Help with my overweight cat!

cat hunter

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Hi guys, 

One of my cats is getting fatter and fatter! She was overweight when I got her, and she seems to be gaining weight still! So I need some help with putting her on a diet. I attempted to weigh her this morning and she's about 16lb!! So now I feel awful. 

She's indoor only, and is pretty sedentary and will only eat dry food. She won't eat wet food, or treats, or human food and only certain brands of dry food. 

So I've been trying to work out how much to feed her per day based on some info on some vet sites. Advice seems to suggest 20 calories per pound of bodyweight for maintenance minus 2lb (40 cals) for weight loss. 

So based on this she should have 280 cals a day for weightloss. I was thinking of giving her slightly less than this as she doesn't really play or move much so isn't burning much off in terms of exercise. I think she's become more sedentary as she's gained extra weight. 

Her cat food now is 522 cals per 124g. 4.2 cals per gram.

So was thinking about 2 scoops of 27g a day a total of 54g = 227cals

I was free feeding, but am trying to move her and our other cat on to timed meals. 

Does the above sound okay? Or does anyone have a better formula for working out how many calories she should be on?

And yes, I've tried and tried to get her to eat wet food. She's a seriously fussy eater. 

HELP! Thanks! :) 
 

Kat0121

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Hi guys, 

One of my cats is getting fatter and fatter! She was overweight when I got her, and she seems to be gaining weight still! So I need some help with putting her on a diet. I attempted to weigh her this morning and she's about 16lb!! So now I feel awful. 

She's indoor only, and is pretty sedentary and will only eat dry food. She won't eat wet food, or treats, or human food and only certain brands of dry food. 

So I've been trying to work out how much to feed her per day based on some info on some vet sites. Advice seems to suggest 20 calories per pound of bodyweight for maintenance minus 2lb (40 cals) for weight loss. 

So based on this she should have 280 cals a day for weightloss. I was thinking of giving her slightly less than this as she doesn't really play or move much so isn't burning much off in terms of exercise. I think she's become more sedentary as she's gained extra weight. 

Her cat food now is 522 cals per 124g. 4.2 cals per gram.

So was thinking about 2 scoops of 27g a day a total of 54g = 227cals

I was free feeding, but am trying to move her and our other cat on to timed meals. 

Does the above sound okay? Or does anyone have a better formula for working out how many calories she should be on?

And yes, I've tried and tried to get her to eat wet food. She's a seriously fussy eater. 

HELP! Thanks! :) 
I understand about fussy eaters. I have 2 and one in the making. His sisters are tutoring him in the fussy arts. 

Has she seen a vet lately?? She might have some kind of medical issue that could be causing her to gain. 

Getting her away from free feeding is a good idea. What kind of food does she eat? What brand I mean. I'd discuss feeding amounts with the vet after she gets a check up if she hasn't had one lately. 

You said she's pretty sedentary. Does she like toys? Wand toys like Da Bird are a good way to get a cat to exercise  while having fun. Most cats really like these. Laser pointers are good too. 
 
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cat hunter

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Hey Kat thanks for replying. I only adopted RoRo in January from the SPCA so she was given a clean bill of health then. I also took her to the vet about 3 months ago for hairball issues and again she was given a clean bill of health. I was told by the vet that it was pretty common for indoor cats who are dry food only to be overweight. So I don't think it's a health problem, I think we've been feeding her too much!

While she was in the SPCA she was on hunger strike for weeks, so when we finally got her home it was a challenge to find any dry food she would eat. She has the Purina ProPlan Healthy Metabolism dry food. She won't even eat different Purina dry food flavors! Only this one. The SPCA told me that her former owners said she was a dry food only cat. She's 7 years old, so assume she's been on dry food only most of her life. 

I am thinking of taking her to the vet again for her weight, but wanted to try to manage it myself first if possible. 

She will play with a wand toy a little. She's totally uninterested in the laser pointer, balls, mice etc. She used to be more playful, but then we adopted our second cat who tends to charge in and take over and RoRo flounces off. I think she's also become lazier as she's gained a little more weight. I need to be more proactive in locking Megatron (our newest cat) in a different room, so RoRo can have interrupted play time. 

I know a little of RoRo's history - she was pretty much terrorized by young children in her former home, so it's taking us a while to build back her confidence. She has issues!! 
 

krazykatjenn

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I also adopted an overweight shelter cat, but it sounds like your battle is a lot more uphill than mine! My cat was hooked on the exact kibble the shelter fed her when I brought her home (Science Diet) and after a few failed attempts to change her over initially, I let her keeping eating it until she was less stressed about being in a new place. Then I started dabbing wet food on the side of her bowl to give her the idea that wet food is also food, then I mixed wet food with tuna to get her to try it, and now she'll eat most wet food I put in front of her. My cat is much younger though, so she probably adapts easier to change.

Your calorie count seems high to me, but I don't claim to be an expert by any means. From what I've read heavier cats have a slower metabolism so they don't need as many calories, which tends to break those set "x calories every y pounds" formulas because they don't account for that. Maybe try using the formula at http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity#How_Much_Do_I_Feed  There's also lots of great information on helping cats lose weight there if you haven't read it yet.

My cat was 12 pounds when I adopted her and she's down to 10 pounds now. (She has the build of a very small eight pound cat, and that's what the shelter recorded her weight as when they took her in. She gained four pounds on kibble while she was there. x_x ) I give my cat between 150-200 calories of food a day and weigh her every week to make sure she's losing weight at the right rate (1% of body weight a week) then adjust how much she eats as needed. I think this is much easier with wet food though because of how much more filling it is. (Err, some of it, anyway. I tried out purina one weight loss and it was awful. She'd hoover down the whole plate than cry that she was still hungry.) She just got her vet check this week and the vet says she's very healthy and looking a lot better, but pointed out that the reason that she can't wear a collar is that she still doesn't have a neck. Poor thing!

She's also very active and playful, so again, your path is a whole lot harder than mine! Oh, have you tried a catnip toy? When my cat rejects all her other toys and I get out the catnip and she goes crazy for it. 

The most important thing is that you're doing your best to make her happy, which sounds like much more than her last owner did for her. She's probably thrilled to be living with you, no matter how much she weighs, and I'm sure you'll get her to a healthy place because you're seeking out help and working toward it. Don't get so frustrated you lose sight of how awesome you are for saving this cat!
 
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cat hunter

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Thank you Jenn, I'll look at the webpage you suggest. 

I now have a spreadsheet set up for RoRo's weekly weigh in's lol! I've been doing timed feeds today rather than free feeding, and they are both not very happy about that. I gave them breakfast, and then split their second meal into two smaller meals. I need to get them both used to it so RoRo doesn't eat Megatron's left over dry food. 

I have tried catnip with her. Most brands have no effect on her - but she does have an organic catnip fishy that she loves. But she pretty much just rolls around on it and then crashes out! 

She's been a little more playful this afternoon, but she's still not running or bouncing as I'd like. But hopefully that will come as she loses weight. 

I think I'll start her diet at just over 200 cals a day and reduce it as she loses weight. 

She does seem happy, and she's a lot more confident than when we first got her. 

Thanks for your help! 
 
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