Timeframe for Weight Loss

Mattie needs to lose weight. At her last vet visit in October 2008, she weighed almost 11 lbs and the vet thinks she should be closer to 9 1/2.

I've reduced her calorie intake since then by about 10% (per vet's recommendations) but it's not really helping. I did this by reducing her dry food intake by switching her from 1/4 cup of Natural Balance Ultra (553 calories per cup) to 1/4 cup of Wellness Indoor (464 calories per cup), it came out to be about 20 calories less per day than what she ate before. She still eats the same amount of wet food each day (3 oz). Now, we're feeding her even less than 1/4 of a cup of the Wellness Indoor.

I'm soon switching her to 1/4 cup of Taste of the Wild for her dry food (in addition to her regular 3 oz of wet food). TOTW has 390 calories per cup and is higher in protein and grain-free. I'm hoping this helps.

It is impossible to get her to play with any sort of toy to help her lose weight. She is not playful and only wants to sleep all day. Nothing interests her (da bird, laser pointers, string, etc.).

My question: how long should it take a kitty to lose 1 1/2 pounds, safely? Maybe I just have unrealistic expectations on how long this will take. I know it has to be a slow thing, but how slow is normal?

One pound in thirty days is the safe amount veterinary nutritionist Dr. Rebecca Remillard recommends. So you should be able to reach your goal in no more than two months. But if it takes a little longer, that's fine too. Watch for signs of stress and anxious behavior and if necessary slow down with the program. Also keep in mind that the less carb in the food, the easier it is to lose weight on it. Canned food is great for losing weight. Makes it very easy.

Forgot to ask you, do you have a baby scale? If you don't, please, get one. You'll want to monitor Mattie's weight very closely and a baby scale will be enormously helpful.

Very important: DO NOT RUSH IT! This can be very dangerous. 1 pound per 30 days is ambitious, but not dangerous, quicker then this can be dangerous. I reccomend on top of decreasing the caloric intake also attempt to increase physical activity (interactive toys, walking outdoors on a harness) this will help healthy weight loss, even if it's just 15 minutes a day. Also if you can purchase a postage scale, this will help infinitly, it goes to the 0.1 gram so you can easily monitor slow weight loss week-week. Good Luck!

What age is your cat?

Is kitty's lack of interest in playing/toys and preference to just sleep "usual"? Could kitty be totally bored? Any other pets in the house? Your only cat? (cats are companion animals and often become bored and withdrawn when they're alone; often do much better when they have a companion).

Has kitty had any bloodwork done, if lack of interest and desire just to sleep is "out of the norm", to rule out any underlying health issues that might be causes these?

Originally Posted by lmunsie

Very important: DO NOT RUSH IT! This can be very dangerous. 1 pound per 30 days is ambitious, but not dangerous, quicker then this can be dangerous. I reccomend on top of decreasing the caloric intake also attempt to increase physical activity (interactive toys, walking outdoors on a harness) this will help healthy weight loss, even if it's just 15 minutes a day. Also if you can purchase a postage scale, this will help infinitly, it goes to the 0.1 gram so you can easily monitor slow weight loss week-week. Good Luck!

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Slow and steady is the best

Originally Posted by the_food_lady

What age is your cat?

Is kitty's lack of interest in playing/toys and preference to just sleep "usual"? Could kitty be totally bored? Any other pets in the house? Your only cat? (cats are companion animals and often become bored and withdrawn when they're alone; often do much better when they have a companion).

Has kitty had any bloodwork done, if lack of interest and desire just to sleep is "out of the norm", to rule out any underlying health issues that might be causes these?

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by the_food_lady

What age is your cat?

Is kitty's lack of interest in playing/toys and preference to just sleep "usual"? Could kitty be totally bored? Any other pets in the house? Your only cat? (cats are companion animals and often become bored and withdrawn when they're alone; often do much better when they have a companion).

Has kitty had any bloodwork done, if lack of interest and desire just to sleep is "out of the norm", to rule out any underlying health issues that might be causes these?

Click to expand...

Mattie has never been interested in toys, at least not in the 1 1/2 years since I adopted her. Not even the go-to cat toys (Da Bird, laser pointers, string, etc.)

I don't know how old she is, but I think about 2-3 years old. She has ALWAYS been inactive and uninterested in everything as long as I've had her. We have 2 other cats (both playful and young) and 1 dog, so she's not lacking in company. I can get her to play with a toy maybe once every 3 months. The only things she is interested in (besides sleep) are food and catnip (just plain catnip, not catnip toys).

The grumpy/unplayful thing could have been caused from when her previous owner had her de-clawed. No way to know really.

It's possible that she could have an undiagnosed thyroid issue. She is scheduled for a dental cleaning in a few weeks and they are doing bloodwork (for anesthesia) then, would checking thyroid levels be a part of this? From what I've read, hypothyroidism is pretty rare apparently in cats (and hyperthyroidism just doesn't sound like her).

I've pretty much just concluded that any weight loss will have to be the result of a reduction in food...

An idea for exercise:

If you have stairs in your house, try to get her to go up and down them more often. Maybe have a treat in your hand and get her to follow you up and back down then give her the treat or catnip or take away her food and trail it up the stairs.

Stairs are great, for kitties and humans too.