Yep, handsome indeed
. Kind of reminds me of my own slightly pudgy boy
.
So....did he manage to lose any weight?
So....did he manage to lose any weight?
One of my favorite pics of her.
When you say your Vet is not concerned, are you saying the Vet doesn't think he is overweight, or just what? An overweight cat is at risk for diabetes, particularly if his diet consists of certain carbs. I know SOME Wellness, depending on WHICH ones are not really that low on the Carb scale . Don't really know about Orijin. We have a pudge cat ourselves, and I offer him ONLY foods that have less than 10% in carbs...try to go lower than that even. Some days he gets different amount of calories than other days, but he never gets a LOT. It may only vary by 30 calories, but maybe, as in people, it's enough to keep him from stagnating at a certain weight. I also toss him his treats as far as I can so he has to run for them, which he actually loves doing. He's a great little outfielderI am having the same issue with my kitty! For over a year now, we have been monitoring his calories and have put him on high end (no carb) food. He started out at 18ish lbs. I will also mention he is a BIG cat, tall, long, monster paws - so he would probably be underweight at 13 lbs. anyway - no health issues, blood work and thyroid function are fine. He's been eating 1/4 cup orijen dry and 4 tbsp of wellness wet indoor, totaling to about 180 cals/day. He slowly lost a pound, over a couple of months, but now he's stagnated for several months at 17lbs. He is 8, so he's not incredibly active, but does run around on his own sometimes, and when I play with him he's happy to chase his toy around a while. I'm at a loss! Surely eating less than 180 cals per day does not seem enough... But he's not budging :-/ vet does not seem concerned though, so I'm trying not to be, either...
Hi! The vet doesn't think his current weight poses any health concerns - she agrees he is a little heavier than he needs to be, but as we're actively working on it I guess she isn't overly worried since all tests seem to be in order. Carbs could be something worth looking into! All their food is grain free at least - orijen is apparently a very low carb food, so I'm not too worried there. I found a list on here of wellness foods and their carb contents - the one I am feeding is 3.27% carbs. Not sure where that lies on the scale. Though at only 4 tbsp/day, and only 56 of his daily calories I'm not sure it makes too much difference? I don't know - sigh! It seems so much more complicated than in humans!! Thank you for your response - I will look into the carb thing a bit more. Oh and treat throwing is a good idea! He doesn't get them too often, but I'll be sure to try that when he does- he loves gamesWhen you say your Vet is not concerned, are you saying the Vet doesn't think he is overweight, or just what? An overweight cat is at risk for diabetes, particularly if his diet consists of certain carbs. I know SOME Wellness, depending on WHICH ones are not really that low on the Carb scale . Don't really know about Orijin. We have a pudge cat ourselves, and I offer him ONLY foods that have less than 10% in carbs...try to go lower than that even. Some days he gets different amount of calories than other days, but he never gets a LOT. It may only vary by 30 calories, but maybe, as in people, it's enough to keep him from stagnating at a certain weight. I also toss him his treats as far as I can so he has to run for them, which he actually loves doing. He's a great little outfielder :lol3: And I make sure his treats, which he gets only sparingly, are carb free (I use 100% freeze dried chicken)
Thanks very much for those links; they were very helpful! Even though he's quite heavy, his waist is still discernible to the eye and his spine & ribs can be felt through some fat. He's surely somewhat overweight, but not obese. His tummy doesn't drag or anything. But you've given me some good info to get him on the right track and I appreciate it. Going to wean him more onto his wet food so that it's his main source of calories - so 3/4 is the goal for now. I bought some freeze dried treats as well to replace the other carb-y, standard treats I have. Also Planning to order a kitty jungle gym next week from a company called catwheelnet - (really cool structures) he used to LOVE climbing when he was an outdoor cat, so hopefully that encourages some more activityHi.Here are a couple of links of body scoring your cat as per being overweight or not.I agree about carbs.Carbs are actually very bad.More than we realize.Being a member on the lymphoma groups, carbs are out.Cancer feeds on carbs& diets . Evo 95% turkey or something like that is preferred.Here is some body scoring: Hugs C.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=cat+...X&ved=0CBsQsARqFQoTCMSBktO3w8gCFRI7iAodJ8EHsQ
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=...dition&usg=AFQjCNFd8aZ6joqeyaB-DYlcrnJ9s8WCoQ
That's a great idea! I'll check out Pinterest for something DIY - thanks :-DTry an interactive feeder or treat ball for the dry food. Make him work for it.
Ah! I just spent 10 minutes replying to this and they told me they had to hold it for moderation :-/ the short of it was thank you for the links and the helpful info hopefully they post my original response soon..!Hi.Here are a couple of links of body scoring your cat as per being overweight or not.I agree about carbs.Carbs are actually very bad.More than we realize.Being a member on the lymphoma groups, carbs are out.Cancer feeds on carbs& diets . Evo 95% turkey or something like that is preferred.Here is some body scoring: Hugs C.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=cat+...X&ved=0CBsQsARqFQoTCMSBktO3w8gCFRI7iAodJ8EHsQ
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=...dition&usg=AFQjCNFd8aZ6joqeyaB-DYlcrnJ9s8WCoQ
Thank you so much! I agree! Both of my cats have been on about 180-200 cals/day for about a year now and I won't do less than that. My female who is NOT overweight eats the same as my male, and she maintains her weight perfectly, too. I believe it's got something to do with the orijen - it's a very healthy food, but high in calories and super filling. It's also high protein low carb. It doesn't seem so much about the number of calories at least with my cats! I've been monitoring their weight now for well over a year and both seem to be fine. And, to my surprise - I weighed them last night and the boy is actually down to 16.6 - this is a 2 lb loss over about 1.5 years. Very slow & steady :-)Glad Im not the only one!!
Your kitty is a lot like mine, for sure. I have decided to keep him on a half cup a day of dry, high-protein, grain-free food. He is staying on 190-195 kcals. At 180 kcals, he was so hungry. For big cats, I dont suggest you go any less than 180. Not every big cat will get diabetes and of course, lacking nutrition could result in issues far worse than chancing diabetes. No way I will starve my cat as an experiment to see if hes able to lose weight.
Ive come to the conclusion that if they are healthy, happy, and active for their age, then lets not stress them out because they are bigger. With your cat being eight, he may lose weight once he becomes a senior kitty, most do. I wish him mamy healthy years!