Dulcinea is a 'little' of the heavy side...What to do?

We have three amazing cats, all rescued and they are the center of our home...everything seems to revolve around them.  Of the three, only the oldest, Dulcinea is a bit of the heavy side.  She is 7 years old and weighs 14 3/4 pounds.  She eats a half of a small cat of food twice a day (3 oz)...once in the morning and once in the evening (so 3 oz. in total each day)...with dry food to snack on during the day (of which she eats little).  Her wet food is either fancy feast medleys or Meow Mix and her dry food is Hills Prescription Diet (r/d Weight Loss - Low Calorie).  Our vet put her on a diet one month ago:  Hills Prescription Diet dry food and canned.  She will eat the dry food...but will not eat the wet food.  She use to eat her food and finish up whatever was left of the other two cats' food.  Now I feed the three of them separately and she can't 'help out' by finishing off their meals.  She looks forward to meal time and I hate for her to have food she doesn't like (Hills wet food)...so I now feed her about 1 1/2 oz Meow Mix or Fancy Feast Medleys in the morning and evening, with Hill Diet dry food to snack on.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  This is REALLY important to me...could some of you share your experiences and advice PLEASE?!

Thanks in advance,

Fr. Greg 

Welcome back! Is there a particular reason why she's eating dry food at all? Although it's reduced calorie, the first ingredient in the Hill's r/d is brewer's rice and the third corn gluten meal, not meat, which cats really need as obligate carnivores. Dry food has far too many carbohydrates, even if it's "low calorie", and doesn't bring any benefits. She'd probably do much better on three small meals of wet food a day, the meatier the better. Many vets recommend Hill's because they get their nutrition training from the company, but there are far better foods. Do you have a Petco or Petsmart nearby where you could look at different foods and compare the labels and prices?

This TCS article, Obesity in Cats offers weight-loss tips.
This site explains why a canned diet is better than dry, and what kind of ingredients to look for.
This thread and this one give some wet food suggestions made by TCS members. Some of them may be beyond your price range, while others are quite affordable and available just about everywhere.

I'm sure others who are more familiar with U.S. brands will be along soon to make some suggestions.

Thank you so much for replying to my question.  We are of modest means...but NOTHING is too expensive for our "girls"...so, anything they need---we'll get somehow.  I'll read the site you suggested.  Our vet is of the opinion that, since we are not always home (except in the morning and evening) that dry food is the only way we can provide some kind of food during the day...plus he wants use to pick up Dulcinea's wet food when she finishes it after her morning and evening meals.  He also feels that the best diet for Dulcinea is a combo of both wet and dry food because most of the Hills diet is fiber and will be eliminated quickly.  I'm just really wondering why she still puts on weight with (what seems to be) such a modest diet. 

I'll get back to you after I've looked over the site you suggested.  Thanks!

Fr. Gregg 

When our little piggy needed to lose weight, the first thing our Vet proposed was to stop free feeding the kibble.  AND, she said the newest way of thinking was high protein, low carb, kind of "catkins" if you will. 

If you have a Petco near you, they sell Soulistic, which is very reasonable.  You can buy 5 oz cans for around $1 (I think), which you can split between your cats.  It's grain free which makes it very high in protein and very low in carbs, plus I believe it's also fairly low in calories, as canned food goes.  When we first started our boy on that, he lost weight fairly quickly.  (too quickly, as I recall!, so I upped the amount I was feeding him) 

Anyway, I found that in the past, those so called "diet foods", and even the prescription weight loss foods, did nothing at all except cost more money.  I think they may even make them more hungry, because they aren't getting enough protein.  IMHO. 

Hi there!

Hill's Weight Loss prescription food is not really appropriate for a kitty on a diet. Here are the ingredients listed below; I've highlighted the ingredients that may be causing her to gain even more weight.

Brewers Rice, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Powdered Cellulose, Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Oil, Lactic Acid, Calcium Sulfate, Potassium Sulfate, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Potassium Chloride, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Iodized Salt, L-Carnitine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Threonine, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.

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The brewers rice and corn gluten meal (which comprise MOST of the formula because they are in the first three ingredients) are grains, which are unnecessary carbohydrates for cats. They are very fattening as well. Also, the only real meat mentioned in this formula is chicken by-product meal, which is not exactly the best animal protein source.

I would recommend putting Dulcinea on Weruva. It is low calorie and purrfect for kitties that need to lose a few!

I would get rid of the dry food completely and do a feeding of three meals a day of wet food.

If you are gone during the day, what you can do is portion off the amount you would want to feed during the mid day  and freeze it, then set it out when you leave in the morning. it will defrost during the day and your cat can eat it then. And then feed her again when you get home.

I used to have an overweight cat and I tried all the diet dry foods (vet recommended) and they never helped with his obesity. Eventually my pet passed and I got a new cat and read up more on nutrition to get things right this time and found out that much of what the vets recommend for food is garbage. So now my new only gets wet food (or some raw), and the canned food is mostly grain free. He does not have a weight problem at this time though he loves to eat. He gets one 5.5 oz can of food per day plus a few treats throughout the day. 

He loves Weruva, as mentioned above, and I've hard many cats love it as well. However it is expensive and there are other canned foods out there that would also be good to try. 

Well, I went to PETCO today and looked for the two recommended "grain free" foods that were suggested...and sadly they didn't have either.  I got several cans (3 oz) of other "grain free" foods.  9 cans for about $15.50.  The price doesn't really matter...(as long as they're good for her and she eats them).  She had "lamb stew" by HALO.  It must have been too rich...cause (although) she ate most of it, she threw up about 10 minutes ago---while I was writing this.  Tomorrow, she'll try the WELLNESS "grain free" tuna entree.  Hopefully, she do better with that?    I got several different kinds...so hopefully she'll tolerate one of them.  Meanwhile, the other two girls are sampling them too...so someone ought to like and keep down one or two of the brands.  I'm tryin!  Thanks for all the advice and suggestions.  I gotta go and clean up the floor now. 

Fr. Gregg

Also it's good to rotate brands if you can

My guy doesn't usually get the same brand / flavor more than once or twice a week at most. This way, they have food diversity, don't get bored with the food, and if there is a problem with one of the foods ( a recall or they change the formula) they are not addicted / fixated on one particular brand / flavor to the extent of all other food. And, if you did not know, fish is actually not good for cats. it should only be given as a treat or every once in a while. 

Good luck!

Weruva won't be found in the "big box" pet stores.  You'll need to shop at natural pet food stores for that. (or on-line).  But I'm shocked about Soulistic, since it's their own brand!  I wonder if they've changed something there.  You might ask them about that.

Oddly, mine hate Wellness, but they do like some Weruva, and most of the Soulistic flavors.  (but they are eating raw now, so it's a moot point)

The reason why I chose HALO 'lamb stew' was that it was a raw meat 'treat'---which I thought I might try...but I guess it was TMTSTF (too much too soon too fast)?  Anyway...after Dulcinea's stomach settled down a bit (one hour), I gave her one tablespoon of Fancy Feast Mornings Suffle With Turkey---and she was happy...and kept it down fine.  Tomorrow we will try another brand and another flavor and see what happens.  Meanwhile, Felicidad (my 2 year old Maine Coon Kitten) is enjoying her usual Freshpet Select chicken & shrimp (which is all she'll eat).  I wish they would all eat Freshpet Select...it's seems like pretty good food and, while it's a bit 'pricey,' Felice LOVES it.  Oh well, different tastes for different cats. 

I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Thanks again,

Fr. Gregg  

The reason why I chose HALO 'lamb stew' was that it was a raw meat 'treat'

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Canned foods can't be raw. . .they're always processed at high heat during the canning process.

Some cats have difficulty with red meats like lamb and beef. It's best to introduce those slowly (small amounts at a time) to give their tummies time to adjust. Most cats tolerate poultry well.

Well, the Fancy Feast CLASSIC style cans don't have the best ingredients, but they don't have grains, and they are very low carb! So pulling the kibbles and using the FF classic formulas would definitely be a good start.

My cats had a problem with the Halo foods too - it made them throw up. :dk: (And they were already eating high quality food like Nature's Variety Instinct cans).

Google "holistic pet store town, state" or "natural pet store town, state" and use various towns near you. You may be surprised to find there are some locally owned pet shops, not just the big box stores! I found that the food is actually cheaper at the locally owned store (that I didn't know about until I went looking) because they have to do something to draw in traffic. :nod: