Hi everyone. Sorry to bother you all with another annoying nutrition question. As some of you have probably read in my prior posts, I recently adopted a large tabby from the shelter named Monstro (I have since decided to change his name to Winston ... much less fat sounding). He is 25 pounds and needs some help getting back down to a healthy weight.
I have been working with our veterinarian to determine how much is the appropriate amount to be feeding him for healthy weight loss but after posting about it here, it raised some concerns from members that I am actually under feeding him. Which is not at all my intention. I know that you don't starve a cat into weight loss... I was just going on the recommendation of my vet.
So, my veterinarian had recommended that Winston be fed 3 oz. of wet food in the morning and 3 oz. in the evening. He had also said that between 190 and 200 calories for a cat of his size and (lack of) activity level seemed appropriate. This was what raised some red flags with other posters. So I had also consulted with Winston's ophthalmologist who is personally fostering a little fatty of her own. She had said that she wouldn't feed more than 230 calories and even that may be too much.
I have also been doing a lot of reading at the recommendation of fellow forum members and I was told the healthy amount of calories for a cat is 20 calories for every pound of his ideal weight (which the vet said would be in the high teens ... Winston is naturally a BIG kitty). This would be about 360 calories a day though, and that just seems like a lot!
Winston is currently eating a variety of different wet foods. I feed him 2 oz of Fancy Feast Chunky Chicken in the morning and evening. In the mid afternoon he gets 3 oz of either Tiki Cat Koolina Luau or Soulistic Chicken and Tilapia. He also gets about 1 oz. of raw chicken throughout the day as "treats" (he's on a medication for an ulcer in his eye and the only way he'll take it is if it's hidden in food).
So he's currently eating between 210 and 220 calories per day. He doesn't act hungry but I don't want to run the risk of starving him or causing him to lose weight too quickly. Adding to the weight loss issue is that I really don't know what he was eating before I adopted him that had made him so fat. The shelter had been feeding him 3 oz. of wet every morning and evening and he had lost 2 pounds over the course of a month and a half at the shelter. Prior to the shelter, the theory is that he was probably being fed table scraps.
I just invested in a baby scale and I'm going to weight him a couple of times each week to make sure that he's not losing too fast and I'll certainly adjust his caloric intake from there. However, I was hoping that you all might be able to weigh in on this. Am I starving him? Is the vets recommendation accurate or should I going with the 20 calories per pound rule that I have been reading about?
I have been working with our veterinarian to determine how much is the appropriate amount to be feeding him for healthy weight loss but after posting about it here, it raised some concerns from members that I am actually under feeding him. Which is not at all my intention. I know that you don't starve a cat into weight loss... I was just going on the recommendation of my vet.
So, my veterinarian had recommended that Winston be fed 3 oz. of wet food in the morning and 3 oz. in the evening. He had also said that between 190 and 200 calories for a cat of his size and (lack of) activity level seemed appropriate. This was what raised some red flags with other posters. So I had also consulted with Winston's ophthalmologist who is personally fostering a little fatty of her own. She had said that she wouldn't feed more than 230 calories and even that may be too much.
I have also been doing a lot of reading at the recommendation of fellow forum members and I was told the healthy amount of calories for a cat is 20 calories for every pound of his ideal weight (which the vet said would be in the high teens ... Winston is naturally a BIG kitty). This would be about 360 calories a day though, and that just seems like a lot!
Winston is currently eating a variety of different wet foods. I feed him 2 oz of Fancy Feast Chunky Chicken in the morning and evening. In the mid afternoon he gets 3 oz of either Tiki Cat Koolina Luau or Soulistic Chicken and Tilapia. He also gets about 1 oz. of raw chicken throughout the day as "treats" (he's on a medication for an ulcer in his eye and the only way he'll take it is if it's hidden in food).
So he's currently eating between 210 and 220 calories per day. He doesn't act hungry but I don't want to run the risk of starving him or causing him to lose weight too quickly. Adding to the weight loss issue is that I really don't know what he was eating before I adopted him that had made him so fat. The shelter had been feeding him 3 oz. of wet every morning and evening and he had lost 2 pounds over the course of a month and a half at the shelter. Prior to the shelter, the theory is that he was probably being fed table scraps.
I just invested in a baby scale and I'm going to weight him a couple of times each week to make sure that he's not losing too fast and I'll certainly adjust his caloric intake from there. However, I was hoping that you all might be able to weigh in on this. Am I starving him? Is the vets recommendation accurate or should I going with the 20 calories per pound rule that I have been reading about?
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