Best dry food for weight loss

I was at the vet a few weeks ago with my neutered one year old domestic shorthair.  I asked the vet about his weight and she said to have him drop a pound.  I don't think he has lost any weight, unless stepping on my digital scale with and without him is not accurate.  He is currently on the Blue Buffalo freedom line for indoor cats.  I love how it it has very minimal fillers, primarily protein and no byproducts.  Is there possibly a better brand to help him drop weight?  He is not a fan of wet food except for soulistic autumn harvest.  Someone suggested Kirkland Signature cat food, but I'm scared to try that with some of the reviews I read.  I just want something healthy to help him lose weight and keep it off before he starts having health problems caused by being overweight.  BTW he was 13.9lbs at the vet a few weeks ago,  And if my method of weighing him is accurate, that would put him at 14lbs.  Thanks and God bless.  = ^ .. ^=

I hate to say it but, imo, the best weight loss foods (or cat foods for any other purpose) are high meat wet food or raw food. The key is low to no carbs. Even with a grain free dry food, there are carbs in it somewhere - its the only way it's possible to make kibble.

Cats are obligate carnivores. They are unable to process carbs. If fed a diet containing carbs they are more likely to overeat as the diet is less satisfying to them. Additionally, a wet food results in a bigger portion on the plate as it hasn't been dehydrated. The extra water in wet/raw food will make the cat feel fuller and keep it well hydrated - any cat on a dry diet is likely dehydrated as cats don't have a strong enough thirst drive to compensate for the lack of water in kibble. Lastly, humans who are dehydrated can mistake thirst for hunger. I wouldn't be surprised if that applied to cats too.

Columbine said:

I hate to say it but, imo, the best weight loss foods (or cat foods for any other purpose) are high meat wet food or raw food. The key is low to no carbs. Even with a grain free dry food, there are carbs in it somewhere - its the only way it's possible to make kibble.

Click to expand...

You can read this for info on how to help a cat to lose weight and diet options: http://catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity Many dry foods are too calorie dense per cup, even the weight loss formulas. Some brands have as much as 600 calories per cup and many people don't even measure, they just fill a bowl or gravity feeder completely full and leave it out 24/7. An average 10 lb cat only needs about 250 calories per day.

Canned foods are much lower in calories, usually around 200 but it does vary among brands and size of the can. There's a chart on the Catinfo web site that lists the calorie content of various brands of canned foods.

Do you feed your cat any canned food? If yes, try feeding more of that and less of the dry food. If your cat won't eat canned food, try these transition tips: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade If you have to feed only dry food, try a different brand that has lower calories and feed a specific amount of food at set meal times. Figuring out how much to feed per day without drastically reducing calories too much (fatty liver disease can result) and still keeping the cat's tummy satisfied can be hard to figure out but this board can help

I TOTALLY agree with the above posters that the best way to get a cat to lose weight is to put them on canned food.  I tried for two years to get my piggy Darko to lose weight, even went so far as to buy prescription weight loss kibble...to no avail .   Finally I transtioned all four cats to timed meals, then to canned food and then figured out exactly how many calories Darko needed (discussed with our Vet), and started feeding them high protein, low carb food.  Voila!  He started losing weight. 

So, as well as using the above article on transitioning to a new type of food, I used this one: 

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transitioning-free-fed-kibble-kitties-to-timed-meals

Now, if you absolutely CANNOT switch to canned food, then look for a kibble that is the highest in protein and the lowest in carbs, kind of like the Atkins diet for people.  This food WILL be high in calories (sorry @LTS3 ), but it should be more satisfying, so you should be able to feed less of it.  You will just have to monitor that he only eats the correct amount of calories for him to lose weight.  Your Vet should be able to tell you how many calories per day that is.  Did they?  If not, ask them.   If you only have one cat, then it's a lot easier to monitor how much he's eating   And I would suggest giving him 1/2 of his daily intake in the a.m. and 1/2 in the p.m.  That may only be 1/8 of a cup, but so be it.  (this is why canned is so much better...they get more )

Here's an article to help you figure out the best food: 

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-compare-cat-foods-calculate-carbs-dry-matter-basis

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
I TOTALLY agree with the above posters that the best way to get a cat to lose weight is to put them on canned food.  I tried for two years to get my piggy Darko to lose weight, even went so far as to buy prescription weight loss kibble...to no avail

.   Finally I transtioned all four cats to timed meals, then to canned food and then figured out exactly how many calories Darko needed (discussed with our Vet), and started feeding them high protein, low carb food.  Voila!  He started losing weight.

Click to expand...

We also found that our previous cat would not and could not lose weight on diet kibble: she really only stopped gaining weight when we started feeding her a combination of dry and canned food everyday. (That was just by chance. We were totally clueless about cat foods and diet and it was our vets that recommended the dry food that didn't work!) I wish we'd known then to do what mrsgreenjeens did!

@Girl4God , just curious but have you tried your cat on other foods made by Weruva? (They make the Soulistic food you said your cat likes.) Some of those are fairly low-calorie while being high-protein and low-carb. And they're shreds. (I'm thinking of shreds since that's what the Soulistic is.) Tiki Cat also some great shredded meat foods; they're expensive but their "luau" food cans are really packed with meat. Our cats love both those brands and I'm convinced that the shreds slow their eating down a little, too.

Good luck!

Girl4God said:

 
I was at the vet a few weeks ago with my neutered one year old domestic shorthair.  I asked the vet about his weight and she said to have him drop a pound.  I don't think he has lost any weight, unless stepping on my digital scale with and without him is not accurate.  He is currently on the Blue Buffalo freedom line for indoor cats.  I love how it it has very minimal fillers, primarily protein and no byproducts.  Is there possibly a better brand to help him drop weight?  He is not a fan of wet food except for soulistic autumn harvest.  Someone suggested Kirkland Signature cat food, but I'm scared to try that with some of the reviews I read.  I just want something healthy to help him lose weight and keep it off before he starts having health problems caused by being overweight.  BTW he was 13.9lbs at the vet a few weeks ago,  And if my method of weighing him is accurate, that would put him at 14lbs.  Thanks and God bless.  = ^ .. ^=

Click to expand...

Some examples of low fat low carb dry foods ..
Evo makes a weight control formula ,  8 % fat  13 % carbs dry matter .. 

Young Again 50/22   8 or 10 % fat    , less than 5 % carbs  dry matter ..

Wysong Epigen about 5.5 %  carbs ..  

Have you tried Fancy Feast Classics   or  Iams Purrfect Delicasies  ?

I recently switched my two cats to a 100% all wet diet and they  love both of these brands ..  My male cat also needs to lose a couple of pounds ..