Amadeus' Weight

So, Amadeus has lost 4.6 pounds now. He started his journey back in June when I decided that I had to stop feeding him food that was making him fat and get him healthy. His healthy weight is about 15-18 pounds and he was 25 when he started. I started feeding him Wellness grain free canned.

I am trying to make sure he is losing slowly and the past few weeks he has only lost a couple ounces or maintained each week. Last week he lost 1lb but that may be a little inaccurate. Also I don't have a baby scale so I've just been holding him and weighing us together, then weighing myself and subtracting that to get his weight. But, at least it appears he is slowly losing.

I am happy and he certainly seems happier.

Wow! That is great! I am so impressed that you were able to do it. I had a cat once that was very chubby, and she cried and cried until I gave in on feeding her. Good for you! And for Amadeus. The cat I was referring to died of a heart attack at the age of 9! I had noone to blame but myself for that!

greenvillegal-

First, I'm happy that you are experiencing success using a good quality wet food.

This is not intended to rain on your parade in any way...so, I hope you will interpret it the way I am intending. I do have some concerns about the speed of his weight loss.

It's ten weeks ago today that you posted that you had begun on this journey. From those earlier posts, it seemed to me that you understood how important it is that a cat lose weight slowly...it appeared that you were talking about Dr. Pierson's recommendations. And, in that thread, sharky also quoted from Dr. Pierson's article and cautioned to slow down the reduction. Also, toward the end of that thread, sharky also suggested increasing the amount of food given.

My concern today relates to the same thing.

There are a few of points I'll make:
-Dr. Pierson puts the emphasis on 1% per week weight loss as more prudent than 2%

-Hepatic Lipidosis is more likely to impact large, heavy cats

-Remember, as the cat loses weight each week, the weight reduction target for the following week must also reduce. So, the amount of weight being lost each week must decrease each week...it's 1% of the NEW weight that is the target.

To me, for a 25 pound cat to lose 20% of his weight in 10 weeks is a situation really requiring an injection of caution. Dr. Pierson describes the danger like this:
Hepatic lipidosis (HL) is a life-threatening condition that can occur when a cat is either completely anorexic (not eating at all for 48 hours or more) or is consuming less than 50% of his daily caloric needs over several/many days.

What happens is that, if a cat isn't taking in at least that 50%, his liver will begin drawing on the fat in his body to compensate. The trouble is - and only in cats - that the cat's liver will draw in more than it can process, and the liver itself becomes fatty. That's HL or "Fatty Liver Disease".

In that same article on obesity, she also suggests that the whole process should be based on calories...the number of calories he requires (based on his weight), and the caloric content of the food. I didn't see any reference in that earlier thread to calorie consideration. Perhaps you should get a handle on this before going any further.

If I were asked my opinion, I would suggest that you "put the brakes on" for a period of time and re-evaluate all of the above. (that will also provide a recovery period, in case it's needed)

The specific references you will need are
Safe Rate of Weight Loss
How Much Should I Feed?(the calorie calculation)
Implementing a Safe Weight Loss Program

.... in ten weeks the most he should have TECHNICALLY lost at 1% would be ten percent of overall wt ..... would be 2.5 lbs ... he is loosing around double this which if he was seeing the vet for a bi weekly weigh in and check maybe okay but"_

Thanks guys. This really worries me and I am going to address it immediately. I will make sure I am feeding him enough every day and will make sure his weight loss slows down a little. I just frighteningly discovered that I am only feeding him about half the calories he needs per day. This really terrifies me and I am going to give him a big bowl of the grain free Wellness canned as soon as I get home!

I do have another cat who is at a pretty good weight (maybe could lose a pound) and he is on the Wellness too to keep it consistent. I really need to get a good scale for him, right now I am using an expensive bath scale for people and weighing myself, then weighing he and I together and subtracting it.

Thanks again so much for your concern and guidance.

Most baby scales will work and today they often are digital

Update: I looked up the nutritional info of the Chicken & Herring Wellness canned that I feed my guys and a 12.5 oz can has 429 calories in it. Since I've been feeding one can per day for 2 cats, that's about 215 calories per cat per day. Amadeus is supposed to get about 275. So, it's not as severe as I thought but he still needs a little more. The past few days anyway I have been giving them a whole can plus a little from another can.

My cat is 6.90 kilo - about 15 pounds... In my opinion he is a little overweight, specially when he sits down his belly touches the ground... he just loves to eat.
Since may I've changed to Orijen, as is grain free and he has been getting 3 teaspoons of wet food per day as a treat...

When he went to teeth cleaning in June is when we weighted him, the vet thinks he is a little fat too...

I hope to see some change soon, unfortunately I do not have many resources here concerning food variety and the Orijen I got had to be shipped to me ...

I really concerns me that he might have health issues...

I know what you mean ronit. I am so paranoid about my kitties getting health problems because of how I fed or took care of them.