Help......my feral cats are over weight

snugglecat

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I have been feeding my colony of cats for 5 years now and lets just say I have the fattest feral cats on the block. I am not able to weigh them so how would I help them lose weight but not starve them? I used to free feed when they were younger and just put dry food in a glass pie dish. I don't do that anymore as there was to much fighting. I now have individual dishes for everyone. I give them dry and wet food in the mornings and I try and give them dry and wet food in the evenings if not they get dry only in evenings.

First I need to say I cannot afford the best food, I live on SSI only and I do the best I can food wise. It doesn't seem like I'm feeding a lot but not sure how to cut it down and not have them lose weight to fast and get sick. I give them each a 1/4 cup of dry in the morning and I mix two 5.5 ounce cans together and put the wet food on top of the dry. I try to do the same in the evenings but some days they only get the dry. The cats are lazy and they do not roam around much or even leave my yard. They live on my front porch in shelters and hide in my  bushes. I feed 6 cats outside. Nobody close to me is feeding outdoor cats so they are not eating anywhere else and like I said they are very lazy.

Yes, they have all been through the TNR program.
 

Willowy

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If you're giving them each that many cans of wet food (and they eat it all), no wonder they're fat! :lol3: Most spayed/neutered indoor adult cats only need one 5.5-oz can per day. For outdoor cats, they might need a little more, especially in the winter, but definitely not 2 each plus dry (per meal? Hard for me to tell exactly how much each is getting). Try cutting them back to half a can plus 1/4 cup dry each per meal. That should help. Since we're going into winter, you don't want them too thin.

Which brands are you using? That makes a difference too.
 

ldg

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Awww..... :hugs:

And yeah, I only feed my feral cats 1/2 a can of wet food AM and PM. I feed them Friskies pate style foods.

In the Winter I put out dry food for them as well, because the wet food freezes if they don't eat it all. Mine do hunt, we live in a rural area. But as my indoor cats, as Willowy points out, only ate about one 5.5 ounce can of food, I figure if the ferals want more than that, they can go find it. :lol3:

Their caloric needs go up a LOT in winter: the colder it gets, the more they need, but they get the extra calories from the dry food. I do have a heated water bowl for them so they have access to water in winter. Sorry, but I don't know how much kibble I leave out for them in winter (I don't put any out in spring, summer, or early fall).
 
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snugglecat

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I split the 2 cans in the morning for all six of them and then I only open one 5.5 ounce can in evening to split for all 6. I put 1/4 cup dry food in dish and a little more then a table spoon of wet food on top in morning meal and they get 1/4 cup dry with maybe a little over a teaspoon on top.

I can't afford the good food, they get Friskies pate canned food. Sometimes I buy a few cans of Soulisic to have for a special Sunday breakfast and the dry is Purina cat chow. I know this is not good food and I have done my research on all the right foods but this is what my budget allows to continue feeding them. I used to have 10 feral cats but have lost some to illness and one went missing last summer. I am trying to give them more wet food because I know that would be better for them but not sure how to do this without them gaining more weight and then having it fit into my budget. I just recently cut back on their food, was feeding them a lot more dry food.

I just feel sorry for them as they sit on my porch and stare at my window waiting for me to feed them. I then take out extra dry food for a snack but I have stopped that.
 

Willowy

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Maybe. . .can you get the 13-ounce cans of Friskies? I don't know where you shop but Walmart has them for 98 cents, and it seems like most places (grocery stores, pet stores, etc.) have the big can for around a dollar (I've seen up to $1.10). You could split a can among the 6 cats every morning and evening, so they'd be getting about 4 1/3 ounces of wet food a day each. Add about 1/8 cup of kibble (one tablespoon each meal), and I think that should be enough calories, without costing too much. Of course, in the winter they'll need extra kibble. But I think that would work for their summer rations :D.
 

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OK, I found the calorie counts. Purina Cat Chow has 412 kcals per cup. Friskies Poultry Platter pate has 34 kcals per ounce (other pate flavors are pretty similar).

So 4 1/3 oz of Friskies has about 147 calories. 1/8 cup of Cat Chow has about 51 calories. So that would be just under 200 calories. . .might even be a bit much for the more sedate cats. But it's a good place to start.
 
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snugglecat

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To LDG, what kind of dry food do you feed your feral cats in the winter? The only reason I feed the Purina Cat Chow is because that is the only thing my indoor cat will eat. I have been trying to get my cat Peaches to eat better foods on and off since 2010. I have bought 6 different dry foods and my cat won't touch them and some of them the feral cats won't even touch. When I can afford it I sometimes buy a better dry food to mix in with the cat chow but my feral cats are the only ones eating it, not my cat. Peaches also is on the Wellness canned food but she is getting to the point she won't eat that anymore. I have wasted so much money trying to find her another canned food but the feral cats end up getting it. Although I found out my feral cats won't eat Duck canned food
. Yes my feral cats can be picky too.

Thanks for everyone's advice. I guess I can't expect my feral cats to lose weight fast and I have only been giving them less and measuring the dry and adding more canned food since last month. I am just worried because my biggest one out of the bunch is having a hard time cleaning herself and that's why I am trying to get them to lose a little weight.

Right now they each get 1/4 cup dry in the morning and 1/4 cup at night with a little bit of canned food on top, I just started doing this last month. They always seem hungry since I started this but on the bright side they are not wasting food like before. Peaches my cat gets her wet food in the morning and wet food at night and she only gets 1/4 to sack on throughout the day and seems content. Oh gosh, sorry I am rambling on and repeating myself. I need more coffee.....lol.
 

ldg

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Well, weight loss is healthiest when it's slow going. :nod: Especially with overweight cats, you don't want them to lose weight quickly. Cats aren't set up to use fat stores like people are, and rapid weight loss can cause liver problems. So patience is also a major factor when it comes to kitty weight loss. :hugs:

The past few winters I've used Tractor Supply's 4Health food. Even though it's "grain-free," it's rather high in carbs at 32% based on the guaranteed analysis. I might see if I can find something that doesn't cost an arm-and-a-leg that isn't as high in carbs. The Cat Chow complete dry food has roughly the same carbs: 33% or so. It's got a lot of corn and soy in it though, and those are two ingredients I like to avoid. 4Health, if you can get to a Tractor Supply store, has better ingredients and should cost about the same (or less?) to use.
 
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snugglecat

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I checked around and we don't have a Tractor Supply store here. I was also looking into a better dry food again but I just can't find one that fits my budget, I mean I might be able to afford it every once in a while if on sale. Like I said before my cat Peaches has not touched any of the new dry foods I have tried and she is the one I want off of the corn and soy. I recently found out she is allergic to soy in canned foods but does not seem to bother her much in the dry. I still want her off of it though. She is also very picky about canned food, she was only eating Wellness Turkey and now she has stopped eating that. I have a few cans of Fancy Feast as back up and that is what she wants now. Every time she goes on Fancy Feast we go through a bad bought of constipation so not sure if I want her on that long. I have bought every canned food that is good and expensive and my feral cats always get it because Peaches won't touch it.

I also wanted to ask if I made one of my feral cats meal all wet food, would the big can of Friskies be enough to feed all 6 or should I still add a little dry? They don't seem to like the bigger cans for some reason that is why I open 2 of the 5.5 cans. I guess it's not as creamy no matter how much water I add to it, they are just as picky as my own indoor cat. I have noticed that they are a little more loving towards me since they have been getting more canned food. Three of the cats I have never been able to touch but they will get real close to me now.
 

ldg

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Well, the larger cans are 13.5 ounces? So without any dry, that means each cat would only be eating roughly 2 ounces of wet food a day. That really isn't enough food for an adult cat. Even my little 7 pound kitty eats 3 ounces of raw food a day (and on canned, she ate about 4.5 ounces). I'm not familiar with calorie counting and figuring measured amounts of dry, but it sure seems like some dry would be needed.

And yeah, I didn't spend a lot of time on it yesterday, but it sure looked like finding a better dry food within budget was going to be a problem. :sigh:
 

Willowy

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One 13.2 can should be enough for one MEAL for all 6, but not for the whole day. And when I figured the calories, I figured in one tablespoon of Cat Chow added to the canned food for each meal.

But if they're picky and don't like the food from larger cans, well, not much to do about that :lol3:.
 
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