Obese cat

I took in a stray cat several months ago. He just showed up at the door one day and never left the yard. I let him come inside and for about 4-5 months he didnt care a thing in the world about going back outside. I swear he is the laziest cat i have ever had. I think he's older. Anyways, we got him his shots and got him fixed. I was just looking at pictures from when we first got him and hes has blown WAY up. I knew was overweight but i had no idea how much he had gained. Hes gotten so fat its hard for him to clean his butt so i have to do it for him pretty frequently. I changed him over to the weigh control catfood but it isnt really helping. He honestly doesnt eat that much, he is just extremely inactive. He has started to want to go back outside frequently, but when he does he just goes and lays outside. He will walk around to the front of the house and just lay out there until i open the door and he will come back in and just lay inside. Occasionally he will play with the other cats but only for a very brief period. Any suggestions as to helping him lose weight?

The best way to have an obese cat lose weight is to eliminate free-feeding altogether. Get him started on scheduled, portioned feedings. This way you know exactly how much he eats per meal and per day. Get a scale, or weigh yourself on a regular scale then hold him and stand on the scale together. Subtract the difference, and keep a log of the date and exact weight if you can. Once he's on scheduled feedings, I'd convert him over to canned food only. Canned food will be less nutrient dense but will also give a lot of moisture in his diet so he should still be satisfied. I'd try to get one that is grain-free as well, because he's likely overweight due to the excess carbs in his current diet. I'd also check out http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity for a much more detailed how-to's and the why's of it all, if you haven't read through or heard of this website. It's generally a must for all feline lovers and caretakers. It's chock full of good information, and a great resource for other health issues related to obesity in cats.

Good vibes to you and your kitty... for better health! 

Good for you for being concerned about your kitty's weight!  Like with humans, cut the carbs and try to increase movement.  I had a cat that was 15 lbs.  I stopped free-feeding her, cut back drastically on the dry food, and started feeding her mainly wet food.  Over the course of about 2 years, she got down to 12 lbs.  So, my advice is to stop free feeding and go to regular feedings.  Also, if eating dry, cut back on that and add canned food so that most of your kitty's nutrition comes from canned food.  If you're giving treats, cut those out as well.  Use dry crunchies as treats.  If you can go grain-free, that will help also, but isn't necessary. 

One other thing.  You don't want your kitty to lose weight quickly. Slow and steady weight loss is the goal. 

thanks guys

Yes, I have to agree with everyone else.  If you free feed, you need to stop for him to lose weight.  Our Darko weighed in at 15 pounds from the time he was one year old.  The Vet said he needed to lose 4 pounds .  Of course, we free fed all four cats, and I had no idea what we were going to do.  Our Vet said try feeding a high protein, low carb kibble, which we tried, and we measured out the amount each cat should be eating in a day, but it didn't do any good .  WE even raised all the bowls so he couldn't just lay there and eat, and we put things INSIDE the bowls so he (and the other cats) would have to eat around them to slow him down.  Nothing worked.  He didn't lose anything.  So then we tried prescription weight lose kibble.  Still nothing. 

FINALLY I decided I had to do something else, and that was to pull up all the food and get them on scheduled feedings, and while I was at it, I decided would try to convert them to wet food since I'd been reading that it was much better for them.  Mission accomplished!  Now they are all on scheduled feedings, eating wet food and Darko is looking pretty svelte these days . 

Just in case you are free feeding and want to make a change, this article might help you with that:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transitioning-free-fed-kibble-kitties-to-timed-meals