Really fat cat!

One of my kitties has been overweight (20 lbs) for a long time and no matter what or how much I feed her, she does not lose any weight. A few years ago the vet said it may be a tumor, but earlier in the year he said she's just fat. She can't groom herself, so her back half reeks of kitty pee. Any suggestions on how to slim down my little fatty?

first off what are you feeding her? dry food has tons of carbs which makes fat cats fat & some canned food is super high in fat. something I'm just now learning about since I've got a fatty too. trying to get her to lose weight

If you've gone to the vet & done a full blood panel & all her numbers are good, then you're lucky you just have to deal with the fat & carb content. If she hasn't had a blood panel, I would highly recommend getting that done before you fool with the food. She could have an issue that's not just as simple as food

What are you feeding your overweight cat? A dry food only diet is one reason why  many cats are obese because the food is so calorie dense per cup. Canned foods are much lower in calories and can help with weight loss. You definitely want to do any diet change very slowly to avoid fatty liver disease. Weight loss should be very gradual, over a few months for really obese cats, not something that can be achieved in a few short weeks.

A TCS member posted about how she got her obese foster cat to lose weight here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245236/mickey-my-27-lbs-foster-and-his-journey-back-to-a-healthy-weight There are lots of good tips and suggestions there.

This web site also has good info on how to help cats to safely lose weight: http://catinfo.org/feline-obesity-an-epidemic-of-fat-cats/

If you  need help with diet, there's a nutrition forum here on TCS where you can post for more help onwhat to feed, how many calories daily, how to get all the cats onto one diet, etc.

She's been on many different types of dry food, even for overweight cats, but for the last six months, she is eating Merrick grain free and canned food. I am thinking about making my own food. Last time she had blood work, it was okay.

She really doesn't eat that much. Even being on canned and dry both, she is still fat.  Thanks for the links!

Kittykisser said:

 
She's been on many different types of dry food, even for overweight cats, but for the last six months, she is eating Merrick grain free and canned food. I am thinking about making my own food. Last time she had blood work, it was okay.

Click to expand...

Merrick is fine. Can you feed just the canned food to the overweight cat?

A homemade raw or cooked diet is great and can also be helpful with weight loss. Please read the stickies at the top of the Raw and Homecooked forum here on TCS for how to do a homemade diet properly and ask on that forum any questions you have.

I am trying to find a good one that they both like, as it is hard to separate them. I could do that.

My 13 year old cat Marilyn was pretty overweight up until a year ago. It was really difficult but changing his diet to only canned food was the only thing that helped.
This is him 3 years ago AND this is him 2 months ago

What a handsome and fit guy. I feel more hopeful now.

Hello Danni88,

Your cat looks great. My cat Big is unfortunately gigantic. He was at last weighing around 20 lbs. which was good for him (He is a big cat and very solid). At present he must be closer to 30 lbs. He eats everything! The problem was that he would eat his food and my other cat Beezle's food as well. I would have to leave large quantities of food to make sure that poor Beezle actually got some. Because he is so large now I'm able to feed them separately and put Beezle's food up high where Big can't get it. He tries all the time, but he's just to big now to get to it.  I've started just giving Big wet food.  What kind of wet food did you give your cat? How much and how often did you feed him? And last but not least how long did it take to get him to his current weight? Thank you for your help in this.

Best,

Richard

P.S. He's called Big because I use to call him Big Head. His head was a little out of scale to his body which isn't the case now since he's just BIG!

lorimer71 said:

Hello Danni88,

What kind of wet food did you give your cat? How much and how often did you feed him? And last but not least how long did it take to get him to his current weight? Thank you for your help in this.

Click to expand...

Sorry I just saw this. Both cats are eating Merrick chicken dry and Blue Buffalo grain free Freedom canned. I put a five oz can out once a day and feed 3/4 a cup of dry twice a day. It's so hard to separate them. That's my biggest problem. She has been 20 lbs for several years, at least five I would say. At first the vet said it might be a tumor, but now he says she's morbidly obese.

Just keep close tabs on your kitty to make sure she doesn't lose too much weight too quickly. Otherwise cats can develop a condition called hepatic lipidosis (a.k.a. fatty liver disease), which isn't a pleasant experience for the cat or for you.

I am trying to get my cat sandy to loose some weight is feeding my cat 2 pouches of Felix a day and some dental bites ok at his last weigh in he was 7.1kg

I agree with Danni's Post #8 above. Taking away all kibble is the only thing that works for my heavy cat. He's from 16.5 to 15.5 pounds. He got down to 14 pounds over 4 months by taking away the kibble and feeding only canned food.

Then he quit eating when I brought a new kitten home. Worried about hepatic lipidosis, as Cheeser mentioned, I let him eat canned and kibble and raw, as much as he wanted. In only 3 weeks of free feeding, he blew up to 16 pounds again. We've been on a diet plateau since then and seem to be stuck at 15.5 pounds on a raw diet. But we're getting there and I know for a fact that the carbs in dry food are like blowing up a balloon...a heavy water balloon.

kittykisser said:

Sorry I just saw this. Both cats are eating Merrick chicken dry and Blue Buffalo grain free Freedom canned. I put a five oz can out once a day and feed 3/4 a cup of dry twice a day. It's so hard to separate them. That's my biggest problem. She has been 20 lbs for several years, at least five I would say. At first the vet said it might be a tumor, but now he says she's morbidly obese.

Click to expand...

Assuming you mean Merrick Before Grain chicken that is 409 cal/cup. Assuming she eats exactly half of the dry food daily she is getting 306 calories in dry food. Half a can of the wet food is another 89 calories. That's 395 calories a day. A indoor only cat who is not terribly active should eat 20 calories a day which means your cat is eating to be 19.75 pounds if she eats exactly half of the food put down. If she eats more then half then she is likely going to keep growing or is more active then I am thinking.

I think that is your problem right there.

Since you have two cats you could look into a feed like the SureFlap feeder that limits access to food so each cat eats only their portion.

Kieka said:

Since you have two cats you could look into a feed like the SureFlap feeder that limits access to food so each cat eats only their portion.

Click to expand...

I will look into this, thanks! (Yeah, I haven't been on lately.)

kittykisser said:

I am trying to find a good one that they both like, as it is hard to separate them. I could do that.

Click to expand...

I found it very hard to get my overweight cat to loose weight. Especially when you have more than one cat. Robbie weighed 26 pounds and he was the runt of the litter. I never could get the weight off him and he went into cardiac arrest and I had to have him put to sleep. I'm sorry if I am getting you upset but I hope someone here can help you.