I was really disappointed

grogs

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A State of Confusion
I took Tiny, my 19-pound Tabby, to the vet yesterday to have a cyst on her back looked at. The cyst turned out to be nothing (just a sebaceous adenoma), but afterward the vet and I spoke about Tiny's weight. I told her that I have just recently started Tiny on a diet that included a high-protein, low-carb wet food (50% of the time right now). I told her I thought Tiny was the perfect candidate for that type of diet because, despite her weight, she really doesn't eat all that much.

After I told my vet about the wet food, she told me that they were putting together a list of wet foods that she recommended. I told her that, sure, I would be interested in seeing it. I was pretty excited, thinking it would be nice to be able to use the vet's list for ideas of good food for Tiny, and maybe some other brands to look for food that I haven't tried yet. Unfortunately, that was not what I got. When she came back in, she told me that the list wasn't finished, but she would prescribe some canned r/d food for Tiny instead.
I thanked her and told her I'd consider it, but I'm going to try it my way first. From what I've seen over on Binky's site, the r/d gets somewhere ~40% of it's calories from carbs and it contains ~5 g of fiber -- 10x as much as the typical canned food. That sounds like what I would get by mixing corn husks in with regular dry food.

It's a shame because I really do like my vet. She really seems to care what's going on with my cats and takes the time to answer my questions. What I'm hoping is that Tiny will respond well to the high-protein / low-carb canned food and drop 2-3 pounds by the time I go back for her annual exam in December. That would allow me to open a good dialogue, explain how I got her to lose the weight, and discuss the issue from an informed viewpoint. Right now, I'm a bit skeptical about the wet food = weight loss business because, although it sounds quite logical, it really sounds too good to be true.
I just bought a good pet/baby scale that's accurate to 0.5 ounces, so I should be able to see results within a few weeks if it's working.
 

darlili

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IMO, like any weight loss plan, calories used up have to be more than calories taken in, no matter whether it's wet or dry, raw, commercial or homemade (or human or feline). The trick is making sure a reduced amount of food also contains the required amount of nutrients, which is what some of the prescription and other commercial weight loss formulas are designed to do - as opposed to just cutting back on regular formula foods helter skelter.

My guy lost a couple of pounds on measured amount of Nutro Max Cat dry (the hairball formula) which does have a fair amount of fiber in it. The vet helped me determine the amount to serve. I also tried playing with him more. Dante likes to eat, unlike my girl who eats only til she's full. It could be the fiber actually helped Dante in making him feel less hungry as he was losing. They also get wet food, but with my work schedule and their grazing habits, I like to have both foods for them.

If it were me, I might try your way for a while and keep the vet informed regularly of what's going on - I know my vet invites patients to come in and be weighed for free, since the practice is very concerned about overweight pets. She sounds like she wants to know what's happening, and hopefully both of you will find a program that works well for your particular cat.
 
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