while I'm gone I leave them ~1/4 each of wellness healthyweight /orijens that they eat during the day. Then at night I do the same as the morning, plus another scoop of wellness dry for my bigman......you have to be sure not to cut them off!! Big cats still need a lot of food! Even as they are losing weight......
 
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bobbyblaze

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Originally Posted by lmunsie

What about wellness healthy weight, that's what I use on my overweight guy, it's a 'low calorie' food and he is doing amazing.......but is there anything bad in it for him?? My other little girl eats it a bit as well and it doesn't seem to affect her.

I combine it with orijens and wellness wet (little girl gets feline plus as well.....all she would eat after her sickness)



Advice for problem with the fat cat is do as these people say and get your kitties on an eating schedule. It took me awhile as these guys were used to being free fed, but I got it to work. And my initial 18lb siamese is down to less then 16 lbs now. I combine this with exercise though. When I first got him in the summer I walked him outside on a harness and he loved it, that's what we did for exercise, then I shopped around until i found a toy he couldn't resist, and now that it's winter I make sure he runs around inside everyday for awhile, and he is looking amazing.

Basically when I get up in the morning fatcat gets a spoonful of wellness wet (it fills him up for a bit) and I feed my healthy weight cat 1/4 cup of feline plus while he is eating. She has learned to eat it all pretty much in the morning. Then while I'm gone I leave them ~1/4 each of wellness healthyweight /orijens that they eat during the day. Then at night I do the same as the morning, plus another scoop of wellness dry for my bigman......you have to be sure not to cut them off!! Big cats still need a lot of food! Even as they are losing weight......
Thanks every one for the help. I have tried the controlled diet like that. The only problem i have with that is when u take the dish away, it seems like hes always looking for it. Then when u go to feed him he wolfs it all down in a matter of moments. I thought that was strange, but then he would begin to eat so fast that he would throw it all up in like 5 minutes. So wellness wet and feline plus are the best food to buy the fat boy?
 

captiva

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Like people, I think that different diets work get different results. I'm no expert, and my cat is still overweight, but as far as the hunger, I found that a high protein diet in a very limited amount (ask your vet) has worked best. He doesn't seem to be as hungry as the lo-cal diet we were trying which gave him more food per day but was higher in carbs and his hungry was worse on this diet.
 
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