Over Weight Cat - Needs New Food

I need some help with feeding recommendations for my first cat, Atari. Recently I’ve been watching her and she seems to be gaining weight (recently being over the last two months). She’s currently on a local brand called Kirkland Cat Food, being fed 1/3 a cup a day and normally she doesn’t eat all of it. She and the other cat are both fed at 8 am and 6 pm for breakfast and supper (the other cat is on a different diet because she’s newly adopted and too skinny). Atari has recently decided that she does not want to play with any of her toys so I’m ordering a Da Bird cat toy along with a neko fly cicada and a butterfly toy to see if she will play with any of those, I do believe her lack of activity is helping her put on weight but I’m worried that her food is not helping.

 I ‘need’ to bring her back down to a healthy weight because right now she’s carrying around a ‘dangling gut’ and I’m worried she may get arthritis or diabetes or any number of other problems. Any suggestions on what or how much to feed her to help bring her weight down to a manageable level?

For some background; Atari is almost four years old, has never had kittens, is spayed, is an indoor only cat, has all her shots, is not showing signs of being ill, and is a spoiled brat of a princess.

   Since I am unfamiliar with, I looked up Kirkland Cat Food and that definitely doesn't sound like the problem, other then its high in protein and you mentioned she seems less active. It could be the new kitty, even though she isn't showing aggression, she may feel less free to run and play. I agree with your thinking, she just needs more encouragement to be active and feel comfortable with the new kitty in the house.

     Do you have window perches, places for her to jump up on......Some kitties just need a tighter diet to maintain a healthy weight that allows them to be more active. Maia has been like this since she was a kitten! More because she will eat anything cat food you put in front of her, she has no control. If she gains the slightest bit of weight she becomes less active and clumsy. I am constantly playing chase with her, hide and seek, fetch, she has window perches, wall shelves where she can climb up and down.

They do have some things to jump on but not enough. My fiance and I have recently bought some more shelves to put up for them, we're just waiting for her mother in law to drop off the drill so we can put them up. They both have a plethora of mice to bat around on the floor and three human interactive toys including a lazer but like I said she refuses to play with them. I'm hoping it is just that she's not sure about Fawkes yet and with any luck she'll get over that.

You were asking about food for an overweight cat, and indicated you fed Kirkland Cat Food.

I can't find a detailed nutritional analysis of that dry food (% protein, % carbs, % fat), only ingredients: 

1. 
   Chicken
2. 
   Chicken meal
3. 
   Whole grain brown rice
4. 
   Ground white rice
5. 
   Chicken fat

As far as dry foods go, it's not horrible, especially for the price.  But dry food has more calories in it than wet food--note that #3 and #4 are carbohydrates, which cats have no need for.  I would look for a grain free WET food.  And, yes, exercise is good too.

BTW:  how much does your cat weigh?  The "dangling gut" may be natural.

Yes, converting to canned vs kibble would be the easiest way to get her to lose weight, and would probably be healthier for both cats in the long run.  Converting was the only way I got my Darko to start losing, and I used to feed the Kirkland kibble also. 

Maybe once she and Falkes become used to each other, they'll chase each other and get exercise that way.  In the meantime, the Da Bird should help out immensely, as long as Atari isn't afraid to play with it with Falkes around .  My Callie won't play ANYTHING if the boys are in the room (but they DO all 3 chase each other all over the house)

Another way to get her some exercise is to toss treats, or even pieces of kibble around the house and have her run and jump for them.  Mine all LOVE to do that.  And they have to outrun each other for them.  

Kirkland cat food has this written on the back of the bag here:


But I will definitely try getting her on non grain wet food. One question about that though, I've heard that if you feed a cat nothing but wet food it's bad for their teeth? I don't remember 'where' I heard that so it could very well just be an old wives tale but I thought I'd ask anyways. The last thing I need right now is another vet bill x3

Any brands you would recommend I take a look for?

Yup, the whole wet food is bad for teeth and dry is good for teeth are both myths. Feeding a high animal protein/moderate fat/low to no carb wet diet is much better for cats being obligate carnivores. Dr. Pierson has a chart that compares protein/fat/carbs of many common brands in the US here. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

This site has a lot of info on feline nutrition and some of the related health issues.

Thanks-for-posting-the-analysis!

The-problem-is-what-you-are-feeding-her-and-how-much,LOL.

20%-fat-is-way-way-too-high-for-a-kitty-that-does-not-have-a-high-activity-level,or-is-not-a-show-kitty,or-not-a-kitty-that-needs-to-gain-weight,such-as-your-other-kitty-you-mentioned.You-should-be-around-12-13%-fat-for-an-inactive-kitty.

I-feed-Blue-Wilderness,its-18%-fat-and-40%-protein,but-being-show-kitties,they-need-the-extra.

Blue-Wilderness-is-grain-free,by-product-free,soy-free,and-low-in-salt,Kirkland-is-also-pretty-high-in-salt.

You-could-try-the-Blue-Wilderness-Weight-Management,its-only-12%-fat.

You-should-also-only-be-feeding-1/4-cup-a-day,for-an-inactive-kitty.Once-she-looses-some-weight,she-might-be-more-active.

The-other-kitty,would-benefit-from-a-higher-fat-diet.But-your-going-to-have-to-feed-them-seperate,put-them-in-their-carriers,or-in-different-rooms,so-Atari-doesn't-get-into-the-other-kittys-foodies.

http://bluebuffalo.com/cat-food/wilderness-weight-control?pf=1&type=dry&animal=cat

Here-is-a-good-site-to-read-too.

http://catinfo.org/

Cats actually do well on moderate fat diets. It's the carbs that provide no nutritional value but still pack on the pounds. Protein and fat help make cats feel satiated. Carbs are not. This is why so many cats who are free fed only dry food get obese. The weight control formulas are even worse because they reduce fat and increase carbs instead. Cats are not humans. They are obligate carnivores built to eat meat and more meat.

The only proper way to compare cat foods is to mathematically remove the moisture content so you can compare the actual protein, fat, fiber, and carbs in the food. The labels never list carbs, but as the food must add up to 100%, so once you've accounted for protein, fat, fiber and ash (minerals), you're left with carbs.

This is called comparing foods on a "dry matter basis."

Here is a calculator anyone can use:

2010 Excel: http://catcentric.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DMB-Calculator.xlsx

Any older version of Excel: http://catcentric.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/DMB-Calculator-Excel-97-2003.xls

Based on the guaranteed analysis on the bag, the food is

33% protein
22% fat
3.3% fiber
I assumed the food is 8% ash "as fed" - that's typical for dry food. So DMB it is about 9%
...which leaves carbs at 33%.

Now, most kibble is high in carbs. But that is really high.

Cats, as has already been pointed out, do fine with fat and protein. Yes, fat has basically twice the calories of protein, so any food that is lower fat won't have as many calories.

Most adult cats that should weigh 10 - 12 pounds or so eat about one 5.5 ounce can of food a day. If you have various canned foods in rotation that are all low carbohydrate, the protein and fat will likely vary. Either way, the high moisture content of wet food will help "lubricate" their entire systems, which is just plain healthy - and helps them loose weight. The higher protein and the water will increase their metabolism.

I'd use Dr. Pierson's food list (the CatInfo.org website - vball91 already provided a link directly to the list) (Dr. P has a link to it in her section on Commercial Food, which is worth a read) to identify foods that are low carb. Use the center column that measures everything on a dry matter basis.

While you transition, weigh your kitty every few days to make sure she's not gaining OR not loosing weight too fast. I don't see anywhere in here where you say how much she weighs, but a healthy rate of weight loss is 2% of their body weight or less per week.

I don't have a scale in my house so I don't know exactly what she weighs. I do know that the vet said she was a pound or two over weight last time we took her and she seems like she's only putting more on even with the playtimes I had been doing before Fawkes got here. I really need to find a bathroom scale that's not $50. I'm going to be going to take a look at Ikea today and see if they have a functioning scale that won't cost me my dinner.

 

Also thanks for the list of compared cat foods and all the information about carbohydrates. I had never actually heard that they were bad before and I always thought wet food was like a treat for cats. I guess I'm too used to owning dogs. At the very least I’m going to be implementing the suggested changes to her diet. Atari and Fawkes both eat near one another as part of the introduction process but I watch them, neither cat sneaks food from the other because I oversee them while they’re eating for the entire meal.

I can take a picture or video if it will help to show her weight. She's a short hair so it should be easy enough to see.

Aw, if she's only a pound or two overweight, then a scale isn't so imperative. It's really only seriously overweight kitties that are at risk. The switch to a canned food diet should help her slim down, and at a safe rate. :nod:

And just FYI, dogs are carnivores too. They do better with carbs than cats, but kibble isn't healthy for them either. Think of a person eating only dry cereal....

Alright so it seems like the best stuff my local Petsmart was carrying was the Authority brand cat food. I picked up the chicken, catfish( only a few) turkey and beef. I'm trying to limit her fish intake because I am a little worried about mercury and all the other things that come with fish. The main one we got a lot of was the chicken. Atari took to it like a fish to water. We diden't even need to try to coax her with dry kibbles. To make matters even better either she and Fawkes have sorted out their issues or her previous food was making her tummy upset because no less than three hours later she was playing again! Jumping and leaping and running around like crazy after one of her bird-like toys! I'm very pleased with this.

Hello again,

This is my final post on this board mainly to thank everyone who helped me understand just how bad the food I was giving my cats were. Three weeks ago I had a rather plump and apathetic four year old cat who would almost never move from her spot next to the window except for food, water, and the liter box. Today thanks to everyone who posted on here to educate me my four year old spayed cat has lost all of her flabby weight and is sitting pretty at 10 pounds. Her legs have definition again and she no longer turns in to a 'cat-loaf' when she lies down. I found that play time also had a huge impact on her, but the food was the first step. The reason she was always so lazy was because the food must have been upsetting her stomach because three days after I switched her food she was back to playing and jumping and leaping like she used to when she was a kitten. After she got her mojo back getting her to play was easy and she lost a good bit of weight with two 15 minute play times a day. This daily routine will continue until she passes away.

I have the list that vball19 gave me saved on a tab in my favorites just so I don't forget it. Now that we have a rescue in our home who is getting along with Atari it is good to know what to feed her to keep her as healthy as she can be, and what we had to feed our new kitten to fatten her up from 3 pounds when we found her.

So thank you again to everyone who posted, you've seriously helped me and my cats and I will forever recommend this site to all of my friends with cats! You guys are the best!

I am so happy to hear that Atari is doing so well.

mrsgreenjeens said:

Another way to get her some exercise is to toss treats, or even pieces of kibble around the house and have her run and jump for them.  Mine all LOVE to do that.  And they have to outrun each other for them.  

Click to expand...

I love throwing around kibble!!! if they get freeze dried chicken to throw, that's less than 1 cal

I'm so glad she is doing so well!!! I'll implement the same with my fur baby, Emma. Thank you!!! Have fun playing!!'

There's a good web site called petobesityprevention.com