Feeding for weight loss

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this. My cats weigh 19lbs and 17 lbs. Vet says they need to lose weight, but didn't give me a weight goal. They were being fed approx. 323 cal/day. If I've done my math correctly, to maintain 19lbs, he would need 263 cal/day. I'm wondering how much I should cut back the food. If I take it down about 20% of what he needs to maintain 19lbs it would be about 210 cal/day, is this too drastic? I know weight loss for cats is very important but very tricky to not damage the liver. (Vet says they need 125 cal/day and 100 cal/day. I know she is supposed to know better than me on things like this, but I am just NOT comfortable cutting back their food THAT much so quickly)

Instead of cutting back food, I would concentrate on switching foods to a completely grain free diet and an all wet food if you can. Grains are pure sugar and do nothing but cause obesity, diabetes, pancreatitis, etc. What are they currently eating?

finnlacey said:

Instead of cutting back food, I would concentrate on switching foods to a completely grain free...and an all wet food...What are they currently eating?

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xcourtney3, finnlacey has made for a good starting point....exactly what are they  eating now?

If it were me, I'd have them on a high quality (high protein, appropriate (moderate) fat content) low-carbohydrate grain-free wet before attempting to reduce caloric content. If they weren't on such already, I'd gradually make the changeover...and, in the course of that change, I might have to increase the amount fed (if the caloric content of the new food was less than that of the old).

Once they had become accustomed to the new type of food, then I'd begin to reduce the calories.

Have you already read Dr. Lisa Pierson's article dealing with obese cats? If not (or, if you have) a close look at these two sections (Safe Rate of Weight Loss and How Much Should I Feed?) Here's the link http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity#Safe_Rate_of_Weight_Loss That will provide you with the calculations...and, yes, be very careful because large cats, like yours, are particularly susceptible to fatty liver disease when dealing with caloric decrease. I'd really recommend that you find a way to weigh them weekly - even at the Vet's if you can't access an accurate scale (Dr. Pierson gives a link in there to a scale from Amazon)

With respect to what they "should" weigh, I believe that is all to do with the individual cat's "natural" size...small, medium or larger "frame" (structure/skeletal size). Here are a few bookmarks I have to help you determine what the externals should look like

http://www.kittens-lair.net/cat-health/the-ideal-weight-for-a-cat.html

http://www.petobesityprevention.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/CatBCS_APOP.pdf

http://www.petsgetslim.co.uk/weight_check/ you can play with this one - when you get to Step 2, move the button slider back and forth to see the changes between under/overweight.

Rather than make any pronouncements, I'd say it would be better if Vets were to educate guardians about how to evaluate these things - say, by using and providing charts like those....any Vets reading this?

Hi xcourtney3   I am so glad you are concerned about your kitties weight!  I think in order to give you advice maybe a little more info is needed.  What type of diet do you have your cats on now?  By that I mean all dry, all wet or maybe a combo of both?  How many times a day are they fed or do you free feed them?  What brands/types of food do you feed?

If they are on a dry kibble diet I would consider converting them to an all wet diet or even a raw diet.  Kibble is calorie and carb dense and can lead to obesity if the kitty is allowed to feed on as much kibble as they want.  Also if they are not drinking enough water with an all dry diet they can develop other issues, the most common being UTIs. 

If they are on an all wet diet how often are they fed? 

You will receive excellent advice here and you will be able to make a decision on what and how to go about putting the babies on the diet treadmill...
 

The other part of losing weight is exercise.  You need to start playing with them several times a day to get them more active.  Toys on string on a rod are great, and the other one if you have a flight of stairs is to get the cat's attention, stand at the bottom and throw a pingpong ball up.  The cat chased up & down after it, though one of mine started sitting on a tread and catching it!

Also table scraps are often very high in fat and sugar.  If you feed any to your cats that needs to stop.

Our tabby male was up to 17lbs. We switched him to a diet- he gets grain-free, protein-rich food (Taste of the Wild), 2 1/2 teaspoons twice daily. He is now down to 14 lbs! We also use the laser toy to give him excercise.