i feel so bad!!

In November one of my cats had emergency surgery. He got into a spool of thread and ate it. He is fine now, but at the time the vet yelled at me about how fat he was and the diseases he could get from being obese.
Well all of my cats even the teenage kitens are all pretty chunky, except for the stray that recently adopted us..but soon he will be on his way!!
I feed them twice daily(canned food) and always have dry available to eat in thier bowls. I give them temptation treats twice a day also. They love them!
Here is my thought and i started it yesterday..it did not go to well! I fed them at 6 am when i got home from work..2 large cans of wet food.(16ozcan) and gave them there tempatation treat..then at 4 pm i did not feed them but did throw out some of their treats. I feel so bad cuz they act like their starving. Again there is dry at all times in there bowls and they do eat most if it,,I fill them daily. I do not want to deprive them but I also do not want to make them sickly in the long run..any suggestions..I am thinking of changing them to all Nutro..foods My dogs eat that and they like it!!

Ultimately the vet needs to tell you what healthy weights are for each cat.

If you are feeding 6 cats 32 ounces of wet plus dry a day--thats at least 5 ounces of wet a day plus dry per cat. My males who are about 9.5 lbs eat 5-6 ounces of wet a day and maintain their weight--or 3 ounces wet and 1/4 cup dry. They normally eat raw but d/t some kitchen issues thats on hold right now.

Cats need to lose weight relatively slowly so your vet is good determination of how much to decrease feeding and ultimately you need no free fed meals, only scheduled meals. 3 scheduled meals works best I've found--2 wasn't working here--at least for the indoor cats.

Leslie

well, vet shouldn't have really yelled at you - but, when my vet felt my boy was a little more, er, fluffy, than he should be, she offered to look at the specifications of the food I was using then to see how much I should actually be feeding. A lot of times those guidelines on the bag or can can be quite a bit more than a cat really needs, but I know I felt more comfortable when the vet said 'feed half a cup, measured' of this and 'two tablespoons' of this, for example - because the servings look so small in the bowl. It took a while, but they adjusted.

Also, different foods have different calorie counts, so you have to take that into consideration - wet food is more calorie dense, for example, and dry foods can vary from line to line, and even within line. A lot of the more premium brands are higher in calories - so you can feed less per serving, but again, you have to figure out what a good size for your cats is. Right now my boy is on Hills CD, a prescription UTI food - guess what, it's very high in calories, so we had to adjust the serving size again.

A lot of vets will be thrilled to work with you on a diet plan - my vets' practice will even let you bring you cats in for weighing by a tech, for no fee, and keep track of the weight progression. That's how important they feel it is to know what's going on during the weight loss program.

But don't feel badly - the statistics on overweight pets aren't really good these days, and you're a good mom for deciding to help your cats become a healthy weight. Don't be afraid to ask your vet for help deciding on portion sizes, if you'd like that added reassurance. If they're not nice about it, may be time to shop around a bit.

PS - if you can get your guys to exercise a bit more, that's all to the good. And keep trying with the chunkier ones - my guy barely lifted a paw when I'd zip by with a toy - bit by bit, he got more intrigued and as he lost weight, he got a lot livelier and more interested in jumping around.

But good luck - I know it's hard to say no to their pleas, especially when you're eating dinner!

Without knowing exactly the weights and sizes of your cats it is difficult to judge - only your vet can tell you the amount they should be getting, but I would certainly cut out the treats - or give them maybe once a week, and I think that would make a difference. Temptations are amazing - the only treats my cats heave ever liked, and I suspect there is something addictive in them. Cats don't actually need them, however much they may tell you otherwise.