Solutions for an overweight kitty

Hi all, I'm new here. I have a female Scottish Fold who just turned 4. I got her as a kitten, and she was a regular 8.9 pounds when she reached adult size. She has always been very stout. Even as a kitten her head looked small for her body. She's very short in height and length. Just took her to the vet last week as I noticed she was a little round and somehow she has gotten up to 12.9 pounds! I am horrified and embarrassed this has happened to her. She was eating Orijin dry food, I have tried to get her to eat wet food her entire life (I've tried every brand out there, no exaggeration) to no avail. The vet was actually pretty bland and not helpful. Just told me to feed her less.

I was guilty of free feeding her when I would leave on work trips to travel overnight. But that was over a year ago that I now work only out of my office and has not been free fed. I was just reading Orijin, while it is premium food, is very high in calories because it is so dense. The vet recommended Natural Balance Reduced Calorie dry food, I've had her on it for about two weeks, the vet said I would need to wait about 2 months to see any improvement. She does like the food, but wondering about any other success stories on dry food only?

Really at a loss here and devestated I thought I was doing her a favor by feeding this premium food.

Any thoughts, tips and suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading all.

It's really disappointing your vet had you switch to some "low calorie" food that's way lower quality than Orijen. I never trust vets that buy into that "low calorie" stuff which is basically just crappy food. Orijen is great, but it's high in calories so you just have to measure out how much to feed based on your cats weight.

If i were you I'd switch kitty back to Orijen but reduce the amount you feed. Best thing to do to help a cat lose weight slowly is to feed smaller meals multiple times per day. Orijen has almost 500/cal per cup of food, and the average cat needs around 20/cal per pound of weight, so based on that you can see how much you should feed your cat. break that up into multiple small meals to keep kitty satisfied longer.

I have one kibble addict I switched over from mostly kibble to raw with kibble as a snack. He never took to wet food at all. One of my best tricks is freeze dried foods like Primal or Stella and Chewy. You can feed it dry at first to get kitty used to something different. The dry texture is similar to kibble and it has a good smell to it the kibble addicts seem to like, then slowly add water. It's worked so well for my kibble addict. 

In terms of wet food, you've really got to work to get some cats on wet food. Some cats are harder to switch over than others, but there are tons and tons of wet foods on the market. Try different brands/flavors/textures to find the one your kitty likes. Well loved varieties by my crew are Tikicat, Weruva, Soulistic by Petco, Merrick LID, Ziwipeak. It is very important to get your cat on some kind of wet food, whether its freeze dried, raw, or wet food, but you really shouldn't feed kibble exclusively or you risk pushing your kitty into future kidney or urinary issues.

Good luck. 

I have indeed tried that method and had no success. The natural balance doesn't seem bad- the ingredients are hardly crappy. It's not friskies anyway! I tried lessening her orijen for about 6 months, she actually gained about .5 of a pound. My original vet (I moved from California to Colorado) said it just might not be for her. It's not that I thought she would lose weight immediately on orijen, at least maintain. But she gained! And I was giving her the correct amount for her weight. I'm at a total loss.

As for the suggestion on freeze dried. She already loves freeze fried chicken as a treat once and awhile, so maybe I will try adding water to it! Never even thought of that. Thanks for the idea

redpanda29 said:

I have indeed tried that method and had no success. The natural balance doesn't seem bad- the ingredients are hardly crappy. It's not friskies anyway! I tried lessening her orijen for about 6 months, she actually gained about .5 of a pound. My original vet (I moved from California to Colorado) said it just might not be for her. It's not that I thought she would lose weight immediately on orijen, at least maintain. But she gained! And I was giving her the correct amount for her weight. I'm at a total loss.

As for the suggestion on freeze dried. She already loves freeze fried chicken as a treat once and awhile, so maybe I will try adding water to it! Never even thought of that. Thanks for the idea

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Well I'm referring to freeze dried meals, like Stella and Chewy or Primal. Freeze dried treats are great, but they aren't really meant for water to be added to them like freeze dried meals are. IMO natural balance and orijen aren't comparable. When you look at the ingredients compared to Orijen they aren't even in the same ballpark. 

Chicken Meal, Chicken, Brown Rice, Potatoes, Oats, Pea Protein, Pearled Barley, Pea Fiber, Alfalfa Meal, Salmon Meal, Lamb Meal, Carrots, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Natural Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp, Duck, Tomato Pomace, Salmon Oil, Dried Egg, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vitamins (vitamin E supplement, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, vitamin A acetate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, folic acid), Minerals (zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, calcium iodate), Taurine, Choline Chloride, Flaxseed Meal, DL-Methionine, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Carnitine, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Citric Acid And Mixed Tocopherols (preservatives), Kelp Meal, Cranberries, Parsley Flakes, L-Lysine, Dried Spinach, Rosemary Extract.

Orijen cat & kitten

Boneless chicken,* chicken meal, chicken liver,* whole herring,* boneless turkey,* turkey meal, turkey liver,* whole eggs,* boneless walleye,* whole salmon,* chicken heart,* chicken cartilage,* herring meal, salmon meal, chicken liver oil, chicken fat, red lentils, green peas, green lentils, sun-cured alfalfa, kelp, pumpkin,* butternut squash,* spinach greens,* carrots,* apples,* pears,* cranberries,* mixed tocopherols (preservative), chicory root, dandelion root, chamomile, peppermint leaf, ginger root, caraway seeds, turmeric, rose hips, freeze-dried chicken liver, freeze-dried turkey liver, freeze-dried chicken, freeze-dried turkey, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product + vitamins and minerals

Remember, cats are obligate carnivores. They absolutely don't need brown rice, potatoes, oats, peas, etc in their food. Orijen isn't perfect either, but in terms of kibble it's nearly the best you can buy. All you're doing by feeding "low calorie" food is feeding a bunch of fillers she doesn't need.

If you cut calories properly, she will lose weight, but it's can be a slow process. Increasing her activity by playing more will help too.

I'll definitely look for the freeze dried meals. Are they pretty decent as far as lower calories? She gets played with A LOT. Probably far more than the average cat. My husband works from home and runs her around like a maniac. Which is another thing that adds to my frustration. I have a friend who has a cat from the SPCA, she is barely home, leaves out dry food for it, it doeent get much exercise. And it isn't overweight in the slightest!! Just really frustrating is all.

I also see your point about the natural balance. I probably won't purchase another bag. I'll just finish up the one I have here. The orijen was very shocking as my parents feed their 2 folds orijen and they are in goal weight. My cat gained half a pound eating a reduced, controlled meal timed appropriate amount. So you can see my reluctance here to get her back to that food. I think I'll just have to work harder and try different methods for switching her to wet. She did like tikicat chicken flavor, but only licked the juice and took a tiny bite, and walked away. That is the closest I've come!

Appreciate your thoughts!

redpanda29 said:

I'll definitely look for the freeze dried meals. Are they pretty decent as far as lower calories? She gets played with A LOT. Probably far more than the average cat. My husband works from home and runs her around like a maniac. Which is another thing that adds to my frustration. I have a friend who has a cat from the SPCA, she is barely home, leaves out dry food for it, it doeent get much exercise. And it isn't overweight in the slightest!! Just really frustrating is all.

I also see your point about the natural balance. I probably won't purchase another bag. I'll just finish up the one I have here. The orijen was very shocking as my parents feed their 2 folds orijen and they are in goal weight. My cat gained half a pound eating a reduced, controlled meal timed appropriate amount. So you can see my reluctance here to get her back to that food. I think I'll just have to work harder and try different methods for switching her to wet. She did like tikicat chicken flavor, but only licked the juice and took a tiny bite, and walked away. That is the closest I've come!

Appreciate your thoughts!

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I'm sure there's a genetic component to it. Yes calories are much lower in FD meals. A favorite in my house is the Stella and Chewy Turkey.  http://amzn.com/B0097A5B94

You could look into kibble's other than Orijen. This list is pretty decent. http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2011/08/best-dry-cat-foods-so-far/

Best of luck.