Best type of light cat food???

After talking with my vet yesterday about my chunky Mia, I am kinda confused as to what to do. He said that really the only way for a cat like Mia (with her indoor lifestyle) to lose weight is to be on a very low-calorie food. My problem is that I have two other cats that need to keep their weight where it is, or gain. One of them is on a senior diet. The other two eat just a plain-old variety of (I think) Purina. It's not the best food, but I got it free and want to use it up before I buy anything else. I will note that Mama Mia has been this big since I adopted her, which was like a year ago or something. When I feed them, they do initially eat from their own bowls. But as the day goes on, they kinda eat from whichever is closest. So, I think it may work if I switched to a diet food for her and have the other ones stay on theirs. So I need to know what the best light formula food there is out there. I'm not looking to pay $20 for a 3 lb. bag of food however, it needs to be somewhat reasonable. But I do want to see results. The vet said that she's not clinically obese, she just looks (and feels ) like she swallowed a small bowling ball. And she's a tiny-statured little lady, so something's gotta change.

I'm suprised your vet didn't either recommend a food or precribe an RX food if she is so worried about her weight. Wet food is the lowest in calories...so I suggest you go with that. My kitty loves Wellness grain free and nutro in the tiny cans.

Originally Posted by venusgirltrap

I'm suprised your vet didn't either recommend a food or precribe an RX food if she is so worried about her weight. Wet food is the lowest in calories...so I suggest you go with that. My kitty loves Wellness grain free and nutro in the tiny cans.

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Well, he didn't recommend anything because he wasn't all that concerned about her. Since she's already on a very restricted and controlled diet, and she's not clinically obese, he wasn't worried. He just said that if I ever did want her to lose weight, then that would be the way to go for her. And the reason why he didn't prescribe a diet is because at the time I had my other cat with me, and he has much more pressing medical issues that require constant medication so he knows that the cat budget is tight right now. For some reason, Mia refuses to eat wet food. She's probably had 5 bites of it in her lifetime. She loves her dry lol! Yeah all he said was a good quality food that is low in calories. (If she ate wet too, that would make my life a lot easier with the way I feed all of them. )). And she seems to hate food that is really stinky, so like no tuna, no fish, etc. I could try getting one little cat of it for her, but it would be hard to get her to only eat that.

They are unhealthy for your obligate carnivore! Cats need meat and light diets are way too high in carbohydrates to be healthy. Most of them are based on what a dog needs, and how dogs process food - meaning they fill them up with fiber.

Check out http://www.catinfo.org a website run by a vet who actually studies feline nutrition (most vets don't - just as most human doctors don't and refer you to a nutritionist - but what's worse is that vets generally rely on the pet food companies to explain nutrition to them.. which of course is going to say their food is the best)

You can also check out http://www.catnutrition.org and more specifically http://www.catnutrition.org/catkins.php

if you prefer your information in hard copy, check out
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031...SIN=0312358016

Originally Posted by cesg

They are unhealthy for your obligate carnivore! Cats need meat and light diets are way too high in carbohydrates to be healthy. Most of them are based on what a dog needs, and how dogs process food - meaning they fill them up with fiber.

Check out http://www.catinfo.org a website run by a vet who actually studies feline nutrition (most vets don't - just as most human doctors don't and refer you to a nutritionist - but what's worse is that vets generally rely on the pet food companies to explain nutrition to them.. which of course is going to say their food is the best)

You can also check out http://www.catnutrition.org and more specifically http://www.catnutrition.org/catkins.php

if you prefer your information in hard copy, check out
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031...SIN=0312358016

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DOGS do NOT need Carbs either I suggest reading the Merck vet manual


IMHO I agree avoid light foods... My first suggestion is a no grain dry or just control feeding amounts of current food... I would also suggest a second opinion..

I'd feed them one of the more inexpensive dry foods that have better ingredients than Purina once the bag runs out (Taste of the Wild, Chicken Soup, Kirkland Signature, Natural Balance, Diamond Naturals...). I would avoid 'light' foods, they just seem to have more fillers. A higher quality food will be higher in calories usually, but all you need to do is cut back on quantity and feed portion-controlled amounts.

If you fed that cat all wet and no dry, it would be even better. Wet food is healthier all around.

I don't understand. If she's not clinically obese, and already on a strict feeding regiment, and the vet wasn't concerned, then why are you thinking of a diet for her?

Sorry if I missed something, I'm just confused at the issue.

If she's not gaining weight, then I don't see a problem.

Along with the others, light food is not a good choice....and I'll disagree with your vet on it being the only way for her to lose weight.

Exercise helps.... get interactive toys, encourage climbing of stairs, play, etc.

wet food and a dollar store laser pointer should do the trick

Wow, I didn't know I would go under attack for this! I think I mentioned before that they do have their food intake very controlled.

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

I don't understand. If she's not clinically obese, and already on a strict feeding regiment, and the vet wasn't concerned, then why are you thinking of a diet for her?

Sorry if I missed something, I'm just confused at the issue.

If she's not gaining weight, then I don't see a problem.

Along with the others, light food is not a good choice....and I'll disagree with your vet on it being the only way for her to lose weight.

Exercise helps.... get interactive toys, encourage climbing of stairs, play, etc.

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I was just curious because the vet said that with her activity level, there really isn't any other way. I can't do stairs with her, as I live on the upper level of a duplex so there are no stairs inside her living space. I've tried almost every type of toy (I've got a huge box full of crap for them lol, probably like $1,000 worth of stuff). She just doesn't get motivated like some cats. She's very laid back- if I play with her the most she will do is lift her paw to swat at something a few times, then just ignore everything around her.

And as for the second opinion- that is something I won't do for this because I have a superb team of vets at my disposal right now, and have faith in them. And I don't have money to go to another vet and have them tell me the exact same thing.

I'll try to get her moving around more (lord knows I've tried that one before ) and hopefully she'll go for it. I understand that everyone has a different opinion on feeding, and feel that that way is the correct way. It's very understandable. But please, I did not ask this for people to question my vet's abilities. That was never the topic in question.

And for everyone that says wet food is the way to go: she will NOT eat wet food. I've tried it before for about a week, and she just refused to eat period. She'd rather starve than eat it. I've tried mixing small amounts in wet food and she won't go for that either.

Originally Posted by mismaris777

Wow, I didn't know I would go under attack for this! I think I mentioned before that they do have their food intake very controlled.



I was just curious because the vet said that with her activity level, there really isn't any other way. I can't do stairs with her, as I live on the upper level of a duplex so there are no stairs inside her living space. I've tried almost every type of toy (I've got a huge box full of crap for them lol, probably like $1,000 worth of stuff). She just doesn't get motivated like some cats. She's very laid back- if I play with her the most she will do is lift her paw to swat at something a few times, then just ignore everything around her.

.......

I'll try to get her moving around more (lord knows I've tried that one before

) and hopefully she'll go for it. I understand that everyone has a different opinion on feeding, and feel that that way is the correct way. It's very understandable. But please, I did not ask this for people to question my vet's abilities. That was never the topic in question.

And for everyone that says wet food is the way to go: she will NOT eat wet food. I've tried it before for about a week, and she just refused to eat period. She'd rather starve than eat it. I've tried mixing small amounts in wet food and she won't go for that either.

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I don't think anyone was attacking you I apologise if my post seemed that way, and I do retract my statement about your vet. Unfortunately without the info you provided above, it did seem like your vet was not encouraging exercise at all, hence my disagreeing with him.

I was just curious about why the concern over weight loss, if there isn't a concern? (make sense I hope LOL ) I still don't agree with the statement of "light food is the only way" for your cat to lose weight.

Portion controled of a good food will help maintain, possibly even lose a little bit of weight.

The light foods are soooo filled with fillers So I guess that my answer to what light food is good, would be none of em.

Some kitties don't like wet food.... it happens. Although wet food is great for them, some kitties won't have at it. But there are other choices that light food.

sorry if you thought i was attacking you... It was not meant that way at all.

I didn't think anyone really attacked you and I'm sure your vet is great...but sometimes vets don't explain stuff very well. If my vet says something about a food I make sure and push her for a type/brand name instead of letting her be vague.

I used to use Nutro Max indoor for my cat...the indoor is supposed to be less calories than the regular, so maybe an indoor formula? Also, you can try slowly cutting down the amount she's feed...most bags say way too much.

Originally Posted by venusgirltrap

I didn't think anyone really attacked you and I'm sure your vet is great...but sometimes vets don't explain stuff very well. If my vet says something about a food I make sure and push her for a type/brand name instead of letting her be vague.

I used to use Nutro Max indoor for my cat...the indoor is supposed to be less calories than the regular, so maybe an indoor formula? Also, you can try slowly cutting down the amount she's feed...most bags say way too much.

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If I would've repeated everything that the vet said, word for word, this would be pages long. I spoke with him for over 1/2 hour just about Mia.

Like I've said before, she already has a very controlled amount. I never go by the bag, their measurements are inaccurate and stupid. She gets a little less than 1/4 cup (like 1/5) of dry in the morning, and then in the evening she gets 2 tablespoons, with the occasional freeze-dried shrimp or greenie. They normally get an indoor hairball-formula, because she really seems to have problems with hairballs compared to the other two.

I didn't push a brand/type, because my vets are not food-type specific. What they always recommend is basically the more you spend on a food, GENERALLY the better it gets. He just said that I probably shouldn't get the the 5-10 cheapest foods on the shelves. They recommend getting it online or going to a pet store. He just said that if I do decide to put her on an even stricter diet, whatever I give her should be very low in calories. He did mention trying to exercise her, however I did tell him that she's pretty much a wallflower that doesn't do too much except cuddle, he knew that it would be extremely difficult to get her up and moving if that's the type of cat she is.

I don't know what details I've left out, cuz like I said we talked about her for a very long time. If anyone needs to know anymore details, just let me know and I'll try. I have 110% faith in all 3 of my vets, which I think is very important for a pet owner to have.

And sorry I kinda jumped on the defense about this, I feel like I just missed out on this discussion since I wasn't on here for a couple days (was up north for the 4th, don't have internet up there ). And it took me sooo long to find vets that I like, I'm just defensive about them