Foods to help my cat lose weight?

I got my cat from the shelter a few months ago, and his old owners had been feeding him western family brand dry food. He was quite overweight, and since has been getting a lot better though he still is overweight. People at pet stores have advised me to give him more wet food than dry food, does this work? His current dry food is performatrin ultra limited healthy weight recipe, and I've been trying him on several different brands of wet food including performatrin and wellness, both of which he likes. Does anyone know of any weight loss tips for cats, as well as what type of food I should be giving him? Thanks!

Yes, feed more canned food than dry food No dry food at all would be ideal. Many dry foods are very calorie dense per cup, more than what most cats need in an entire day. Some brands can have as much as 400+ calories per cup. Canned foods are much lower in calories and it's easier to control calorie intake.

Here are some threads to look at:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245236/...nd-his-journey-back-to-a-healthy-weight/0_100

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/is-your-cat-overweight

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/obesity-in-cats

A good web site to learn about diet and obesity is http://catinfo.org/feline-obesity-an-epidemic-of-fat-cats/

There are three things you need to know before starting your cat on a weight loss diet: how much your cat currently weigh, how much your cat should ideally weigh, and how many calories the cat is currently eating daily.

Performatrin Ultra Limited Healthy Weight dry food is 353 calories per cup. How much dry food do you feed daily? Do you actually measure or just do what most people do and fill the bowl up as needed?

How much canned food do you feed daily?

The general rule of thumb is to feed 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily.  Reduce calories slowly over a period of several weeks to months until your cat loses the extra weight and maintains the ideal weight. This is to prevent fatty liver disease which is pretty expensive to treat.

Calorie information may or may not be printed on the label so check out these canned food charts:

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

http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Sometimes you can find the info on the pet food company website.

You also could try 3oz wet can in the am and 1/4 dry at night, but fedding only wet would be better remeber the cat hasto lose wight slowly

I agree with other posters who suggest wet food. I've also heard of some people who mix water into wet food at anywhere up to a 1:1 ratio which helps keep cats feeling full and increases fluid intake.

Also be sure to play with him in chase-type games for a total of about 30 minutes a day (broken up however works for you and your cat). If he's really out of condition, he might only last for 3 minutes at a time. And that's fine! Give him a break and go back to playtime later.

Some cats, when switched to a quality grin free food ( yes, even kibble), will start to slowly lose weight.   Others will require calorie restriction as well.  Either way, switch them to a nice grain free diet and see if that works.  if they aren't losing weight, then reduce feedings.