Feline obesity

I read and see a lot of pictures of obese cats and the problems they have, i.e. cleaning themselves. I am very afraid my cats are going to get obese. I have 3 - they are 10, 11, 12 lbs. I keep very close eye on what they eat. I feed them about 400-500 calories a day, which seems a lot, but they act like they are always hungry. No, they do not have worms, or hyperthyroidism or any other medical problems. They are always begging for food. I feed them 5 times a day, alternating wet and dry, each meal about 100 calories each. Then, today, I come to find my girl cat snuck into the bag of food!!! The girl cat seems to be chunky, her belly is fat...well, they all seem big to me. Every time I go to the vet, they always comment, "ooo...they are big," or "boy, she's a little chunky."

How many calories should I be feeding them? Are they begging because they are hungry, or they begging just to beg, or do they just like to eat as a hobby? I try to keep them active, I make them chase after a wand toy several times a day. I try to restrict their food, but they keep bugging me for food. I also bought the Slim Cat ball toy (where you put the food in the ball and they have to roll it around to get food out) but it doesn't seem to slow down their eating. It only takes them 15 minutes and they have gobbled up all the food.

I also worry because the girl cat gets diarrhea if she eats too much dry food. Wet food and chicken is better for her, but she LOVES the dry so I give her 1/2 cup a day. She just snuck into the dry food, and ate a bunch. And, how much should they weigh anyway?

Cats are like people, what they should weigh is based on their bone structure, their age, their activity level.  Your Vet is probably the best one to tell you what they should actually weigh.  If they are telling you they they are "chunky", they my guess is that perhaps they (or at least your girl) are a little on the heavy side.

Once you know how much they should weigh, then you can figure out how much they should eat.  I have 3 cats too.  They weigh 13, 9.5, and 5 lbs.  The one who weight 9.5 lbs eats more than the one who weighs 13 lbs.  IF I let the larger one eat what he wanted, he would eat a LOT more than he does, simply because he thinks he's a dog and wants to eat all the time.  He lives for food!  Eating is his favorite pass time.  Sadly, (for him) I don't let him do that.  HE, the big guy, only gets around 180 calories per day, and he maintains at that weight (barely).  A few more calories per day and he gains .  The middle cat eats about 200 calories per day.  'Course, he gets more exercise.  The big cat strolls into the room.  the middle cat bounces into the room .   I, personally, don't feed any dry food.  Used to.  But when the big guy was told to lose 4 pounds, the only way we could achieve that was to convert everyone to an all wet diet that I could measure out.  Now everyone has their own bowls and they all eat in different rooms so there is no cheating .

Maybe these articles will help you: 

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/is-your-cat-overweight

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-much-food-should-i-feed-my-cat

Just wanted to share that Peebo my 23 lb cat or 24 lb did not over eat...

He was a big boned cat and long..

I had to give him miralax on his wet food  3 times a week and the vet knew I did this..

for the last 5 years or so..he had constipation whether it was from a dog that chased

him and he fell from a tree years ago or just like some humans he had constipation..

for a year he was straining and sometimes red and trace of blood...

I decided to research miralax and then asked the vet...

It saved me lots of money...and it worked great...he never had the runs

and he did well..I would put one fourth teaspoon or less on his wet food and mix

it in on monday, wed and friday each week for years...

For a large cat I guessed one fourth teaspoon, I have read you can give one half teaspoon

I erred on the  lesser amount and doing it  3 times a week and that was perfect for Peebo

I also wiped his behind each morning with unfragranced baby wipes or a very wet papertowell

gently...

some cats do have those problems but you will do as I did, because you love them...

Now that Peebo is gone...I would wipe his behind and be happy if I had him back...

He would lie down by me when I did my pilates and roll over...and he was huge

and make me laugh...he literally copied my pilates at time on the floor...

Hope I have helped with sharing this with you on the constipation, cleaning them

and weight..just my experience..

Sheri T