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My vet called my cat fat

post #1 of 11
8/26/10 at 7:47am
Thread Starter 
I admit. I knew she was bigger, but when seen through the eyes of love, it just looked like more of her to love. Anyway, the vet became very stern with me. She is only a year old, and he wants her on the right foot. Right now she is at 15 pounds.

My slight delimma is that portly young Violet shares my home with rather slender old lady kitty named Penny, who is 12 and at about 9 pounds. Penny has a bit of a stomach issue. So, I have been feeding both of them Holistic Select Chicken recipe. Penny has kept this down pretty well and both of them really like it.

I'm feeding less then the bag reccommends, about a half cup each once a day. They seem to be doing ok, but I'm not sure I'm feeding them the right food. Any thoughts?
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post #2 of 11
8/26/10 at 8:18am
Hi,

It's almost impossible for a cat to lose weight on dry food. I dieted my 18.2 pound male cat down to 11.12 using wet/raw food. I foolishly thought that we could then do maintenance and have him eat a small dry meal in the morning and raw at night, but he put back almost 3 pounds in just 5 weeks. We've since put him back on the wet/raw combo and he's svelte again.

I'd recommend getting a good wet food (we use Blue Spa Select and a raw mix I make) and feed the kitty the amount she'd eat if she were 11 pounds. I mix it with a good portion of warm water to make a "stew" so he fills up better. Two or three (mine do 2) feedings a day. You want a sloooooooooooow steady weight loss.

I'm sure others will come along with more precise instructions. It's doable, but your "fatty" (said with love) may be one who can never eat kibble.

Good luck!

Cally
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post #3 of 11
8/26/10 at 8:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by vneidell View Post
I admit. I knew she was bigger, but when seen through the eyes of love, it just looked like more of her to love. Anyway, the vet became very stern with me. She is only a year old, and he wants her on the right foot. Right now she is at 15 pounds.

My slight delimma is that portly young Violet shares my home with rather slender old lady kitty named Penny, who is 12 and at about 9 pounds. Penny has a bit of a stomach issue. So, I have been feeding both of them Holistic Select Chicken recipe. Penny has kept this down pretty well and both of them really like it.

I'm feeding less then the bag reccommends, about a half cup each once a day. They seem to be doing ok, but I'm not sure I'm feeding them the right food. Any thoughts?
My vet was quite diplomatic in his choice of words when it came to Alley's last checkup. He said "her head appeared to be smaller"
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post #4 of 11
8/26/10 at 8:58am
Are you free feeding? If so the answer is scheduled meals. This will allow you to put more down for Penny and less for your kitten. Since the chubby one is still so young it should be pretty easy to get her to play, correct? Put some more effort into getting her moving.


I have a fat girl kitten, too. I'm not concerned with it at the moment because she does have a serious infection that treating (the med) can cause her to lose her appetite.
Tanna does have a favorite game, she loves to chase things - especially treats or pieces of dry food. She gets very excited if I toss dry food through the kitchen and into the living room since it bounces across the floor the whole way. If your kitten will play this game it could at least get her working for her food a bit.
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post #5 of 11
8/26/10 at 10:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Persi & Alley View Post
My vet was quite diplomatic in his choice of words when it came to Alley's last checkup. He said "her head appeared to be smaller"
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post #6 of 11
8/27/10 at 6:16am
First... Talk to you're vet about how much and what to be feeding you're cat.

IMO it is not impossible to have you're cats loose weight on just dry as I have done it before and I know many others have. You will have to start scheduled feedings a couple times a day. But you must feed less to Violet!

For her to loose weight, you must feed less then 250 calories a day. I feed my cat around 225 calories because she needs too loose another pound, once she is down to ideal weight I will bump it up to 250 so her weight stays consistent.

It is much easier to do if you feed some dry and some wet or all wet as there are fewer carbs.
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post #7 of 11
8/27/10 at 2:21pm
Ask your vet for a calorie recommendation. There's a chart showing how much to feed your cat if you want it at a certain weight. I think the general rule of thumb is to start decreasing food by 10%.

The easy way to do it would be to stop feeding dry food and feed only wet food (for both cats).
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post #8 of 11
8/27/10 at 2:27pm
I was sternly told my my Vet that Fay is fat and Mia "has a little tummy on her".

Their will was stronger than mine on the dry vs. wet battle so she had me switch them from ProPlan for mature kitties to Science Diet Hairball formula "LOW FAT". She repeated the importance of the low fat banner enought that I even got it. She said that brings them from a 70% fat food to a 30% fat food.
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post #9 of 11
8/27/10 at 5:06pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks so much for all the responses.

I do have to say my vet has more then a few pounds to lose himself, and after calling Violet out, I gave him a dirty look, and he admitted he is a bit of a hypocrit.

Anyway, I do free feed. I have a bit of a fear with Penny. When she gets hungry, she eats very fast and makes herself sick. I fear that if she doesn't have the ability to graze, she will go hog wild at feeding time and just get sick. I'm wondering if I slowly move them to a scheduled feeding, this might help a bit. Get her used to the idea that she doesn't have to eat like she will never get food again.

Also, Penny is not a huge fan of wet food. She will maybe eat a bite of it but it's really not her thing. She likes dry food. Maybe I can keep Penny on dry and just have Violet on the wet.

Regarding exercise, I'm not quite sure how much Violet gets when I'm not there, but when I am around, my two kitties run around quite a bit. Violet's favorite toy is Penny's tail. One of the reasons that Penny has become quite svelte is the exercise the kitten brought into the house.
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post #10 of 11
8/27/10 at 8:07pm
Any way to exercise sweet Violet some more? Most cats go crazy for Da Bird or the Feline Flyer... something like that.....
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post #11 of 11
8/27/10 at 8:37pm
Longevity by Blue Buffalo is what did the trick for my senior fluffy, in more ways than one, kitty. It took 6 months, but he managed to lose the 6lbs he needed to lose to be at his ideal weight. he's been eating it since it first came out, and is still doing well.

I have to hop up on my soapbox for a second. your vet does not deserve dirty looks for telling you that your cat is fat. it's his job to look out for the health and well being of your animals; that's what you pay him to do. Cats are obese when they are 10% over their ideal weight, it drastically increases their risk of joint, and heart problems, as well as diabetes. Not to mention an overweight cat DIES at an earlier age.
Remember, he's not calling you fat.
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