overweight cat

mizmelzy

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I have one cat that is quite over weight. She is 6 years old and weighs 18lbs. I've tried her on the diet dry cat food and then went down to feeding them 2x a day. I also played with her a bit 2x a day. The only thing she'll play with is a string. And even then all she does is lay there and bat at it. She doesn't run after things. And when she does it's only for like 20 seconds. She's always been just a lazy cat. Since I've been trying this she has not lost any weight. She continues to be at the 18lbs. I've also noticed that she has really dry skin. The vet said to brush her daily which I do. It has helped some but she still has some flaky skin. She's been to the vet, and had tests done. Everything is fine on that end, he said that like us they can be prone to be overweight too. I've had her isolated so I could see how much she was eating. She doesn't eat more than what's recommended for her. She eats about 2X a day.

Just wondering if there was anything else I could do? I think the big problem with her is she just doesn't really "Play" she bats at strings but she does it sitting. I can't seem to get her to run after anything. It may be because of her weight too. But I'm not sure what else to do at this point but keep her on her diet.
 

farleyv

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All my cats lost weight on wet cat food. Much of the dry is carb heavy and calorie heavy. Plus, wet food is better than dry in the opinion of many people including vets.

Your vet should be a bit more help than he is IMO. At 6 years and 18 lbs, well she is on her way to some health probs as she gets older.

I would look into feeding her a wet food. But discuss with your vet. If there is no help there, look for a vet that is well versed in nutrition.

There are a few people here who can give you very good advice on food. They will more than likely chime in soon.
 

cmedeiros17

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I have the same problem with my female (it always seems to be the females that are overweight????!!! LOL). Have you tried using a laser pointer??? Mine does exactly as yours....just lays there or sits there to play. But when I bring out the laser she does run a bit more. So if you can find a toy that motivates her and try it a few times a day. Another thing I do.....which might be kinda cruel....she wants to go outside in the worst way so sometimes I will open the front door to get her to come running then go to the back door and repeat back and forth for a while. It gets her moving.

Also, are you feeding any treats???? Make sure to take that into account and you may need to cut back on her food a bit more.
 

bellaandme

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Boy, I know your concern first hand. My Bella has had a weight problem since before I got her from my friend a few years ago. My vet was NO help at all. First off, you took the correct first step in having her checked out. It's important to make sure there are no other issues going on with your baby.
What I did was put her on a soft food diet. It contains water that helps in making her feel full. I carefully measure out her portions between 1/2 to 1 teaspoon 2 X daily.
As far as play, boy oh boy, she just laid on the floor or bed and batted at the toy. She watched it go back and forth so her neck was the only body part getting a work out. So I started giving her a little bit of cat nip in the beginning before playtime. It really worked--she went NUTS with the toy. Now she plays without it. She will find her toy and stand by it and stare me down until I relent and play with her.
This is what has worked for me. I'm not saying it will work for your kitty. I'm certain others here will have great advice for you. It just takes a lot of patience and you never want to take the weight off too fast.
Bella has taken off 2.5 pounds and she is now at 11.5 lbs. She is still a hefty girl, but we're getting there. GOOD LUCK
 
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mizmelzy

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I have tried giving her wet food and she doesn't seem to like it much. She sniffs at it and walks away. I've tried heating it up too..nope sniffs and walks away. I tried different flavors and she had no interest. So that is why I went with low calorie dry. She'll eat that. What I think I have to resort to to get her to run around is comb her. She'll tolerate it to a certain extent but when she has had enough she'll move. So I keep moving with her and brush her. She keeps moving so I do this for about 5 minutes. I don't want to do it too much because then she won't let me brush her. But it does get her moving. I have tried a lazer pointer and cat nip. She doesn't run after the lazer either. She'll pat at it if it's around her. But she doesn't run after it. I've tried a bell feather, mice, bird on a wire toy. Nothing. She just looks at it and then at me like she's saying "what am I supposed to do with that?"

She is being stubborn about playing. She'll get a little goofy late at night and like run after a toy. But that lasts 20 seconds and then she lays back down.
She's been that way since a kitten. She'd play a little but not as much as the rest of the cats. She's always been a lay-about kind of cat. She'd rather be sleeping in a sunny spot than playing.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by mizmelzy

I have one cat that is quite over weight. She is 6 years old and weighs 18lbs. I've tried her on the diet dry cat food and then went down to feeding them 2x a day. I also played with her a bit 2x a day. The only thing she'll play with is a string. And even then all she does is lay there and bat at it. She doesn't run after things. And when she does it's only for like 20 seconds. She's always been just a lazy cat. Since I've been trying this she has not lost any weight. She continues to be at the 18lbs. I've also noticed that she has really dry skin. The vet said to brush her daily which I do. It has helped some but she still has some flaky skin. She's been to the vet, and had tests done. Everything is fine on that end, he said that like us they can be prone to be overweight too. I've had her isolated so I could see how much she was eating. She doesn't eat more than what's recommended for her. She eats about 2X a day.

Just wondering if there was anything else I could do? I think the big problem with her is she just doesn't really "Play" she bats at strings but she does it sitting. I can't seem to get her to run after anything. It may be because of her weight too. But I'm not sure what else to do at this point but keep her on her diet.
What is her ideal wt? I have a boy that is roughly 15-16 lbs and a slight bit chubby( perfect for him is 14-15)...

On your feeding twice a day how much are you feeding? what brand of food and what is the guideline( most tend to be on the higher end of what a cat should eat)? You should be feeding based on her ideal wt not current wt.

Low cal dry foods are Carb filled ... Cats need protein and fat for healthy skin , coat , muscle tone.... Think about it this way ... Cats are carnivores yet diet cat food is grain and starch filled and low in fat ...

I agree with a second opinion as it is rare for a vet to not address an overwt cat as it is one of the most common issues these days
 

mrsgreenjeens

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My boy Darko is somewhat overweight (16 lbs and only 18 months, but he's also just a large kitty), and I make him run for his food! I literally toss his treats from one end of the room to the other, so if he wants any, he has to run for them. That really works well! Then, when we run out of treats, which I limit because of his weight, then I just grab some of his kibble, and we continue the game. Plus, he has to outrun Stinkpot or he doesn't get any.

Also, all their food dishes are raised, so he can't just lay down and munch away, plus there is a ball in the middle of his dish so he has to eat around the ball to slow him down. These are tricks I read about somewhere on how to help your cat lose weight. By the way, my guy only eats dry as well...none of my cats like wet, no matter what kind or style (pate, shredded, etc.)
 
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mizmelzy

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Well I think I found a way to get her to play. She's usually more playful at night around 8pm or so. I had a string and made her chase it around. Got her to jump up on the couch to get it and brought her back down. I got her to play for a minute or two. After that she layed back down. So it's a start.

Also all their food/water/litter boxes are downstairs in the basement. So they have to go up about a flight (about 12 stairs and three more steps around a corner) or so of stairs. They have to go down stairs to eat and then back up to come back up stairs.

She has no more than 2/3 of a cup a day. The food is up and I feed them 2x a day.

Here is a picture of Faith.
http://yfrog.com/1n0518101038j

I don't think that this is a healthy weight for her. Maybe I need to start feeding her less than 2/3 of a cup a day. Hopefully she'll start taking weight off. I don't know when I should start seeing results.
 
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mizmelzy

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I have now got her to chase the lazer pointer. She only runs after it for a few seconds then lays back down. I have got her to roll around back and forth a couple of times with a string. I've been doing this several times a day today. Trying to motivate her a little more. I do notice that she really isn't playful when Callie is around. Callie is 4 and VERY playful. She goes NUTS over the lazer. She will be running around and run over the other cats to get to the lazer. It's funny, but faith does not like it. She growls and hisses at her.

So now when I play with faith, I put Callie in another room and she's more playful.

I have not weighed her yet. But I probably won't notice any weight changes since It's only been a week or so.

Does anyone know when I should be seeing some weight loss? Even a small amount?
 
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mizmelzy

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Faith has stopped running after the lazer pointer. How she just looks at it and pats it. I tried the string but she just bats at it sitting. Though she has gone up and down the stairs usually twice or more a day to drink or go potty and has jumped off and on the couch a couple of times too. So maybe that has something do do with it. The only way I can get her to run is for one of the other cats to chase her. Then she runs.

Do they make kitty treadmills? Something with a gate around it so that you can put them on it but they can't jump off of it? This way I could make them walk for a set amount of time? She's being really stubborn about this.

The only other thing I can do is to keep reducing her food intake instead. Otherwise I'm plum out of ideas on how to make her more active.

I weighed her yesterday and she actually gained a pound. She went from 18 to 19lbs. And she didn't get anything in between meals.
 
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