Obese cat

Hi, sorry you are going through this problem...
Please do be careful with his eating though, as for an obese cat to stop eating like that it is downright dangerous- fat cats can get hepatic lipidosis in a snap- in fact, in a matter of days, if they go on a hunger strike or do not get enough nutrition... And that can be deadly. It is a very good thing your cat started eating dry food again... Since he was not eating for this long, watch him carefully to make sure he does... As my vet used to say, "you rather have a fat cat than a dead cat".
As far as dry food, what is he eating? I will say though, 1 cup is a lot- usually what is behind the bag is too much... You can cut down a little.
Does he eat wet at all? Has he ever eaten? What did you feed him when you tried to switch?
There are tons of flavors out there, and it might be the matter of trying different ones... Adding to his diet first, then reducing the amount of dry as you increase the wet.
Some cast like pate, some chunks, some will never eat wet...
Do you have a wand toy? Da Bird?
Let us know... Good luck!

hum..... 1/2 cup a day is not a lot, and I would not cut down from that.... Have you tried DaBird?
This specific toy - called DaBird. It is a wonderful, irresistible toy.... No other feather toy seems to work like that one.... you can try playing with him 2x a day.....
What about getting him a buddy?
Sprinkling freeze dry meat (chicken, salmon IMHO are the most liked) on the wet food can help him eat.... But some cats (like my Lucky), just won't eat for anything..... Again, start by adding it to the diet, then reducing the dry/increasing the wet.
Also, adding it with a bit of warm/hot water and mashing it down really well helps a lot. You can also add a bit of water, mash it down and warm it up in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

If the cat outright refuses the wet food, its not that big a deal if the only concern is to reduce weight. Use a high quality low carb food with minimal fillers and adjust calories for steady weight loss. You can keep trying w/ the wet, but no more missing more than 24hrs w/o eating IMO.

Cats shouldn't be losing more than 1-2% max of their body weight a week, if its going faster, feed more.

Just like with people, you feel more full if you eat slower, so I'd invest in a slim cat food distributor ball, around $5 on Amazon:

Releases small amounts of kibble as they pounce on it and push it around playfully. It looked like fun combining play + food reward.

And as was recommended, exercise is always a great idea, just like it is for us.

I was about to recommend this myself. With the food distributor ball, they have to work a little and eat slower. It is uncomfortable for an obese or over weight kitty to play, run around, jump and do all the things that should be normal physical activities.
Some kitties find comfort and attention in relation to food and being fed. My Maia is very much like this! I adopted her at 5 weeks, so tiny and had to feed her replacement milk for a week or 2 till she started eating wet food. Ever since she was 4 months old, I realized I have to watch her food intake very closely and can't leave any extra food out. She loves her dry food, and will eat whatever is in her bowl to the point of puking it up shortly after if it's to much, to fast. So what I do is feed her very small amounts, around 10 pieces of kibble at a time, in intervals 3 times in the morning and 3 times in the evening. Of course she gets little snacks here and there, but I have found this to be the best way to curb her appetite and keep her at a healthy weight. Our last vet visit was a month ago and he said she was at her perfect weight

I'm going to third that no matter what, don't let your cat go a whole day without food. 12 hours is the max amount of time.
Try putting out wet and dry at the same time or mixing the two together. Then reduce the amount of dry food you give until he is on a wet only diet. Also change the amount of dry food to 1/4th or 1/3rd cup per day.

It is hard for fat cats to move and get around so too much effort for exercise is not fun for them. Da Bird might be too much for him right now, I would try an old shoelace, just dangle it in front of him and drag it around. Even if he only paws at it, it's a start.

P.s. - Some of us would kill for a vet that recomended wet food for a fat cat. Stick with him! Stay away from Science Diet however, it is a low quality food and not worth your money.

Do not do that - obese cats can quickly go into hepatic lipidosis by consuming 1/2 of the calories/nutrition amount - as quick as in a week or so.

You need to be very very careful when dealing with an obese cat. I have been through a lot of vets with my own overweight cat Bugsy, and all of them told me rule of thumb: 24 hours. Never more than 24 hours without food - for any reason. Bugsy has been close to 24 hours without food quite a few times due to dentals, procedures, etc, but when it got that close, no matter what, I was force-feeding him per my vet's instructions... And that's the rule for any of my cats.

If your cat is eating 1/2 cup a day of dry food, for an 18lb, that is not a lot. Sure if your kitty is fat, you can cut a bit. But a little bit at a time, give him time to adjust, then cut more. Never cut his intake by half - you can end up putting the life of your cat in danger.

Wet food would be absolutely great, trying to change his food to a less caloric food would be another option - IMHO, stay away from "light" foods, they are filled with carbs and fillers that do no good. On the other hand, if you go to a protein rich, grain free, watch out the calories - I went that route and Bugsy gained weight (he is 17.9lbs now, but has been 20 - he is also a large breed, Ragdoll). There are more and less caloric foods, and I don't care what people/theory say, calories still DO play a role when you are talking about a lazy and obese cat.

IMHO, your best bet is to get him moving...If you spend some time with him and put some effort into it, he will move - you have to play with him though.... Some cats do on their own, some need us to do it with them.

I have worked with MANY obese cats like your Taffy in animal shelters across the USA. So I have some hands on experience I would like to share with you. I hope it helps.

I would recommend a grain free dry food such as: Taste Of the Wild, Orijen, Wellness Core and so on. I would also recommend some grain free wet foods such as: Evo, Wellness, Wellness Core, Daves, and so.

Then I would recommend going back to the veterinarian and ask what he/she feels is the appropriate amount of wet/dry food, you need to feed the cat in a twenty four hour time period.

Then just brake up that amount of food into what you and your cat feel are the "appropriate" amount of meals.

Lastly, the reason for no grain (carbohydrates) is grain puts weight on the cat.

If you can get your boy on a canned diet, he'll both feel better and begin to lose weight, which will improve his health and energy level even more.

Dr. Pierson, author of CatInfo.org, has helped many folks transition their kibble-addicted cats over to canned food. She has written a transition how-to article full of tips and tricks to use, and I highly recommend it: Transitioning Feline Dry Food Addicts to Canned. She is also available for consultations if you need one-on-one help; her contact info is in the last section of this page: Feline Urinary Tract Health.

Good luck!

AC

and ask WHAT he should weigh... ie is he 18 and should be 16 or 18 and should be 10 ... basics are the same but many other thoughts need to be added per amount needed

Yes, sorry let me rephrase. 'You should slowly reduce the amount of food down to 1/4th.'

I'm not new to weight loss in cats, my 22lb cat was eating who knows how much at the vets office where he was being kept, but once home with me, even at such a large weight, he only needed 1/4th cup to maintain his current weight.
You have to understand that if the amount of food being fed is exorbitant, you can hugely cut down to normal amount without causing life threatening weight loss. For example, if a person is eating 5000 calories per day, they are going to rapidly gain weight. If what they need to maintain their current weight is 2000, you can very quickly cut down to that because the person will only stop gaining weight, not lose any.
Also remember at 1/2 cup he's been gaining weight, so less food is needed in this equation to help him lose, and his ideal weight is not 18lbs, so his normal intake of food after weight loss is going to be very small.


I would highly recommend a baby scale be used during this process because then any change you make will be immediately apparent and keep you from having to drive to the vet's office every week. A cat can safely lose 1-2% of weight in a week.
Can you get him to play laser 2 or 3 times a day? Even that will help a lot. If he is truly just lazy, he may just need to eat very little calories and there is nothing wrong with that.

He doesn't even have to be actively chasing it for it to be considered excersize. As long as he is moving in some way, even if only his head, it is still burning calories and building muscle and that will get him on the way to being able to play like the other kitties.

Here are some videos to encourage you from my cat when he was as round as a bowling ball!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdCjrurwXG8
See, even after only 30 seconds, he was pretty much done playing. But you have to start somewhere and I guarantee you if you keep actively playing with him, it will get better over time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyohawk83qQ
This one is a combination of videos from a few weeks after I got him to a couple months. he started off real slow, just moving his paw only, to playing in the corner by himself, but he would only play for a minute and then he'd stop because he was tired, rest a bit and start up again. (Most of the video is on fast forward he was playing so slowly... xD)
Also, cats get a lot more interested when things are hiding behind other things. Try getting one of those feather on a stick toys and poking it underneath a door and making it disappear. Or having it 'jump' in and out of a box. Helps a lot to get them interested.