Jake's weight issues and vet visit..

Sooo I took Jake to the vet for his annual exam today...I got him in the carrier, in the car and then...all hell broke loose!! He was howling, screaming in the deepest loudest cries and banging his head in the carrier walls, doing all kinds of twists and turns.. thankfully it's fabric so he did not get hurt.
I started to cry also because I could not watch him do this...So I was driving and crying and Jake being like this, and I decided, I can't keep him in there, i knew it was irresponsible but I opened the door of the carrier...
And surprisingly he calmed down, and didn't even leave the carrier and stayed in there the whole car ride..So then everything became much better after that. Funny thing, on the way back, as soon as I got in our driveway he was ready to come out, and when I parked the car in the garage (his carrier door was open again) and opened the car door he bolted out and went to wait for me straight at door that leads into the house..He is such a smart boy, lol I am just amazed at how good his orientational skills are..


Anyway, at the vet, everything went pretty nicely,except for his weighing- he got the purevax vaccine and FVRCP, I had a good talk with the vet about vaccines and he explained to me everything I had already read, which means he stays up to date on all current information, which is awesome! Oh, and I found out he had been on the local news talking about vaccine related sarcomas and the dangers from them. So, what he recommends is to do the FVRCP distemper combo shot every year until Jake is about 5 and then not to worry about it because his immune system will be already built.

And now the most important part, Jake is 4 pounds overweight The vet said I could come in and weigh him every month, and I have to slowly get him to eating 250 calories rather than the 350 he's eating now...He is 17 pounds and should be 13. So I'm glad I finally have a weight loss plan for him, there was really nothing I could have done without a vet's advice..

Anyway, sorry for the semi pointless thread, but I wanted to update since I posted a thread earlier about this upcoming appointment.

I thought he sounded a bit big from your descriptions of him - I was just thinking a couple pounds, though. IMO, if he is a big cat then 13 may be a little on the lower end. But you and your vet will have to wait and see how he looks physically as he loses his weight. I have one that would look bad at 13lbs - he looks best just a little over because he's a long tall moggie.

Have you thought about using a harness and safety strap and putting him in the back seat that way? Maybe part of what he dislikes about the carrier is that he's a bigger cat in it and feels trapped.

I might try a harness, I have been in the car with him before just driving in the neighborhood and he was in my lap and he didn't freak out at all. I think he just couldn't stand the idea that he was trapped, and when I opened the door of the carrier he realized it's a nice place to hide if he has the choice of walking out, so he just stayed in there the whole time without crying at all anymore..

I think also because I had to force him into the carrier and close the door on him, he wouldn't walk in otherwise at home, that probably freaked him out a lot also and made it seem less like a cool hiding spot from the scary vet and scary car ride and more like jail..Then at the vets office he gladly went back into the carrier, lol..

I think 13 is low also, he is 17 now but I am sure he was like 18 or 19 at one point. He sure weighed more when I fed him dry food, and now that's it's all wet he seems in better shape and lighter when I pick him up. So to me he seems better than he has been, I can't imagine him at 13 pounds..The vet said I could go straight to feeding him 250 calories and don't have to worry about it being a sharp change because he should be fine on that amount of food and at the moment he's eating a lot more than he should, but I am not going to do that ...I am going to go to 340 for 2 weeks or more then 320 for another 2 then 300 and so on...or something like that, lol...

My daughter thinks carriers for cats are mean and she takes Sega everywhere with a harness and leash.

^Carriers have their place. I couldn't have my cats on harnesses at my vet's office, for example, because there's always dogs coming in.

Definitely no more lap rides. If for the fact that airbags deploy at tremendous speeds. It's unlikely a cat could survive that. Likewise, if you have a passenger side airbag treat your cat and cat carrier just like you would a young child or baby - in the back with them.

I don't know about sharply transitioning. When Sho was over weight the vet never said anything but I realized it was affecting his health and slowly worked him down to smaller portions. Maybe some cats wouldn't notice a big change, but a food obsessive cat probably would.

Regarding his weight, does he get outside much to romp and frolic and do cat stuff?
Reason I ask is I have a very large Tiger Tabby we call Garfield who was at 18 pounds but with spring here he is now a lean 13 pounds and he is just a large cat, but the excercise seemed to have been the key for him.

Cats can exercise inside But I do agree that exercise is just as important as feeding. A 15 minute intensive play session 2-3 times a day can make a huge difference in their weight loss.

You can probably decrease his food by a lot more than 20 calories every two weeks, when we got Scully we cut him off from all human food and free feeding immediately when we adopted him and he only cried about it for a few days. Then when the vet gave us a calorie amount, she told us to decrease him by 10-20 calories each day. They often eat because its there not because they are hungry so are fine on less food - I have a few clean platers

I am going to play with him, although he is a very active cat in general since he's only 18 months old he is still playful..I get these catnip mice for him and he goes crazy for them, carries them in his mouth everywhere and plays with them..
I'll see how the feeding goes, right now he doesn't have much of an appetite, could be the weather or that he just got shots but he is currently eating 250 calories when free fed...

Thanks for the update on Jake! There's no such thing as a pointless thread about one of our furbabies.

groingoRegarding his weight, does he get outside much to romp and frolic and do cat stuff?

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Cats don't need to go outside to get exercise. They can get all they need inside as long as their humans make sure to spend time every day in Interactive Game Time. Having a cat tree or some stair step book cases can help things along.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

^Carriers have their place. I couldn't have my cats on harnesses at my vet's office, for example, because there's always dogs coming in.

Definitely no more lap rides. If for the fact that airbags deploy at tremendous speeds. It's unlikely a cat could survive that. Likewise, if you have a passenger side airbag treat your cat and cat carrier just like you would a young child or baby - in the back with them.

I don't know about sharply transitioning. When Sho was over weight the vet never said anything but I realized it was affecting his health and slowly worked him down to smaller portions. Maybe some cats wouldn't notice a big change, but a food obsessive cat probably would.

Click to expand...

I'm with you on cats in carriers. My cats are harness trained for being in their yard, but when they travel, they are in carriers, strapped in the back seat. And especially, they remain in them at the vet!


Utopia: if you schedule feed, you can cut Jake back without him noticing. If you feed four meals a day, for instance you just make each meal a tiny bit smaller than they used to be.

Add a little warm water to the canned food, if he'll tolerate it, that will slow down his eating, and make him feel fuller, too.

I'm sure you already know this, but for anyone who may not, it is very important for a cat to lose weight very slowly. Three pounds should take at least six months.

Very dangerous for a cat to lose weight too quickly.