Cleo Is Officially "Fat"!

I took Cleo in today to have her anal glands expressed again. They weighed her, and she's up to 12.8 pounds!!! Holy Mister!!! Dr. Sue calls it "the third cat syndrome." Cleo's weight was totally stable for 5 years at around 9 1/2 pounds. Since Lola was added to the mix, Cleo has gained slightly more than 3 pounds in 4 years. Dr. Sue did mention that as long as she's gained weight, that she'd obviously not having any problems because of her kidney failure (her bloodwork for renal function has been very stable.) Cleo does have an innocent heart murmur (grade 2, confirmed by echocardiogram.) Dr. Sue said that it would be better for her heart if we start working on getting her to lose some weight. She said that we should set her goal weight for 11 pounds by this time next year. She doesn't want me to try to get the weight off too quickly, especially with her renal issues. Right now I free feed 4 cans of wet food/day for all three cats. They are free fed two cans in the morning and two cans in the evening. I am supposed to confine Cleo and give her 1 can/day of her renal food (either in the am or pm) and give the other two the run of the house, and give them 2 cans of wet to share. Once that food is gone, I can let Cleo out. I think I will start by feeding them at night. I'll confine Cleo with her food in my bedroom (there's a litterbox in there, so it will work fine.) Hopefully, that will allow me to sleep through the night without hungry cats trying to get me to feed them, lol! If that doesn't work, I may have to keep Cleo confined all the time...feed 1/2 can in the day, and 1/2 can at night. That will suck! I sure hope it doesn't come to that.

I'll try to keep everyone updated on our progress!
Wish me luck (I think I'm going to need it!)

successful, slow weight loss vibes for Cleo ( she is such a gorgeous calico!) and lots of all goes well vibes for you.

I have fat cat syndrome in my house too. I had to stop free feeding because Izzy was almost twice what she should weigh. She is getting svelte now at 12

My mom hates when she has to come feed when I am gone...she swears my cats turn into hungry feral monsters that are going to eat her at dinner time

I've had the same problem with Lilly's weight after adopting Forrest. She gained over a lb. in less than 6 months. Her weight had been pretty stable for quite some time at 10 1/2 lbs. Once Forrest arrived she blossomed up to 11.7 lbs. She was looking a little "round" at that weight and I know it was caused by her sneaking the kitten food.

She's lost some weight now....down to 11 lbs, but still has a ways to go as the vet thinks she should weigh around 10lbs. When I first put her on the diet the Vet recommended she lost too fast. Poor girl...she acted like she was starving and even jumped on the couch one night and tried to grab food out of my hand. She's NEVER done anything like that before.

It's so difficult with multiple cats to control their calories, especially when each cat has specific needs. Hopefully you won't have to keep Cleo confined. Much Luck to Cleo for slow and steady weightloss.

Many weight loss for Cleo and for you. Tailer is my chubby one. I had to start the whole confining thing when Harvey came along because Tailer would scarf everything given the chance. He got better as he got older, though. Now Forest is our resident scarfer.

Good luck!
I know how hard it is having a 'tubby' cat myself.