Help!: Diet food and exercise options

Hi all,

My cat Fox is a super trooper - traveling the country with me, living in new places every year or so. We recently (within the year) moved to Washington, D.C. and Fox has gained quite a bit of weight (~3 pounds, so he's up to 16 or 17) and seems to be pretty bored.

For years I fed him raw - mostly commercial, but sometimes homemade. Now I'm strapped for cash and am feeding a grain-free dry food that he's not psyched about eating and frankly, is expensive and making him gain weight. I'd like to switch him to wet, but he needs grain-free (for allergies) and I don't have the money to devote to a high quality wet food, or to switch back to raw. Does anyone know of a diet formula, grain-free dry and wet food brand that isn't crazy expensive?

I'm also interested in finding some news ways to stave off Fox's boredom. My one bedroom apartment isn't exactly palatial and while I have a balcony, I'm on the 7th floor so it's not like there's a great deal of wildlife to watch. Fox will only play with the fishing pole toy or others with me for a few minutes before he gets too lazy to go after them, so it's not like I can spend more time playing with him and that would do the trick. A year ago Fox was a trim and happy indoor outdoor cat in suburban Michigan.

I'm considering getting a fish tank for him to interact with and will be furnishing the balcony with more cat friendly structures. Any other ideas for me?

Looking forward to hearing your recommendations!

With the food, if grain free is your only criteria have you considered the Fancy Feast and Sheba pates? Whilst the other styles of these brands contain grains, the pates are grain free. They're a pretty decent budget wet food.

It really does sound like the transition to dry is what's caused the weight gain. Going back to some form of all wet diet should be enough to get him back on track. Is there any reason you can't continue with the homemade raw? I know the commercial raw isn't the cheapest, but homemade can be reasonably cost effective.

You could try leash training him and taking him for walks. It's a great way to get him moving some more and give him some of the outdoor stimulation he's accustomed to.

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I completely agree with Columbine's ideas on the food: Fancy Feast Classics were my first thought. They're not labeled as diet food but you want meat-based protein for your cat anyway, not the veg filllers some foods add to make them appeal to humans and sound diety.

As for exercise, our indoor cats love vertical space and investing in a cat condo was a great decision. They climb it, scratch on it, and watch birds on it. Toys are tougher to figure out. Our cats seem to prefer running rather than wand toys, so we throw and roll sponge balls and balls with bells. Lots of their favorite things were free: milk and juice container lids, toilet paper rolls, boxes from Amazon, and paper from Chewy.com shipments. You can also make great catnip toys out of old socks; our cats love rolling around with those and kicking them.

You might also find that Fox starts feeling a little more playful once you get him on more wet (or raw) food again! Good luck!

Thanks for the ideas! I'll try the fancy feast and see how that goes.

I've considered going back to homemade raw, but it is such an incredible pain to shop for all the necessary ingredients in the city and to keep them all frozen while I do it. Ordering off-line is possible, but pricey, so I'd like to avoid going that route. Things might change in the future and raw might be an option then.

Fox is *sort of* leash trained (He used to travel in his harness and is accustom to going outside on the leash) but generally is just not into it. Can't say I blame him

Also, cut back on the dry and use that for "treats" and "snacks".  If you're not already doing scheduled feedings, transitioning to scheduled feedings would help too.  I have found that I'm the one who really needs to be trained to cut back on portion size and not feeling guilty when I tell them it's not time to eat yet.

Hey bloggers! I have an update on my food search. Decided not to use Fancy Feast after finding out about this: After US lawsuit linked to cat food, Nestle says forced labor has no place in its supply chain

I've been feeding less of the dry food and that's helping with weight, but haven't made the switch back to raw yet, per my new plan. It'll be a pain, but worth it in the end.