Need a little advice with Binx

Hi y'all, it's me again!

So I've started Binx on a diet to try and help him shed some weight (he's 12lbs, which is a bit on the pudgy side of a Russian Blue male). The issue I'm concerned with is... well, I didn't get any papers assuring me that he is a purebred cat, only visual exams have lent credence to his breed. A vet tech at the animal clinic I go to (far too often for my liking, hopefully that slows down after these damn fleas are DEAD FOREVER) has owned RB's before, and said that Binx fits the profile.

Males are Generally between 9-10lbs max (from what I've read, but I'm not looking to make him a show cat), but on the odd chance that Binx is a mix of Russian Blue and another breed (btw, how can you tell? Please let me know if you can help), I'm at a loss as to whether I'm feeding him too little, or just the right amount and I'm freaking out over nothing.

Right now his current meal plan is

(1) 3oz can BBuf Wilderness wet food at 6:45-7am

(1) 3oz can BBuf Wilderness wet food around 1-2pm

(1/4 cup, or less) BBuf wilderness dry food at 9-10pm, after attempts at play (Note: I'm slowly switching him to Natures Instinct dry rabbit formula).

He's somewhat of a lazy lounge cat (with occasional bursts of hyperactivity), but that may be my fault because I don't seem to be very good at encouraging play. My family has had Basenji's all my pre-independent life, but I wanted a cat now that I'm on my own... but I have a tendency to approach play like I would a Basenji   Plus, I think he still doesn't fully trust me, so that's an ongoing process   

Back to the original point: considering I'm trying to get him to drop weight, is this a good meal plan? I chose the three smallish spaced out meals because that's something I can stick to once my Fall semester starts, given my class schedule, and if a cat's metabolism is remotely similar to ours, I imagine more small meals a day would keep his metabolism revving. It sucks that I know a LOT about human nutrition, but not a damn thing about what to do for my baby 

Anyway, Thanks for reading this, and I hope someone out there can help me figure out just how much my baby should be getting a day.

Sincerely,

Raksha

P.S. So far he's rejected every new food I've tried introducing (even the slow way like I've been instructed to)! I guess its wet BBuf / dry Nature's Variety kibble for him until a recall occurs.

P.P.S. On a positive note, for those who know what I'm going through, the fleas are becoming less of an issue, ever since I had the apartment gone over by an exterminator, and then carpet bombed the whole place myself with some good old, food grade diatomaceous earth. Next war campaign against the fleas is in two weeks! More exterminators, and then another week or so of carpet bombing. Thank god I found a Dyson on sale... my poor Shark got so clogged I had to toss it

 

Can you take pictures of your beautiful Binx? It might help others to determine if his body shape is overweight or not. Pictures from above and his side while he's standing.

And ah! Good luck on the flea exterminating process!!

Here's an old thread with charts and photos of cats to show ideal weights. link is here! It may be a lot more helpful to go by charts like these and your own observations of Binx than generalizations about his (possible) breed. Maybe he's dense with muscle! One of our cats is ideal-plus (a bit squishy), the other is ideal-minus (sleek), and the vet's happy with both. (@mingking: the "ideal-plus" is, of course, the snowshoe!)

And, yes we (cats and people), do well with lots of small meals a day: it keep the cats from ever getting too hungry.

@LisaHE  I checked the chart, and he looks like a 7... mostly because his belly is furry and hard to see if he's got a distinct tuck or not :/ it looks like he has a bit of a fatty abdominal pad, though. He's a bit of a lazybones since he's decided I'm a terrible playmate, lol, so... yeah. When I thought about it, he's basically getting the same amount of food, just spaced out more.

I can't decide if his previous free-feeding was better for him or not.

@mingking   I'll try... he's usually shy when the camera comes out, so I have to be sneaky. I might be able to post some later today, when he's more active!

mingking Well that was easier than I thought... They're not the best photos, but it's what I could get before he jumped on his cat tree to stare out the window! Oh, and please excuse the mess... Flea wars aren't pretty.

Binx is so beautiful!!! And trust me, you don't want to see the state of my room.. It's really  messy whereas your home seems well put together from what I can see despite the war going on! 

I feel like Binx looks close to ideal. Not quite a 7 either. Somewhere between those two. From the old thread @LisaHE  recommended, Binx looks like the picture of Ming Loy.

(Personally, I think a little chub is fine.  )

mingking said:

 
Binx is so beautiful!!! And trust me, you don't want to see the state of my room.. It's really  messy whereas your home seems well put together from what I can see despite the war going on! 

I feel like Binx looks close to ideal. Not quite a 7 either. Somewhere between those two. From the old thread @LisaHE  recommended, Binx looks like the picture of Ming Loy.

(Personally, I think a little chub is fine. 

)

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I don't think Binx looks like a 7, either. He's a little fluffy so he looks to me like he's probably about a 6-, just a little plump, a little bigger than our 5+ cat, who's almost on the verge of plump. Is Binx due for a vet visit any day soon so you could ask the vet about his weight? He looks to me like just feeding him a tiny bit less and maybe somehow getting him to exercise a tiny bit more would probably get him into really ideal shape. He's already a beautiful cat!

And the fleas, oh, they are the worst! I remember when my housemate's cat brought fleas in, it was awful! And messes, well, I work at home and my office is a total wreck. Books and stacks of papers everywhere.

I have a big black cat also named Binks, or Binkx, or Binx, or a dozen other variations!  Binks found us about 1.5 years ago as a stray, but he was fixed and very friendly...I'm positive that he was someone's pet until he was either thrown out or got lost. He hung around outside until we finally gave in and brought him in for my daughter to deal with.

Binks doesn't have much of a Pedigree that I know of, but he is very glossy, very strong, and surprisingly dense. The vet's scale listed him as 14 Lbs, but the vet recommended looking at Binks from above to judge the amount of fat he has on his body. From directly above, there should be an indentation behind his ribs and before his hips. If there is a large indent, then the cat might be underweight. A straight or flat flank is OK, and a bulge on the ribs or behind usually indicates being overweight. This is a very basic and very preliminary way of assessing a cat's overall condition and doesn't always make it easy with furry cats

   Cats are difficult to get skinny once they are pudgy. My preferred method is to give one less spoon full of wet food at each feeding, which ends up being a bit less than a Fancy Feast can full of food (or about 20-25% of the regular amount). The cats will catch on if you withhold too much food all at once, so don't take out too much. The worst thing I could do was to cut back one of their meals, which causes them to gorge themselves whenever they get access to food. Cutting back a little at a time will slowly take the weight off, which is the best way to lose and keep off excess weight. Or at least it does with Binks.  

@mingking   He is so beautiful... I love him to bits! Hopefully he'll start loving me back, soon as far as chubby goes, I'm having a hard time feeling those ribs, and I definitely don't want him to get overweight :/ the vet did say he was a bit hefty, so I've cut back the kibble from a 1/3 to a 1/4 cup, and the wet food to two 3oz servings spaced out in the day. I don't think he's happy with the change in feeding, but I don't want him to get fat or starve... so... yeah,

@LisaHE   I totally agree. FLEAS SUCK. And Binx, well, I've changed his wet food cycle. It used to be that I'd put out a 5.5oz can, and he'd graze on it, then later in the evening I'd put out a 1/4cup of dry kibble for him to snack on through the night. I think he'll catch on, sooner or later, because he's surprisingly good at not gorging himself... he still rations himself. I really wish I knew where he picked that up from!

@JMarkitell   YAY! Another Binx!!! He's so purdy, awww ^_^  as far as feeding goes, I'm going to see how long it takes for Captain Squishypants to catch on to the thrice a day, because I'm really trying to cut back on his dry kibble, which he grazes on in the evening/night time. So a 3oz at 7, a 3oz at noon-1ish, and then 1/4 cup kibble at 7pm.

Getting this little stinker to play is like pulling teeth, because he only wants to play at first light, or when i'm getting ready for sleep! I still try to play with him a bit, regardless, but I'm trying to adjust his play schedule to comply with my need to sleep, hahaha.

The only thing I can count on for all four cats (age 2-18) to play with is a simple piece of string or yarn. I typically dangle it ON their face repeatedly...until thy either get annoyed and swat it or walk off. If the face trick doesn't get them swatting, running the string across their butt or hind legs usually gets them going. I have found that getting a cat to play with you...even a little..will cause the cat to be much friendlier or affectionate. My big orange male, Archie, isn't too friendly but he becomes my best buddy when we play together for a while.