Overweight cat

What is the best thing you have done for your overweight cat to get him/her to lose weight? Hobo is 15-17 pounds, hard to tell on my scale as it isn't accurate if you move even the slightest.

Anyway my steps are switching him over to an all canned diet. So far this is going well.

I need to get him to exercise as he has never wanted too unless on his own some nights when he seems to be playful.

I have a lazer light, no go so far.

Please help with advice/insight.

Thanks

Hello !!!!!! You must start counting calories for you kitty . For weight loss - it is usually about 15 calories per pound. So for your 15 pound cat - I would feed about 325 calories per day. Try to incorporate playtime sessions with an interactive toy as well. Try a feather wand toy - Da Bird. OR those Neko flyer wand toys. Cats go nuts for those

Thank You! The can says there is 479.9 kcals per 13.2 oz can. So how in the world do I figure how much to give him?

Hobo08 said:

What is the best thing you have done for your overweight cat to get him/her to lose weight? Hobo is 15-17 pounds, hard to tell on my scale as it isn't accurate if you move even the slightest.

Anyway my steps are switching him over to an all canned diet. So far this is going well.

Click to expand...

It seems to me that the best, first thing to be done is to learn the WHY's behind the weight accumulation. Otherwise, well........

The best answers that I have found are in here http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity

An "all canned diet" isn't enough for a solution.....on the food intake side, it's all about 1) the quality and 2) the quantity measured in calories

AND - especially for a very large cat - there's a huge caution against rapid weight loss...right here http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity#Implementing_a_Safe_Weight-Loss_Program

I just saw that you've had a reply while I was prepping this....well, again, yes, the caloric quantity is one element...but what's in that can  you're feeding should be issue Number One.That website explains the quality part here http://www.catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods

REMEMBER - you must go slowly in all this. If that weigh scale isn't accurate, you'll need an alternate weighing plan before starting (is a quick weekly weigh-in at the Vet's a possibility?)

White Shadow said:

It seems to me that the best, first thing to be done is to learn the WHY's behind the weight accumulation. Otherwise, well........

The best answers that I have found are in here http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity

An "all canned diet" isn't enough for a solution.....on the food intake side, it's all about 1) the quality and 2) the quantity measured in calories

AND - especially for a very large cat - there's a huge caution against rapid weight loss...right here http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity#Implementing_a_Safe_Weight-Loss_Program

I just saw that you've had a reply while I was prepping this....well, again, yes, the caloric quantity is one element...but what's in that can  you're feeding should be issue Number One.That website explains the quality part here http://www.catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods

REMEMBER - you must go slowly in all this. If that weigh scale isn't accurate, you'll need an alternate weighing plan before starting (is a quick weekly weigh-in at the Vet's a possibility?)

Click to expand...

The why is because the shelter overfed him and he sat in a 3*3 cage for 7 months with no exercise. I have had him since October of '10. He lost 1.5 lbs that I last knew of. I have not weighed him at the vets for a few months now. I am not to comfortable with taking him just to weigh only because the best place to pick up a disease, infection, cold, etc would be at a vet clinic. If he stayed in the carrier and I weighed him in it then brought the carrier back empty maybe he would be ok. I work in a clinic so that shouldn't be to difficult. 

I plan to only buy quality foods: I might just buy a digital scale. I will read the articles now. Thanks

Oh my gosh I got him to chase a string!!!!! So I have never actually tried a string with him because my sister had bought him this stick toy with a bird on the end and he didn't chase it ever. I went and took the sweatshirt string out of my old sweatshirt and he is chasing it! Only problem he bites it and trys to take it away LOL

Firstly find a way to weigh him at home, or go to the vets just to use the scales.  Yes, if you sit in the waiting room with an ill animal they can catch whatever it is, but you should be in and out to weigh.  Take him in the same carrier with the same bedding each time so you know how much to deduct from the total.

If he is gradually losing weight then don't worry about how much you are feeding him.

One of my cats was somewhat overweight, made more obvious by his being an oriental with a very short close-fitting coat - like shiny black lycra.  I made my back garden cat-proof as I had a cat on twice-daily medication, and since then he has gradually lost some weight just with going out and exercising more.

OrientalSlave said:

Firstly find a way to weigh him at home, or go to the vets just to use the scales.  Yes, if you sit in the waiting room with an ill animal they can catch whatever it is, but you should be in and out to weigh.  Take him in the same carrier with the same bedding each time so you know how much to deduct from the total.

If he is gradually losing weight then don't worry about how much you are feeding him.

One of my cats was somewhat overweight, made more obvious by his being an oriental with a very short close-fitting coat - like shiny black lycra.  I made my back garden cat-proof as I had a cat on twice-daily medication, and since then he has gradually lost some weight just with going out and exercising more.

Click to expand...

I did weigh him at home and the scale is an old dial one, not a digital. I can't always trust that it is right, if I move just a little bit it moves. I would love to have somewhere to let him outside to, but no go here. I am going to play with him with the string everyday now that I see he likes it.
 

I got a cheap digital scale from Amazon - it was like 20 bucks. I weigh myself and then weigh my girl (she won't stay long enough for me to read it if I place her on by herself).

Dr. Pierson trained her cat Bennie to use a toddler scale.  They sell them on Amazon too but they're expensive:   I bet some sort of baby store would have them.

Have you tried the laser? My kitty goes gaga over it!

In the UK fairly cheap digital scales for people are readily available now.  One of those would be far more accurate than an old set of dial scales.  And the point about the effect that going out had on my cat is that being more active helps.  I know that having a cat-proof back garden is a luxury.  It would help me too!

I have a digital baby scale I bought from Amazon for $40. The brand is Salter. It even has a hold button that gives you the true weight after the scale and cat settle down.

I reduced my Claude's food intake a little (by calories) and got him to lose a couple pounds over about 6 months. He likes Natural Balance reduced calorie formula, sold at Petco.

Claude won't play with any toys - even Da Bird, Neko Flies, laser dot, or any of the other wands I have that my other 5 cats love. I was frustrated in all my attempts to get him moving more. He is lame, so I thought that was his issue. He'd watch my other cats play, but not join in.

BUT, for the last 4 months, he plays VERY actively with my foster kitty, Constantine (pictured above). Constantine has taken on the job of being Claude's personal trainer. :lol3:
They wrestle, chase, run up and down stairs, hide and pounce, and even have gotten Claude interested in catnip mice. Claude even plays with these mice on his own now, if no one else is in the mood.Nothing like a young whippersnapper to get one interested in being silly. Constantine is 4 years old, and Claude is 8.




Robin

He is really going after the string how long should I exercise him with it everyday?

My cats always wear me out before they are ready to quit. Sometimes I have played with them with wand toys for an hour, but usually 30-40 minutes. As long as your cat isn't panting, or breathing hard, all should be well.

But one caution about the string, or any toy with string attached. Be sure to put it away securely where your cat can't get it when you are not supervising the play. Some cats get onto serous trouble with string.


Robin

Really, any amount of exercise is good, even 10 minutes, or 10 minutes twice a day.

Robin