Mickey, my 27 lbs foster and his journey back to a healthy weight

Interesting!  Yes, it IS amazing how just 15 calories per day can make such a difference to his feeling hungry or not.  BTW, how  do you determine just how many calories are in your homemade raw concoction? 

I may have the same issue with Darko, as I have finally gotten him switched over from Primal to HT, but I've no idea how many calories are in HT.  All I know is that he seems more hungry than before, which is rather surprising to me, since Primal had some vegies in it, and HT doesn't.  So I'm giving him a few pieces of freeze dried RAW tripe each day as "dessert", which he loves, loves, loves (plus it's great for his teeth because those  little pieces are practically like rocks , so they really have to crunch on them to eat them) AND THE BONUS IS...he's still losing weight

Back to Mickey!  Great news that he still lost a little while on diet vacation   And that may just bump up his metabolism again, who knows

It also illustrates how much difference only 15 calories can make in the diet of a cat! 

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So true.  A while back I started giving my cats CET dental chews....one each day.  I've read they are 16 calories each (this was not from the manufacturer, so not 100% sure it is accurate.)  Anyways, ALL THREE cats (we didn't have the fourth at the time) gained a pound in 2 months time. 

Sounds like the diet vacation was a good idea.  And great that you caught the mistake with the calories.  I noticed when I did weight watchers years ago that the weeks when I used the extra allowed calories (they called them banked points) my weight loss really sped up.  It's so interesting how more calories helps sometimes. 

mrsgreenjeens said:

BTW, how  do you determine just how many calories are in your homemade raw concoction? 

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I use calorie data from the USDA database to estimate the calories in my raw recipes. They are just estimates but they seem to be pretty close. I have to be careful to pick ingredients from the database that closely match what I use in the recipes. 

Originally Posted by txcatmom  
 

So true.  A while back I started giving my cats CET dental chews....one each day.  I've read they are 16 calories each (this was not from the manufacturer, so not 100% sure it is accurate.)  Anyways, ALL THREE cats (we didn't have the fourth at the time) gained a pound in 2 months time. 

Sounds like the diet vacation was a good idea.  And great that you caught the mistake with the calories.  I noticed when I did weight watchers years ago that the weeks when I used the extra allowed calories (they called them banked points) my weight loss really sped up.  It's so interesting how more calories helps sometimes. 

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Yeah I'm surprised that his weight loss didn't really accelerate after I accidentally dropped his calories by so much. I guess his metabolism slowed down to compensate.   I did notice during that time that his weight loss had gotten really erratic. 

This is SUCH an interesting thread - really instructive in so many ways. It's got me thinking I really ought to take Billy in for another weigh-in. Gary commented the other day that it looks like Billy's lost some more weight. I continue to give him different-sized meals, and I don't track calories. But he's been more and more active, so I bumped the overall amount of food I'm feeding him.

...and based on your recent experience with Mickey, it looks like this may have actually re-energized his metabolism! :dk:

LDG said:

...and based on your recent experience with Mickey, it looks like this may have actually re-energized his metabolism!

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??? What makes you think that?

mschauer said:

Update : week 39

Well, this has been an interesting week. First things first. Despite being on a "diet vacation" Mickey weighted in at 19:6 (lbsz) for a 1 week loss of 1 oz and a total loss of 7:8.

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mschauer said:

Yeah I'm surprised that his weight loss didn't really accelerate after I accidentally dropped his calories by so much. I guess his metabolism slowed down to compensate. 

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These combined with my experience in getting Billy to lose weight.

When "not on a diet" Mickey still lost weight, but when he was accidentally on a lower-than-planned calorie count, his weight loss wasn't more pronounced.

LDG said:

mschauer said:

Update : week 39

Well, this has been an interesting week. First things first. Despite being on a "diet vacation" Mickey weighted in at 19:6 (lbsz) for a 1 week loss of 1 oz and a total loss of 7:8.

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mschauer said:

Yeah I'm surprised that his weight loss didn't really accelerate after I accidentally dropped his calories by so much. I guess his metabolism slowed down to compensate. 

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These combined with my experience in getting Billy to lose weight.

When "not on a diet" Mickey still lost weight, but when he was accidentally on a lower-than-planned calorie count, his weight loss wasn't more pronounced.

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But you're overlooking this:

mschauer said:

I weighted him a few times during the week and on one day his weight was 19:5. I think that plus the 1 week loss of 1 oz probably means 180 calories is a bit low to use as his maintenance calories. 185 or 190 would probably do it. But I don't think I need to determine the optimal maintenance calories yet. I'm glad to just have a vague idea at this point.

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Mickey wasn't necessarily "not on a diet" last week. I was only guessing at what his maintenance calories would be. That he still lost weight tells me that the 180 I guessed was too low and that is why he still lost weight.

Why would him not losing more weight at lower than intended calories indicate that his metabolism has been "re-energized[color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]"? [/color]

Update - week 40

Mickey weighted in at 19:2 (lbsz) on Saturday for a 1 week loss of 4 oz and a total loss of 7:12.

He's sooo close to being eligible for his next side by side picture! Next week for sure! 

He did better on 165 calories last week than the 150 calories of the previous few weeks. He seems much more comfortable and content. Now if I just won't screw up again and accidentally lower his calories maybe he will stay happy! 

I can't wait for the next set of pictures!


Sorry - didn't realize you'd asked another question. I'm sure the issue is moot, I haven't gone back through his weights, so never mind, really. My only point was that at the lower calories, he didn't lose as much weight as you might have expected, and you speculated that it could be his metabolism adapted to it. That was the situation we had with Billy, and it was only by increasing his calories - in fact, switching them up - that we were able to re-energize his metabolism. I'm probably seeing connections that aren't there.

mschauer said:

Why would him not losing more weight at lower than intended calories indicate that his metabolism has been "re-energized
"? 

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Which means this is backwards, so far as my thinking goes - it was losing weight while not on a diet (more calories) that made me think of the calorie-switch up as re-energizing his metabolism. I was agreeing with you, that it seems his metabolism had adjusted to the lower calories, and bumping up the calories helped stimulate better weight loss. But again - I haven't gone back, and I'm probably just equating the situation to Billy's, without really knowing. So never mind.

I think with Mickey the too low calorie situation may have messed with his metabolism but that isn't the same situation you had with Billy. As I understand it Billy didn't lose weight even when fed below, but not too much below, his maintenance calories. That's why I was confused by your post. Mickey was losing I just thought it was curious that the rate of loss didn't speed up when I fed him lower calories than intended.

I think it would be interesting to try the alternating calories type diet you have Billy on with Mickey. When I tried it before I don't think I really gave it a fair test. Since Mickey was losing on just the traditional reduced calorie diet I wasn't motivated to try something else. I was more concerned with keeping his weight lose going so he would be ready for adoption as soon as possible. Now, since he is still steadily losing, I don't want to do anything that might interfere with getting his weight as low as possible before he goes to his adopters.

I'm sure there are lessons to be learned from both Mickey's case and Billy's. I'm just not entirely sure what the lessons are. 

mschauer said:

 
I'm sure there are lessons to be learned from both Mickey's case and Billy's. I'm just not entirely sure what the lessons are. 

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:lol3: Calories count... and when calorie reduction stops working, you have to get creative!

LDG said:

mschauer said:

 
I'm sure there are lessons to be learned from both Mickey's case and Billy's. I'm just not entirely sure what the lessons are. 

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Calories count... and when calorie reduction stops working, you have to get creative!

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Definitely! 

Pictures!!!

Update - week 41

Mickel weighted in at an even 19 lbs on Saturday for a 1 week lose of 2 oz and a total lose of 17:14 (lbsz).

I'm a little late with posting this week. I got behind schedule this weekend and had to finish making kitty food Monday and Tuesday evening. But hopefully I'll make it worth the wait with side-by-side pictures:



My big boy is shrinking down to nothing! 

He was *soo* cute this weekend playing soccer with a little fuzzy ball. I tried to get a video but every time I pointed a camera at him he stopped and just sat there looking at me. 

He can't quite reach all the way down to completely groom but he's getting really close!

I think there is a typo in your post on the total weight lost, though, you may want to correct that you have posted that he has lost 17 pounds 14 oz.

Wow! I've been waiting for an update, in fact on my walk today I found myself thinking about Mickey and wondering why you hadn't posted your Sunday update.

Look at that svelte waistline! :heart3: How wonderful to hear how he is enjoying playing, I know what you mean about him stopping when you try to video.

I love these side-by-side pictures. They clearly show the difference. Aww, I wish you had been able to capture him playing kitty soccer. I remember at the beginning when he could only flop over and swat play and that only for a few minutes before tiring. This is such a wonderful thing you're doing for him.

Oh my!  He really IS looking svelte .  It's amazing how much difference even those last two pounds made, isn't it? 

mrsgreenjeens said:

Oh my!  He really IS looking svelte

.  It's amazing how much difference even those last two pounds made, isn't it? 

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I hope his 19 lb picture isn't misleading. I think he might be in a different position in that one. Possibly standing instead of hunching down like in the others.

Way to go, Mickey.

Holly Molly! Mickey is a cat
AMAZING!