My Chunky Cat

It never ends. There is always a new issue with my adorable cat. (And this one isn't even his fault!)

Ok, he's gained a bit of weight. When we first got him, his foster mom was trying to put weight on him and he was about 7 pounds. He was getting 3 oz of Wellness Wet Food and 1/4 cup of Taste of the Wild Kibble twice per day. So 6 oz wet, 1/2 cup dry. After he moved in with me, I stayed at 3 oz twice a day of wet, and he just got a tablespoon of dry before bed. He continued to gain weight on that. Eventually I went to 2.5 oz per meal, and now we're at about 2.2 oz per meal and he's STILL gaining. My dad saw him today and was like "WOW, he's gotten really fat." I would wager he's around 10 lbs now. So not really fat, but he's still gaining and I don't want him to get any heavier because it can't be good for him.

Does it seem weird that he's gaining on this amount? I want him to stay fit and healthy, but I also don't want him to feel like he's starving all the time. Is 4 oz of wet food a day plus a tablespoon of kibble ok? He's a pretty active cat, although I know he sleeps all day while I'm gone. He sleeps more at night now (for the most part) rather than playing after I go to bed.

P.S. I calculated with the link below, and he's getting at MOST 200 calories in wet food per day, probably less, and a tablespoon of kibble couldn't be more than 50 calories. Help with my chunky beast!

http://www.petobesityprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Cat_Canned_Pouch_Foods.pdf

And for reference, old photo vs new photos.

Old:


New:

I think for an indoor cat to maintain it's current weight they recommend 20 to 25 calories per pound. I think you have a very handsome boy there and I wouldn't call him chunky!

This article should help:- [article="31116"][/article]
How old is your boy? Age and activity can both be significant in working out how much your individual cat needs. Daily interactive playtime can really help with weight control, as can harness training and taking him for walks. [article="0"][/article][article="32656"][/article][article="22430"][/article]
If you're really worried about him being hungry, you could consider cutting out the kibble altogether and feeding a 100% wet diet. Firstly, you can feed a much bigger serving of wet than dry for the same calories, and secondly, wet food is higher in protein and is therefore more satisfying for the cat.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying you shouldn't feed a little kibble if you want to, and if he enjoys it, just that wet food is much easier to feed for weight control/weight reduction

Thanks, that article is really helpful. I've seen around that they need 35 calories for each pound of bodyweight which is what made me feel like I was really underfeeding him. He's a neutered male, and my vet estimates him at four years old. He also wasn't neutered until Feburary of this year, so his body is probably going through some changes as well.

We'll try leash training again, although I need a new harness for him. He got out of the last one and it was pretty terrifying.

Ok, thanks for that. I'll go with 25/lb and see how that works.

He's getting a bit of a tummy so I'm trying to get that under control. He was so small when I got him that I like him with a bit more heft. Feels less breakable!

They can get a little droopy fat pad that hangs down, it does not always mean they re fat!

bonepicker said:

They can get a little droopy fat pad that hangs down, it does not always mean they re fat!

Click to expand...

Indeed! We call it a pouch!

Your cat doesn't look fat to me, @R-kins, but if you're concerned about his weight, I agree with @Columbine that cutting the dry food might be helpful: 50 calories a tablespoon probably isn't a good trade-off because most dry foods are pretty carby and, in the long run, less satisfying for a cat.

Further on carbs, you didn't mention which wet foods you're feeding, but not all calories are created equal: cats need protein rather than carbs. Lots of canned and pouch foods contain carby fillers and thickeners like peas, potatoes, tapioca, and grains. Cutting those ingredients, if they're in your cat's foods, can go a long way in making a diet more cat-appropriate! We have our cats on a very low-carb diet of canned and raw foods and it works very well for them. The two of them have very different body profiles, despite being littermates, and the vet is very happy with both of them.

Good luck!

LisaHE said:

 
Indeed! We call it a pouch!

Your cat doesn't look fat to me, @R-kins, but if you're concerned about his weight, I agree with @Columbine that cutting the dry food might be helpful: 50 calories a tablespoon probably isn't a good trade-off because most dry foods are pretty carby and, in the long run, less satisfying for a cat.

Further on carbs, you didn't mention which wet foods you're feeding, but not all calories are created equal: cats need protein rather than carbs. Lots of canned and pouch foods contain carby fillers and thickeners like peas, potatoes, tapioca, and grains. Cutting those ingredients, if they're in your cat's foods, can go a long way in making a diet more cat-appropriate! We have our cats on a very low-carb diet of canned and raw foods and it works very well for them. The two of them have very different body profiles, despite being littermates, and the vet is very happy with both of them.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thanks. He gets a pretty small amount of kibble (just when I'm away and have to set the auto feeder or as a bedtime snack), but it may be time to change the bedtime snack to wet food.

His wet food is Wellness, which I believe is good, although I'm not positive.

R-kins said:

Thanks. He gets a pretty small amount of kibble (just when I'm away and have to set the auto feeder or as a bedtime snack), but it may be time to change the bedtime snack to wet food.

His wet food is Wellness, which I believe is good, although I'm not positive.

Click to expand...

We feed wet food as a bedtime snack and it works really well to get the cats through the night. I definitely notice a difference between the higher and lower calorie foods: we got woken up earlier on the lower calorie foods!

As for Wellness, again, it's all in the ingredients: even within their CORE foods, for example, some are better than others, with the better ones not having potato, which drives up the carbs. It's ridiculously important to check the ingredients regularly, too, to make sure nothing changes.

LisaHE said:

 
We feed wet food as a bedtime snack and it works really well to get the cats through the night. I definitely notice a difference between the higher and lower calorie foods: we got woken up earlier on the lower calorie foods!

As for Wellness, again, it's all in the ingredients: even within their CORE foods, for example, some are better than others, with the better ones not having potato, which drives up the carbs. It's ridiculously important to check the ingredients regularly, too, to make sure nothing changes.

Click to expand...

I'll definitely check that. And wet food as a bedtime snack works for me. He's a total jerk for breakfast. Plus his meals are getting small so the can is lasting too long. This would use them up quicker! I'll check the ingredients as well. Much appreciated!

bonepicker said:

They can get a little droopy fat pad that hangs down, it does not always mean they re fat!

Click to expand...

He did get the pouch before really anything else filled in. And I'm noticing how thick his fur is now as well. I'm not going to let him gain but I won't try to get him to lose anything. Thanks for the comment!

R-kins said:

 
I'll definitely check that. And wet food as a bedtime snack works for me. He's a total jerk for breakfast. Plus his meals are getting small so the can is lasting too long. This would use them up quicker! I'll check the ingredients as well. Much appreciated!

Click to expand...

Ha ha, yes, about "total jerk for breakfast"! Last night was a lower-calorie meal which meant that I got my fingers nibbled this morning, thanks to a slight Sunday sleep-in! I should make sure to only feed Tiki, which is pretty high-calorie if it's not a fish-only food, at bedtime on weekends.