Overweight Cat

Shadow is very overweight but not sure what we can do that we are not doing already
She is on a certain kind of food because she has Irritable Bowel and the vet has us feeding her half of the recommended amount for her weight. (supposed to get a cup and 1/2 she is getting 3/4) Also we have limited the amount of treats we feed her (also this is affecting our other kitty cause we can't give one treats and not the other)
She is still Gaining weight! yesterday we had to go out and buy a new kitty litter cause she is to BIG for the we have. We went to three stores till we found one big enough. Her bum we sticking out all the time and she was hitting the floor not the box. I found her in the sink going pee also cause she is getting fed up with it herself.
Her tummy fur is turning into peach fuzz cause she lays on it too much...I try my best to get her moving and playing as much as I can but she gets tired out sooo easily.

I can definitely relate to overweight kitties.
What food is she getting, and does she get any wet?

My one cat was overweight. I now feed 3/4 cups of dry for 2 of my cats to share and about 2.75oz of wet food a day.

She lost all extra weight, and now maintaining. My other cat is also maintaining, but she wasn't overweight to begin with.

According to the guidelines they both should be getting 3/4 each, but I feel like guidelines are off.

I would add wet food, and cut the treats out. Also scheduled meals help, 2-3 a day.

Good luck!!

Has Shadow been tested for thyroid issues? Maybe that explains why she's gaining weight so drastically. Also, is she stealing your other cat's food?

We can't feed Shadow wet food cause she gets diarrhea from it
She eats Iams Vet Intestinal Low-residue dry food
Both cats get 3/4 cup, seperate bowls a day, in the morning and it's out all day.
They never use to have a scheduled feeding and no set amount so this was the best we could get them to compromise with.
The food bowls are in our eye sight so we do know that they eat out of their own bowls.
I know it sounds like I'm a horrible owner that she gained all this weight but cause of her health history it was completely out of our control.
In 2006-07 (right at x-mas time) she had fatty liver for a couple of months (in bio) so she became nothing but skin and bone...So she put this weight on VERY fast.

Have you tried different canned foods? Perhaps there might be one or two that won't cause diarrhea if you introduce them very slowly (like start with a teaspoon per day). If she is still gaining, then you may need to feed her less. Will she play with toys? Helping her to get more exercise can increase how many calories she burns. Perhaps you could put her food on a counter or up a few stairs (like on a step stool or a pet staircase) so that she has to expend more calories to get to the food. I recently bought a couple of treat balls (the ones I got were from www.arcatapet.com and were only $1.91 for 2) for my boys (especially Zek) so that he has to expend more calories to get the food and so that he'll eat more slowly. I would also strongly suggest transitioning the cats to meal feeding--it will make it easier to track what each one is eating and to reduce it if Shadow continues to gain weight.

like I previously said she can't change foods because the one she is on is for her Irritable Bowel and helps keep it under control. The other Brand of cat food that makes a type of cat food that she can eat for her IB she does not like...we tried it and she went on a hunger strike as well as Mischief.

I play with her alot, she becomes tired very easily and disinterested. I keep at it though cause I'm home all day so I can keep at her. We have tons of different toys around the house from balls to string to mice to those balls trapped in the round tunnels.
We use to have the cats food up on the dining room table but shadow stopped jumping up for it and we didn't want her to starve so we moved it to the floor

Actually right now I am really concerned about how she is acting right now....Past couple days she has been VERY mopey and to me she seems depressed. She has actually not been eating a whole lot...Her food bowl still has its full feeding in it. Last night she walked away from her treats.
She is acting exactly like she did before she got fatty liver last time and I'm really scared she is heading in that direction again...I don't think Shadow can go through the whole process of it again because last time she was depressed and suffering the whole time
Also even though we have insurance for the cats we have to pay up front and then we get money back from the insurance company and right now we are really tight on money. Last time it cost us over $3000 through the whole thing...causing our insurance to actually cut their return in half on Shadow and they still haven't brought it back up to the 80% yet like they said they would. I'm going to try and get her into the vets tomorrow or Monday (they are only open till noon on Sat)

RApid weight gain or loss is a sign of some underlying problem - probably metabolic - like someone else suggested- thyroid or even diabetes... something is going on if her food is that closely regimented and she's getting big.

the vet did blood work I think 3 months ago and checked for diabetes and her thyroid and everything was fine
The vet do keep mentioning Diabetes but they keep saying we would know because she would be drinking excessively (which I think she does) and peeing so much that we would have to change her litter every day where we only have to change every 5 days but we completely dump it and put fresh litter in...and through the 5 days I scoop it here and there just to keep it clean for them.
I will talk to the vet when I see them about her mood change in the past few days and the fact that this weight is just out of hand and the diet is doing nothing. Usually our vet is really good about giving us somewhat of a discount on things because I have hardly any money and just a blood test can cost in the hundreds here

How much does she weigh? The "guidelines" on the bag are based on an average cat. Your cat may not have the same activity levels as others. Generally, when putting a cat on a diet, you should look at the range for what she "should" weigh and feed based on that. You can adjust it based on her activity and her metabolism. I know it will make you feel like a bad mommy, but get rid of the treats. Treats are nothing but un-need calories. Just be careful about cutting back her food too much since she has a history of hepatic lipidosis.

Good luck to ya!

Shadow weighs 8.96 KG
So that's 19 Lbs. and 12 Oz's
I don't do the dieting on my own I follow what the vet recommends because I don't want to starve her or feed her too much. I know whats on the food is just guidelines. I don't completely trust the food companies especially after the whole food recall and after I saw this show on the recall and about what is actually put into the pet food

We have an Appt. at the vets though I pretty much know whats wrong with her cause I watched her very closely all night long. She can't poop, she keeps going to the kitty litter and trying to go every 5 minutes and nothing comes out. I see her lower body contracting but nothing comes out. I cleaned the litter out and washed the floor and all that and she just laid in the litter box all night after that. So the vets most likely will give her an enema to help her go cause she sometimes gets bumbed up
I am so happy its just this and not what I was worrying about before

I second the rec for the treat balls ( that dispense food) I've used them with my overweight cat (he's currently getting 1/2cup of dry food a day). I feed him at a set time ( in the am and pm) and because I have 2 kittens also, they have to be fed seperately... When fed using the treat balls, it takes him about 20 minutes to get all of the food out of a ball... AND he leaves some in there (he eats slower, so gets full faster, and doesn't want to consume all of it). If I feed him in a bowl, he chows down and consumes all of the food within about 2 minutes. I figure that because he eats so fast, he doesn't have time to "feel full", so eats more.

The only problems with the treat balls, is that they are plastic and have to be cleaned regularly (I soak mine in soapy water, then scrub and rinse). Also, if you have a very hyper cat (or kittens in my case) they will whack the balls around like they are normal toys and you'll have food everywhere.

I thought canned food was supposed to be good for IB? I'm not sure though... Maybe trying a little at a time might not hurt. Or maybe there's a canned IB food. I'd switch my fat cat completely over to canned if I could (because of the high moisture it is good for hairballs, constipation, etc. and can help loose weight) but he, too, doesn't care much for wet food unless he's really hungry.

HTH,
Art

I know about treat balls I had one for my puppy I had until he started to want to become Alpha in the house and started to viciously attack Shadow, so we had to give him up for adoption. Since he was a miniature Dachshund it was a small treat ball and I tried it on Shadow a few times and she had no interest in it at that time...I can try again

on the update with her at the vets today:

Her bowels are completely impacted. Vets used a warm water enema (only one that works on her) but it didn't work this time. They sent us home (only open till 12pm today and not open tomorrow) with stool softeners, medication to get her bowels to push and also we have to use an IV treatment...once tonight, 3 times tomorrow we have to insert a needle just under her skin and put 100 m of it in her. They showed us how.
They said she is so badly impacted she may not go...so thats why we have the IV treatment. On Monday we may have to go in again...She may have to go under and the vet will push the poop out manually or they may have to remove a piece of the bowel
She is so out of it right now...she is in so much pain...I feel so bad for her I can't stand seeing her like this. She is hiding under the kitchen table right now and sleeping.

I'm sorry to hear that... I felt like that after my cat had a bad seizure and reacted poorly (wouldn't hardly move, yowled constantly when we took him to the vet). All you can do is follow the vet's instructions and pray for the best.

My cat didn't show interest in the treat ball either, until he got hungry... I had to skip feeding him for almost a whole day until he'd attempt to roll the treat ball. Now, I put it on the floor and he goes at it. He just had to get used to the concept of working for his food.

Art

ok well since alot of you seem to have a good reaction with the treat ball I will try it with Shadow. Doesn't hurt to try and right now I need to try everything I can to get her to loose this weight.

I'm sorry to hear your cat had a seizure before it's always hard when they go through things like that...I've never gone through cat seizures though I'm sure it was very scary.

Shadow so far has not pooped. We have done everything the vet said...given her all the meds and IV treatment we were supposed to so far. She is ignoring us and will not even reply when we talk to her, she is so angry with us. She does keep trying to go though and hopefully one of these times she will