His tummy is growling?

sammie1562 · Dec 18, 2015

I have a 1 year old cat and he was recently put on a diet from the vet because he a lil over weight. Ever since the he always cries for more food and now i can hear his stomach growling am I not feeding him enough?!?! He gets a 1/4 cup of dry food int the morning (purina one) and a 1/4 can of wet at night (blue buffalo).

stephanietx · Dec 18, 2015

How much does he weigh? I would give him wet grain free food twice a day as it's got high water content and more protein, which is what kitty's bodies need. You can supplement with a grain-free dry food, but do it at scheduled times and in a limited quantity.

sammie1562 · Dec 18, 2015

Right now he weighs 13 lb. I give him the dry food at 6 am and the wet food around 7pm. I do plan to change his dry food over to orijen once i finish what i have now.

stephanietx · Dec 18, 2015

Going to wet food, even if not grain free will really help him slim down, as will eliminating grains. You just don't want him to lose weight too quickly.

sammie1562 · Dec 18, 2015

How much should i feed him a day with the wet food?

stephanietx · Dec 18, 2015

Generally, it's 1/2 oz to 1 oz per pound of body weight. Start off with 3/4 oz per pound and then divide that into two servings. Then, just give him "snack size" portions of dry food. So maybe 10 crunchies at a time. When he starts complaining about food, just tell him, "Not now." or "It's not time." and redirect him with an interactive toy such as a laser pointer or DaBird. It's as much retraining us as it is them.

sammie1562 · Dec 18, 2015

ok thank you so much!

LTS3 · Dec 18, 2015

Sammie1562 said:
I have a 1 year old cat and he was recently put on a diet from the vet because he a lil over weight. Ever since the he always cries for more food and now i can hear his stomach growling am I not feeding him enough?!?! He gets a 1/4 cup of dry food int the morning (purina one) and a 1/4 can of wet at night (blue buffalo).

That is not enough food.You've reduced your cat's calorie intake way too much and put your cat at risk for fatty liver disease. And going more than 12 hours with very little food in the tummy is tough. No wonder your cat is always hungry. Did the vet recommend those amounts of food?

Please see this for tips on how to help a cat to safely lose weight: http://catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity

The general rule is to feed between 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. Your 13 pound cat should be getting 260 to 325 calories daily to maintan his current weight. I suggest feeding at least that many calories for now until your cat stops crying for more food. Then slowly reduce the calories to reach the ideal body weight and to maintain that weight. Most people prefer to feed canned food for weight loss since canned foods are much lower in calories than dry food. A cup of dry food may have as much as 600 calories (!). Even weight loss dry foods have more calories than most cat needs. Compre than to a 5.5 oz can of canned food that has 150 calories or less. You can find a chart with canned food nutritional info at http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf and http://www.petobesityprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Cat_Canned_Pouch_Foods.pdf

Canned foods fill a cat's tummy up better than dry food as well. Most people like to feed several small canned food meals daily. A programmable timed feeder can be used if you can't be home to give a, say, mid morning meal. Or you can continue to feed a little dry food and only leave that out for a snack during the day.

sammie1562 · Dec 18, 2015

ok thank you so much!

LTS3 said:
That is not enough food.You've reduced your cat's calorie intake way too much and put your cat at risk for fatty liver disease. And going more than 12 hours with very little food in the tummy is tough. No wonder your cat is always hungry. Did the vet recommend those amounts of food?

Please see this for tips on how to help a cat to safely lose weight: http://catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity

The general rule is to feed between 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. Your 13 pound cat should be getting 260 to 325 calories daily to maintan his current weight. I suggest feeding at least that many calories for now until your cat stops crying for more food. Then slowly reduce the calories to reach the ideal body weight and to maintain that weight. Most people prefer to feed canned food for weight loss since canned foods are much lower in calories than dry food. A cup of dry food may have as much as 600 calories (!). Even weight loss dry foods have more calories than most cat needs. Compre than to a 5.5 oz can of canned food that has 150 calories or less. You can find a chart with canned food nutritional info at http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf and http://www.petobesityprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Cat_Canned_Pouch_Foods.pdf

Canned foods fill a cat's tummy up better than dry food as well. Most people like to feed several small canned food meals daily. A programmable timed feeder can be used if you can't be home to give a, say, mid morning meal. Or you can continue to feed a little dry food and only leave that out for a snack during the day.

Yes this is what the vet told me to feed him. would changing his food wto 1/4 cup of dry and 1/2 can wet be enough or do i still need more for him?

talkingpeanut · Dec 18, 2015

Sammie1562 said:
ok thank you so much!
Yes this is what the vet told me to feed him. would changing his food wto 1/4 cup of dry and 1/2 can wet be enough or do i still need more for him?

Calculate the calories in the food using the recommendations above. Different foods have different nutritional values. They will have serving suggestions on the packaging.

LTS3 · Dec 19, 2015

Sammie1562 said:
ok thank you so much!

Yes this is what the vet told me to feed him. would changing his food wto 1/4 cup of dry and 1/2 can wet be enough or do i still need more for him?

I doubt it. Just feed your cat as much as he wants for now. Try feeding more canned than dry. He needs food in him right now. Once his appetite has leveled off, then start slowly reducing the calories to help the extra weight come off. In general, 1/4 cup of dry and 1/2 can of food isn't enough for many cats. Can you feed half of a 5.5 oz can of food in the morning, leave the 1/4 cup of dry out for snacking on, and then the remaining half can for dinner?

Many vets don't know how to get overweight pets to lose weight

Just reducing the amount of food won't help. The calorie intake is often reduced as well and cats who don't get enough calories are at risk for fatty liver disease.

lisahe · Dec 19, 2015

LTS3 said:
I doubt it. Just feed your cat as much as he wants for now. Try feeding more canned than dry. He needs food in him right now. Once his appetite has leveled off, then start slowly reducing the calories to help the extra weight come off. In general, 1/4 cup of dry and 1/2 can of food isn't enough for many cats. Can you feed half of a 5.5 oz can of food in the morning, leave the 1/4 cup of dry out for snacking on, and then the remaining half can for dinner?
Many vets don't know how to get overweight pets to lose weight

Just reducing the amount of food won't help. The calorie intake is often reduced as well and cats who don't get enough calories are at risk for fatty liver disease.

I couldn't agree more on all counts! A cat this young is likely to be active and may even still be growing, so it's no wonder he has a big appetite. Our cats are almost three and very active, and they weigh only about eight pounds a piece but they eat raw and canned food that equals more than one large can of food a day. (The calories do vary but a lot of their foods are high-calorie.)

I particularly like the idea of feeding a large can of wet food a day along with a little dry food for snacking. Once his appetite has stabilized, my suggestion (kind of like @stephanietx's) would be to taper off the dry food and feed only canned food. It's more likely to be filling for him since it's got lots of water and is almost always higher in meat protein, which cats need, and lower in carbs, which cats don't need much of, than dry food.

Good luck!

sammie1562 · Dec 21, 2015

i will thank you so much for your help

His tummy is growling?

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