Help with foods and calories?

Hello, my cat is of the overweight/obese variety and we would love some info on how to slim him down.

Oreo is not a speciffic breed of cat, but has a larg-ish frame. He is about 11 years old and is currently 25.4 pounds. He is also neutered and (sadly) declawed if this helps any.

The vet we went to a while back said he is fine except for a slight heart murmur, but should definately get on a diet.

Oreo's a pretty lazy cat who likes his naps, but I am trying to get him playing with his toys. But he kind of just lays there and swats at them for a few minutes before ignoring it. Does this count much for excercise? Really don't want him getting way too fat and getting sick, he's been my buddy for what seems like forever now.

I'm currently feeding a little less than 2/3 a cup per day of Wellness Core dry food. The pet shop here doesn't sell the canned Wellness anymore, but they have Blue Buffalo and Authority canned wich I will switch to depending on what he needs.

Can anyone tell me how many calories a day he would need to loose weight?

I found a table with the calories in diffrent canned foods here http://www.petobesityprevention.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Cat_Canned_Pouch_Foods.pdf

Hello and welcome to TCS!

Your cats journey to weight loss definitely starts by getting him off dry food. I am going to give you some links to read. One of them is of a member here who has been documenting her progress with her overweight foster cat. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245236/mickey-my-27-lbs-foster-and-his-journey-back-to-a-healthy-weight

This second link is almost a nutrition bible to a lot of us http://www.catinfo.org/

Hope these help and good luck!

Thanks for the links reading through them now =)

Went to petsmart today and picked up the authority canned food, not the best quality maybe but it's all I can afford right now.
 

I will stay watching this thread, as I have a female cat Krissy who is also 11 years old, and also obese. I know that obesity is partly genetic, and Krissy proves this to me, since she is not a big eater, but has always been overweight.

I have a huge fear of losing her too early and would love to find a solution other than raw.

I have switched her to an all canned diet, but she will not go for most of the better quality/grain free that I know she needs to lose weight.

I have wasted so much money trying every type and brand out there.

The ONLY really good canned I can feed her occasionally is Petco's Soulistic, and only 2 kinds, and both are fish....

Fancy Feast classics and even some friskies canned pates like turkey & giblets pate is what she is eating now.

I have noticed the past couple months she is sleeping alot more.

I can't get her to play either, and if so, it's the laser light, and only for a couple minutes.

I'm not sure how much genetics play a role in feline obesity. They are meant to be lean. You don't need to feed raw to help a cat lose weight. It would be better and easier on a high animal protein/moderate fat/low carb diet. However, Fancy Feast classic pates could be used for this as well as some Friskies pates as well. The trick is to feed the appropriate number of calories. Since your cat is very sedentary, you want to feed about 20 calories per ideal body weight and make sure she's not losing more than 2% of her weight per week. Depending on how much she weighs now, you might start her calories closer to what she actually weighs and decrease calories very gradually. Weight loss in obese kitties must be done gradually or you risk hepatic lipidosis.

Wow, with the amount of people saying their cats are finniky eaters it appeaers I got lucky. Oreo will eat anything you put in front of him, as long as it's cat food. Wish I could help you out with Krissy's food but I'm too new at this to do much =(

Today is day one of new diet! currently sitting at 25.4 pounds. According to the calculation of 2% of his weight, we should be going for 0.508 a week. Think that means about half a pound, but if it isn't can someone with better math skills please let me know?

Had a 6 oz can of Authority Chicken today. It has a bit of fish, but it was a special treat. He has enough of the turkey and giblet's to last the rest of the week. Planning on using both the Turkey and Giblet's and the Lamb and Rice, but they were out of Lamb until next week.

Not to happy with the rice in his food, but until funds increase it'll have to do.

You are lucky that Oreo is not a finicky eater. It should make the transitioned to canned and losing weight easier. Yup, you are shooting for about an 8 oz weight loss in the first week. Good luck and please do keep updating this thread periodically on how he is doing. I'm sure it will help others in this situation.

Don't worry, updates are planned =)

Hoping to get a picture or two up tonight when the camera is charged.

It has been nearly 5 days since we started the diet. Oreo seems to be getting hungry before mealtimes, so I'm going to increase his food a little.

After weighing him a few minutes ago, he is now at 24.2 pounds. Pretty sure this is faster than he should be loosing, so either there was a mistake at his first weigh-in a few days ago, or he needs more food. Going to try giving him a few pieces of kibble between meals and for overnight to see if it helps.

Now that I think about it, the scale has been moved since last time, it belongs to a roommate and I took it into the bathroom instead of her room to weigh, so maybe that had an effect on the numbers?

The turkey and giblet food he's eating is 216 calories per day.

Aw, congrats on deciding to put your kitty on a diet! It'll be a journey, but one well worth it! :heart2: And what a cutie he is!

Hopefully that weight difference is due to how you were weighing him, because over a pound in five days is too much too fast. :rub:

How do you weigh him? Do you set him on the scale, or do you step on it, weigh yourself, and then hold him while weighing the two of you together? Because if you assume you weigh the same, that could account for some fluctuation too. What you're wearing and small weight fluctuations in you might make a difference if you weigh him while holding him. :nod:

It can take a little work at first to find the right amount of food to feed to lose weight at the right rate - but it's better to shoot for what would keep him stable or lose a little, and then adjust it.

For weighing I am planning to eventually buy a digital kitchen or baby scale when the financial situation allows. At the moment, I weigh myself, copy it down, then weigh both me and Oreo and subtract the two numbers. He won't stay on it long enough to be weighed otherwise.

The quick weight loss seems to have been an error made on day one. Just weighed him before he ate and the weight was 24.6 pounds, wich should have been lower than that is he was loosing too fast. Tomorrow will mark week one of the new diet!

As of our trip to the vet and being weighed on their scale, Oreo is 24.4 pounds. I have been giving out a little kibble before i go to work and before bed because he was always acting like he was starving and constantly meowing and lying down by where his food is kept. Bought some Purebites Chicken breast cat treats today and will give a couple of thise before work instead of the kibble. Not sure if I should keep giving it for overnight or not, I count out between 20 and 25 for overnight and 15 for when I'm gone.

I've been so busy with kitten season this is the first chance I have had to come back to this thread.

First off I wanted to say, I bought my scale on ebay cheap! It's a postal scale and is perfect for weighing a kitten sized, but for Krissy I simply put a baking sheet on top and tare it to zero, works perfectly accurate, and it was only about $25.00 including shipping. Just an fyi.

If you notice when you weight yourself, weigh yourself 3 times in a row, I would be suprised if it is exactly the same each time, it varies depending on how fast you jump on it, or creep on it slowly putting the pressure on the scale. It's important to have some accuracy, as you seem to be aware of the dangers of too fast weight loss causing the dangerous/possibly deadly hepatic lipidosis.

Several vets I have spoke with over the years agree on the partly genetics factor, however it can be controlled in their diet.

Just as people, some really struggle with their weight, while others never need to watch what they eat at all, my sister and I for instance, she is a junkfood junkie, always has been and it amazes me since I have always battled with my weight. We are both active. She couldn't be any slimmer!

You are safer to error on the side of caution by feeding a higher amt of calories, especially if he acts like he is starving. Once you have a more accurate scale, slowly decrease his food calories accordingly for a slow and consistent weight loss.

Trying to buy a scale on ebay. Found two postal scales up for auction both go up to either 66 or 86 pounds. But it seems someone really wants them and has placed an automatic bid

The Turkey and Giblet food is around 185 calories per can. If he were to eat purebites treats to increase the calories would that be fine? Or does it lack in the nutrition department for that?

I've actually been tempted to drive across town and ask my old boss if I can plop my cat on the scale used for weighing the lotto ticket bins

I just checked on ebay, and the first one I saw listed in shipping scales, just now went for $11.25 plus $8. for shipping.

It was an 86 lb capacity.

Item # is 390612362395 if you know how to view completed listings.

You would have to find out the calorie content of purebites treats, I'm not sure what that would be.

Finally top bidder on a scale! One hour and eight minutes left.
 

Pretty sure the scale is won =D

The Purebites treats are 1 calorie per treat. Gave a few today and they were recieved well. Very well. Have never seen Oreo go so crazy over a treat before, the only ingredient is freezedried chicken breast.

Oops, said the canned food was 185 earlier. It's more like 216. Bad typo! bad!

Great about the scale! Ebay rocks

Aww! Oreo is hungry...

After an intense bidding war in the last 4 minutes, a shiny new scale is on it's way for $28.21 CAD

And with that done, goodnight world!