Fat cats in a multi-cat home + diets?

Hi everyone -

I have 6 cats, 2 of which are overweight (Angel and Frankie) and 1 that is getting there(Vito). The other 3 manage their own weight beautifully. I'm at a loss of how to get just the 3 to lose weight. I can't feed them seperately because the only rooms I have that have doors are my bedroom (off limits to them) and bathroom, which I'm usually in when they eat in the morning.
I give them each 1/4 cup of Science Diet Sensitive Stomach dry food, and they only get treats 1 day of the week (usually a can of albacore divided up equally). On treat day I reduce the amount of dry food I give them.

Angel and Frankie are not very active, so I try to get them to play but eventually the skinnier cats take over. Vito runs around a lot and he's the only boy, I can't figure out why he's gaining other than maybe it has something to do with him having been outside before I rescued him.

I figure that the 3 skinny ones must be getting their share of food cause their weight has remained constant for years, so I don't think Angel, Frankie and Vito are eating more of the food.

Can anyone help?

I think you are going to have to change your own habits, to help the overweight cats. I think it's terrific you want your cats to be at healthy weights, so many think fat cats are the way they should be.

I have just posted at length about this subject, but rather than posting it again, you can read it here:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...37#post2733037



My suggestion is you read my advice here, (there are two posts) and then adapt it to fit your unique situations.

You will have to be the Dreaded Cat Food Police. Stay in the room while they eat, and pick up dishes as soon as a cat walks away. Or find a way to separate them at meal times.

Split up meals. don't put down their entire daily food quota at once. Cut the servings, at least in half, morning and evening.

You will have to separate them at Games time, so the fatties get their fair share of exercise.

It's not easy, I know. I have two who would be very fat if I let them. It takes constant work to keep them at a healthy weight, even with scheduled feedings (I feed four meals and two snacks at specific times during the day)and nightly Games.

I feel your pain. With a household of 10, I have 1 boy that is very overweight and try as I might, I've not gotten weight off of him. But I have gotten weight off of 2 others that were in the same boat, so while you may not be entirely successful with all of them, you can help some of them.

I mostly rig my house so that anything they do they have to work for. Food bowls are on a counter in the bathroom (they have to jump up to eat), tall cat condos by the windows so that if they want to look outside (which they all do), they have to climb to see it. My water fountains are on another counter. If the heavy ones want attention, I'll tap something tall for them to jump on. Food is at one end of the house and water on the other.

When I used to live in a 2 story house, I would put their food upstairs and water downstairs so that they had to climb up and down the stairs. Be creative and keep them moving around.

And don't give up on play just because the skinnier ones take over. Mine love Da Bird, and with so many cats here, mine have learned to share between them to some degree - I just focus on one or 2 cats at a time when I'm playing with them and don't let the heavy ones say no when I entice them with it.

And even though this sounds counter-intuitive, wet food can be better than dry for weight control, and I've found that better quality foods (low in carbs) allows them to lose weight. Science Diet is full of carbs, and mine lost weight when I got them off of it.

You might consider putting them on a better quality food. Science Diet is full of carbs, and carbs are partly what make cats fat. they need a food with at least the first two ingredients being a meat protein, for example Chicken, chicken meal.

It doesn't have to be chicken, if some of your cats have allergies to that. Other brands have formulas designed to help with sensitive stomachs.

And....this food is very high in fat: 21.8 %!

the food you are feeding is:

Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Pork Meal, Dried Egg Product, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken Liver Flavor, Oat Fiber, Potassium Chloride, L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), DL-Methionine, Vitamin E Supplement, Calcium Carbonate, Taurine, Iodized Salt, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Tryptophan, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

If you would like to feed them seperately but don't have doors you could use a feeding crate.
Any kind of "box" with a hole big enough for the slim cats and too small for the overweight cats will do.
A friend of mine had an overweight cat who was not allowed regular dry food because of his bladder problems, she made a feeding crate from a cheap wooden chest.
When dEUS and Flynn came here as kittens I did not want Ernesto and Mimosa to eat their kitten food so I took a bench and narrowed the opening (with some metal wire that I coated with rubber strips) until the adult cats did not fit through anymore

Originally Posted by Mimosa

If you would like to feed them seperately but don't have doors you could use a feeding crate.
Any kind of "box" with a hole big enough for the slim cats and too small for the overweight cats will do.
A friend of mine had an overweight cat who was not allowed regular dry food because of his bladder problems, she made a feeding crate from a cheap wooden chest.
When dEUS and Flynn came here as kittens I did not want Ernesto and Mimosa to eat their kitten food so I took a bench and narrowed the opening (with some metal wire that I coated with rubber strips) until the adult cats did not fit through anymore

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Great ideas! thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by otto

You might consider putting them on a better quality food. Science Diet is full of carbs, and carbs are partly what make cats fat. they need a food with at least the first two ingredients being a meat protein, for example Chicken, chicken meal.

It doesn't have to be chicken, if some of your cats have allergies to that. Other brands have formulas designed to help with sensitive stomachs.

And....this food is very high in fat: 21.8 %!

the food you are feeding is:

Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Pork Meal, Dried Egg Product, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken Liver Flavor, Oat Fiber, Potassium Chloride, L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), DL-Methionine, Vitamin E Supplement, Calcium Carbonate, Taurine, Iodized Salt, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Tryptophan, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

Click to expand...

UGG!! I only switched to this food because they had Max Cat before and it got recalled, then disappeared for over a month and my cats would NOT eat any other food. I had someone suggest this version to me because my one cat who gets seizures and is the tiniest has stomach problems too, so when I brought out this food they all loved it. Plus since she's been on it she no longer has UTI problems. I just can't win.

Thank you all! Your comments have been very helpful and I'll definitely give them a try. I especially like the idea of making them work for things!
It's hard to decide whether to feed them dry or soft food, there are compelling arguments for both. Angel originally got fat because she would only eat soft food (both her's and Rogue's) while Rogue refused to eat soft and only wanted dry but was not gaining weight like Angel. Angel's teeth improved since I got her off the soft food (even when I would brush them) and the other kitties have good teeth also.

It's so true, feeding is such a complicated balancing act these days. And the more cats you have, the more complicated it can be.

I have three cats and they are all on different diets. Up until this past May, I did have four cats, also all on different diets.

Please keep us posted on your struggles and triumphs!

we have one fat cat and two kittens... we feed an all ages formula, so the only thing i try to really do is limit fat cats food. fat cat does not jump very high or well, little kitties do so i have put little kitties food bowls up high where fat cat cannot get to it. fat cat gets a little wet but mainly dry. he gets a handful of food a few times a day, he will gobble up however much is down no matter how much that may be (and if it is too much he will just puke it right back up he is such a piggy) i shut the little guys out f his room till he is done eating to make sure he actually gets his food.

Originally Posted by otto

You might consider putting them on a better quality food. Science Diet is full of carbs, and carbs are partly what make cats fat. they need a food with at least the first two ingredients being a meat protein, for example Chicken, chicken meal.

It doesn't have to be chicken, if some of your cats have allergies to that. Other brands have formulas designed to help with sensitive stomachs.

And....this food is very high in fat: 21.8 %! a cat is designed to handle protein and fat not carbs ... In most cases 20-25% fat is better than lower

_

the food you are feeding is:

Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal fine for assesory protein but NOT main, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Pork Meal, Dried Egg Product, Ground Whole Grain Cornfine but not in the same formula with corn gluten, Chicken Liver Flavor, Oat Fiber, Potassium Chloride, L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), DL-Methionine, Vitamin E Supplement, Calcium Carbonate, Taurine, Iodized Salt, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Tryptophan, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

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Blue= IMHO good

Orange = most will be fine with this

Magenta = IMHO ??able or something I would avoid