Cat dieting and transition to wet food

So my cat is very overweight, and very inactive at this point. I have been trying to implement several of the standard strategies with little success: 1) active play; 2) active/hunting food dispenser (one of those plastic balls); 3) a vet-recommended restricted calorie intake.

She was always kind of easily distracted re: play, but it's very hard for me to get her to move around at this point. If I throw a toy she will maybe run toward it and then just sit there and wait for me to throw another, or just not follow it at all. Cat dancers and such with effort I can get her to bat at things, but generally from wherever she is sitting/laying only.

I showed her several times how the food dispenser worked, rolling it around and she saw the food came out. I also picked up her regular food bowl. For the duration of the time I was trying to switch, she would sit where her bowl is supposed to be for hours after dinner time trying to get me to feed her or meowing or chewing on anything plastic she can find, as she does when she wants me to feed her, as far as I can tell. After a long time, she would eventually eat whatever food came out of the dispenser when I demonstrated, but not even once did she touch it herself.

Same problem with the wet food. I tried mixing them, slow transition, even with just a bit of the wet food she ignores the whole bowl. My biggest concern/question is how to manage the wet food when trying again. How long can I leave it out while I'm waiting for her to try it? How long can I wait if she's not eating at all to try to get her to even try it? I don't want to starve my cat while I'm trying to get her healthy.

She's on hills science diet - the vet told me at the last check up to feed her 1/2 cup a day. She's about 18 lbs right now, 4 years old. All recommendations would be appreciated - thanks!


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Have you seen some of these articles?  Give them a read if not.  It's how I got my crew off of free feeding kibble to strictly wet food, ALL so I could get ONE of them to lose weight.  It worked

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transitioning-free-fed-kibble-kitties-to-timed-meals

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-compare-cat-foods-calculate-carbs-dry-matter-basis

Now, personally, I would try to feed as high a protein, and as low a carb food as I could find.  This way she should feel more satisfied, AND you might be able to feed her more, because usually those foods have fewer calories, and it's still all about calories to lose weight.  Did your Vet say how many calories per day she should be eating, at least in the beginning?  What is her desired weight? 

Also, while she is still eating kibble, you could try throwing each individual piece as far away from her as possible and see if she'll run (or even walk) to it to eat it.  That's a form of exercise for her.  As she loses weight, then maybe she'll RUN for them, and maybe by then it won't be kibble, but maybe some "good for her" treats, like 100% freeze dried chicken pieces or something like that.  My once pudge cat is the best outfielder in the house now.  I toss his treats and he runs fast and also jumps high to catch them before anyone else can get them.  He looks forward to it every day because he is always waiting for me first thin in the morning in his "spot" so he can catch them no matter which direction I toss them

You definitely cannot let your girl starve while you are working on this diet.  Losing  weight too fast in cats can have drastic (bad) effects.  Until you get her transitioned to this change, please make sure she is eating at least 2/3 of her normal caloric intake.  You can leave her wet food out for several hour,although she may not want it if it dries out too much.  AND, it kind of depends on how hot it is in your home. 

Here's a thread on how one member got her overweight cat to lose the exta pounds: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245236/mickey-my-27-lbs-foster-and-his-journey-back-to-a-healthy-weight

Is the Hills Science Diet you are feeding dry or canned? The brand in general isn't that great (full of poor quality ingredients for a lot of money, IMO. Think greasy fast food for the same price as a gourmet fancy meal at a high end restaurant) but the canned is at least somewhat better than the dry. You don't necessarily need to feed what the vet tell you to. It's ok to go agsinst the vet's suggestion and feed something else that is much healthier for your cat.

Hey - thanks for the info! it's dry food. I've never been able to get her to eat wet food. But I just got a new bag of the same stuff and for some reason she doesn't seem to be going for it. I'm not sure whether she ate yesterday morning but she hasn't beaten since then. She keeps sniffing the food bowl and then walking away and then going back and then walking away.


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mrsgreenjeens said:

 
Have you seen some of these articles?  Give them a read if not.  It's how I got my crew off of free feeding kibble to strictly wet food, ALL so I could get ONE of them to lose weight.  It worked 

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transitioning-free-fed-kibble-kitties-to-timed-meals

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-compare-cat-foods-calculate-carbs-dry-matter-basis

Now, personally, I would try to feed as high a protein, and as low a carb food as I could find.  This way she should feel more satisfied, AND you might be able to feed her more, because usually those foods have fewer calories, and it's still all about calories to lose weight.  Did your Vet say how many calories per day she should be eating, at least in the beginning?  What is her desired weight? 

Also, while she is still eating kibble, you could try throwing each individual piece as far away from her as possible and see if she'll run (or even walk) to it to eat it.  That's a form of exercise for her.  As she loses weight, then maybe she'll RUN for them, and maybe by then it won't be kibble, but maybe some "good for her" treats, like 100% freeze dried chicken pieces or something like that.  My once pudge cat is the best outfielder in the house now.  I toss his treats and he runs fast and also jumps high to catch them before anyone else can get them.  He looks forward to it every day because he is always waiting for me first thin in the morning in his "spot" so he can catch them no matter which direction I toss them 

You definitely cannot let your girl starve while you are working on this diet.  Losing  weight too fast in cats can have drastic (bad) effects.  Until you get her transitioned to this change, please make sure she is eating at least 2/3 of her normal caloric intake.  You can leave her wet food out for several hour,although she may not want it if it dries out too much.  AND, it kind of depends on how hot it is in your home. 

Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the links - I will check them out asap. I definitely need to look into a low carb/high protein/grain free type food, working on that now. I can't quite remember what the vet said re: calories. She said 1/2 cup of the science diet per day. Every time I've tried to calculate the calories in cat food I've failed miserably. 

Not sure what her desired weight is. The vet may have said, but I'd have to check my files, but I don't think she did, she just said Starbuck needs to lose weight. She has a small frame and was always a small cat before she got spayed. I would guess 8-12 lbs but I'm completely making that up haha. I'll ask next time I go to the vet, which may be soon. 

Throwing the kibble is a great idea! I haven't tried it yet. Will definitely do so. My biggest concern is she tends to resist eating the food off the floor. She didn't eat the food that came out of the rolling ball feeder until she was pretty hungry, she spent a lot of time just sitting by where her food was supposed to be. But if I'm throwing it that may pique her interest more. 

Do you buy freeze-dried chicken or do you freeze-dry it yourself? Is it cooked/raw, do you put anything on it? 

I keep my home pretty cold, so I guess I have that going for me haha with the wet food. Thanks again so much!

LTS3 said:

 
Here's a thread on how one member got her overweight cat to lose the exta pounds: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245236/mickey-my-27-lbs-foster-and-his-journey-back-to-a-healthy-weight

Is the Hills Science Diet you are feeding dry or canned? The brand in general isn't that great (full of poor quality ingredients for a lot of money, IMO. Think greasy fast food for the same price as a gourmet fancy meal at a high end restaurant) but the canned is at least somewhat better than the dry. You don't necessarily need to feed what the vet tell you to. It's ok to go agsinst the vet's suggestion and feed something else that is much healthier for your cat.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link! It's dry food. Definitely realizing that I got the wool pulled over my eyes with this brand. I can't even remember why I started using it. May have been the vet, or the fact that it had science in the title, or a combo of both. I think it was probably a combo. Between the responses here and on my other post, I'm realizing more and more that I should not take the vet's suggestions re: cat food brands at face value. 

I'm googling/looking around the forum for some ideas of what the actual good cat food brands are. Trying to get her onto wet food has been a long, unsuccessful process, but I'm going to give it another shot soon. Thanks again for all of your advice!

For the freeze dried treats,  I use WholeLife or PureBites.  Or sometimes even Petsmart's brand.  They probably sell all of these in  their dog section.  It's much less expensive to buy the ones for dogs because the bags are bigger.  Same product as for cats, just different bag size .  they make great toppers too as they crush or crumble pretty easily.  One is actually raw that has been freeze dried, and the others are cooked, but I'm sorry, I can't remember which is which.  I do also use freeze dried raw food, like Stella and Chewy's patties, or Primal and break them up, although they really have a tendency to crumble.

Is she eating yet ?  Of course you want her to eat LESS, but stopping completely is not the way to go.  Losing too quickly can lead to health issues like Hepatic Lipidosis, which can be deadly.   Be sure to transition her slowly to timed meals and the new food because truly she cannot go without food for too long, especially if she's already overweight.