Weight vs caloric requirement of an obese cat

kimouette

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Hi everyone,

I am currently helping a friend who has an obese cat. The cat's name is Vitamine, she is 7 years old, spayed, indoor, just got a blood chemistry panel done and she is in perfect health. Except for her weight! She weighted 14 pounds and we believe (but we are not professional!) she should weight about 10 pounds.

The first obstacle transitioning Vitamine to a good quality canned food. She got fat from eating crappy low cost kibbles (and a lack of exercise that's for sure). So we agreed on the importance of changing her food.

She doesn't really like canned food. We've tried many different brands ans flavors, and the only one she doesn't completely HATE is Fromm chicken and salmon paté. Which seems to be a very good quality protein, low carb food.

Our "bible" has been Dr. Lisa's article on how to transition dry food addicts to canned food.
Dr. Lisa says :

Vitamine is losing fat because she doesn't like her food very much (she doesn't eat as much as she used to), and her weights lost is actually healthy (Dr. Lisa says that a cat should never lose more than 10% of its weight per week).

Here's Vitamine's weight lost evolution :
Week 1 : lost 0.15 pounds
Week 2 : lost 0.6 pounds

As you can see her weight lost is not drastic at all! If I didn't know how much food she ate I would say that everything seems to be going smoothly and she should keep going the exact same way!

But the problem is that Vitamine, even though she looses weight exactly as we hoped, is not eating enough!

One can (5.5oz) of Fromm is only 125 calories, and Vitamine eats only half a can a day! Sometimes 3/4, but never more than that! And according to Dr. Lisa's article, Vitamine should eat atleast 150calories a day to avoid hepatic lipidosis. Vitamine only gets 60 to 90 calories a day!
If we feed her more to keep her healthy she is not going to lose weight, if we keep on feeding her like this, it's not healthy.

What are we supposed to do?
 

tulosai

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.6 pounds in one week in a cat of 14 pounds actually is dramatic weight loss IMO.

If I were you, I would first consult a vet. I have not seen this cat, but I think it is dangerous to decide a 14 pound cat should weigh 10 pounds just based on your own opinion.

If the vet gives the okay, start over and do a slower transition.  Give her more time to adjust to the wet.  If that is not possible, offer some dry in addition, at least for now. It DEFINITELY is not okay that a 13/14 pound cat is getting only 65 calories some days.  I think the rule of thumb is AT LEAST 15 calories per pound of weight and that is usually for elderly, very quiet cats. In adult cats generally, it is 20 calories per pound. By these guidelines, she should be getting 210-280 calories per day minimum to maintain her weight.  To have her lose safely I definitely would not have started her with less than 180 calories/day.  If that produced no weight loss (and only then) would I ever have cut it below that.

I know your heart is in the right place, but this poor kitty is definitely not losing weight safely.  Neither the amount that she has lost, nor the amount that she is eating, are safe.  The most important thing now is to get more calories into her.  Please, please also consult a vet.
 

vball91

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Safe weight loss is 1-2% of body weight per week, NOT 10%. I agree with tulosai that this cat needs more calories or you are risking hepatic lipidosis. I would not go below 200 calories (20 calories per ideal body weight), but I think you need to start with higher calories and gradually reduce to 200. Safe weight loss in cats has to be done slowly.
 

katluver4life

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Hello,

I'm so happy that you want to get this cat's weight down, but tulosai is correct. Have her checked again by a vet. Let him/her tell you what her ideal weight should be. Transition first to wet without worrying about her weight loss at this point. Many ...what we call kibble addicts...transition to wet with great reluctance. Cats, not like dogs, WILL starve themselves if they don't want to eat whats put in front of them.

Transitioning usually starts simple. First scheduled feedings, then introduce some wet. This is where the money sometimes goes to waste, trying to find the right wet she'll eat. At first try ANY wet. It doesn't have to be grain free or low carb. Have you tried Friskies pates or Fancy Feast Classics? Cats usually will go for these, and they are actually pretty low carb.

Once she is on all wet, and only then, then you can work on her weight. This should include not just cutting her calories, but also increasing her activity. She should actually become a bit more active just with the diet change alone.
A side benefit of a better diet. Good luck.
 
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kimouette

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Guys, thank you so much for all the replies.
I told my friend to increase her food intake right away. The only trick that works right now is if she mixes her food with pieces of dry chicken ( I don't remember the brand but its pure dried chicken breast), she will start to feed her with more of these right away.

She went to her vet last week and the vet only said that she agreed that Vitamine needed to lose weight without saying what her ideal weight should be. Next time she goes to the vet she will ask the question!!

She did try friskies and fancy feast, also evo, raw and Fromm and many different flavours from these brands. For almost 10 days she added "sprinkled" crushed dry kibbles on her food, otherwise she simply wouldn't touch her food! And gradually she removed the crushed kibbles...but as you can see, the cat won't give up on her damn hills dry kibbles!!

Don't worry guys, I got the message, Vitamine will get at least 180-200 calories a day no matter what!

Fingers crossed!!
 

vball91

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The freeze-dried chicken topper is great. It's healthy so if it works, tell her to keep using it. The dry kibble crushed and used as a topper only is fine too during transition. It's such a small amount.

It might be worth a call to the vet and just say that she would like to know how much weight the vet thought she should lose. They really should be fine with a follow-up question if the vet visit was recent.
 

katluver4life

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I, to this day, buy the freeze dried chicken to use as toppers on any new foods I introduce to my 3. I use it so much I buy it off Amazon in the 11oz dog treat bags.


You can also try using the water from canned tuna.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I, to this day, buy the freeze dried chicken to use as toppers on any new foods I introduce to my 3. I use it so much I buy it off Amazon in the 11oz dog treat bags.
Me too!  My cupboard is full of dog sized freeze dried 100% freeze dried meats to use for toppers.  But remember, they have calories too! 

But I totally agree that a phone call to the Vet should be made to simply ask how much weight should she lose, then get her completely transitioned to wet (with toppers if necessary, forever, if necessary, just count those as calories too), then work on cutting down on the food if she's not losing automatically.  I have you've tried other brands of chicken and salmon pate?  Wellness makes that "flavor".  I transitioned mine using Soulistic (Petco's brand).  It's not pate, but all of mine loved it at the time...now they won't touch it with a ten foot pole
.

Also, for exercise, since she loves her kibble, have your friend use one piece of kibble at a time (or if she likes the freeze dried meat, use small pieces of that) and toss it as far as she can and have her cat chase them down.  It's a fun game for everyone involved, plus great exercise.  Just remember, everything she eats has calories that need to be counted.
 
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