Please help me and my babies!

batgirl2good · Dec 17, 2004

My cats each weigh 14.5 lbs., and they are not supposed to get over 13. I have got to put them on a diet ASAP! What to do?
Shenandoh likes Fancy Feast nad has been getting a can in the a.m. and a can at night.
Humble likes dry food and gets 1 cup a day.
The girl at the vet says to cut food in half.
Please someone! Help! I am upset! They will not like this!

golden_moon_luv · Dec 17, 2004

Do you feed them fancy feast all the time? Try a high brand name. Its worth the money trust me. I just read some where that facy feast cat food is like junk food to a cat. Just saying what I had read. Ask your vet on a good diet brand cat food. Like weight control.

Ashley

stormy · Dec 17, 2004

I'm definately not a food expert, but that doesn't sound like too much food to me.
Maybe they just need more exercise?

....Or maybe try some of the weight loss formula type of cat food.

kathryn41 · Dec 17, 2004

Okay,

there are several things you can do to help your kitties get back down to a better weight.

Your vet can give you a weight reduction dry cat food for the one cat. I use Hills w/d for cats and they all like it - even the one who I want to gain weight:-). That will reduce the amount of fat and extra calories that he doesn't need. You may even find that the one who eats only canned food likes the dry food too.

You can reduce the canned food gradually - don't go right to giving him half of what he is used to - he will notice and definitely demand the rest. Just start giving a bit less each time. half a small tin will be fine for him morning and evening once he gets used to it. You could check out the ingredients on some of the other cans of cat food. Some of the premium brands cost more, but they are better quality nutrition and have less 'fillers' which is one of the main contributors to cats getting fat. The higher protein content cat food has, the better it is for the cat (assuming he doesn't have a kidney health problem). You can read the nutritional information on the label and it will tell you how much fat, how much protein, etc. the cat food has. There are some canned foods that are formulated for weight loss as well. You will find these at a pet food store rather than just a general grocery store.

The second thing you can do is to find a way to get your cats more active and playing so they will burn off energy. If you have stairs in your house dropping a toy down the stairs and letting them chase it is a good energy burner plus lots of fun. The other benefit is that if you are interested in losing any weight you will because you have to run up and down the stairs to retrieve the toy, too:-) (unless you train the cats to carry it back upstairs:-). A laser flashlight is really fun - they will run up and down halls chasing the little point of light and you will all enjoy their antics as they try to catch it.

Good luck and I hope some of this might be of help:-).

Kathryn

fwan · Dec 17, 2004

It doesnt sound much what you are feeding them already.
My kitty gets dry food, a pack of wet food and treats, and ham...
He is still a very skinny kitty but he has grown very long for his age.
I would suggest you to give the kitty some excerzise and some diet cat food .

valanhb · Dec 17, 2004

Since there are replies here, I'll merge this with the one in Heath & Nutrition, as we do not allow duplicate threads (a place for everything and everything in it's place

Just to keep everything organized. )

pat · Dec 17, 2004

You've had some great suggestions (except the "cut the food in half" advice, I don't agree with that at all! You want gradual wt. loss, not abrupt).

I would incorporate the suggestions already given for increased exercise, and will just add that to slim down some of my tubbies, I've had wonderful results with Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management dry food.

For the kitty eating Fancy Feast, is that all he's eating? Most fancy feast foods have a feeding guideline of 1 can per 3 lbs. of weight, so 2 cans is appropriate for a 6 lb. kitty, and should in no way be enough for a 14.5 cat to maintain that kind of weight on!

You can try switching your canned food loving fellow onto a quality lite canned food such as Innova Lite.

hth,

batgirl2good · Dec 17, 2004

I just asked, and I went and got IAMS weight control.
I am weaning Shenandoah off of Fancy Feast.
How much do your cats weigh? Is this really bad? The doctor would prefer them to weigh 12 lbs.

pat · Dec 17, 2004

Originally Posted by batgirl2good

I just asked, and I went and got IAMS weight control.
I am weaning Shenandoah off of Fancy Feast.
How much do your cats weigh? Is this really bad? The doctor would prefer them to weigh 12 lbs.

My largest kitty is about 15 lb.s but he's huge...big bones, so he's not obese at all. The kitties I wanted to have loose weight, one is a Japanese Bobtail with these teeny, tiny feet, delicate face, and he was up to a body like a sumo wrestler..one could "pinch" two inches at least. He has slimmed down over this past month+ beautifully, he no longer has a stuffed turkey look about his middle

My smallest cat, Rachel, used to weigh 5-6 lbs. but got up to 8 - way too much for her very tiny and delicate frame. She is no longer huffing when she walks (!) and has regained her figure

batgirl2good · Dec 17, 2004

Thanks for the exercise tip. I will try playing more with them. The flashlight idea sounds good, too! I appreciate everyone's advice. I do not mean to sound hysterical. I am just not used to this.
I am 5'o and weigh 80, a thin woman, so I am totally not used to this. I am mainlt afraid the cats will be upset.

Stormy, your cat has gorgeous eyes!

esrgirl · Dec 17, 2004

Hi,

I noticed that my cat, Annabelle, is getting a bit big and I had the vet look at her. She weighs 11 1/2 pounds and needs to weigh 9-10. I was feeding her one-half cup a day of the Iams dry cat food. The vet suggested I cut that in half, but buy a small scale to make sure she didn't lose too much too fast. If I find that she is losing to fast we're supposed to up the amount of food she eats. So far things are good on this half plan. She is supposed to loose this weight over several months and we have to monitor it closely. We switched her over to the Nutro cat food, because I heard it was healthier. She seems to really like it.

batgirl2good · Dec 18, 2004

Pat & Alix, where do you pinch? How do you tell how much they nweed to lose? My darlings are the light of my life. They are the only men I sleep with.
All of you have been so kind and patient.
I did not mean to go loony on you, but I was just really upset last night.

They have not meowed yet, although I followed DawnOfSierra's suggestion and took away the food after a short time this a.m.
I want them to be happy and healthy and to live a long time.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

My largest kitty is about 15 lb.s but he's huge...big bones, so he's not obese at all. The kitties I wanted to have loose weight, one is a Japanese Bobtail with these teeny, tiny feet, delicate face, and he was up to a body like a sumo wrestler..one could "pinch" two inches at least. He has slimmed down over this past month+ beautifully, he no longer has a stuffed turkey look about his middle

My smallest cat, Rachel, used to weigh 5-6 lbs. but got up to 8 - way too much for her very tiny and delicate frame. She is no longer huffing when she walks (!) and has regained her figure

pat · Dec 18, 2004

Sorry, it's just a figure of speech

But where you check, is to look at them from above and also from behind them..they really shouldn't have sides that bow out or are rounded. My vet's office has a wonderful chart that shows this, you don't want to see ribs or hip bones, but they should just be covered...not padded so much that you'd have to hunt to find that they have ribs, when you are holding them. My guys had a GOOD amount of padding over their ribs, hence my comment about "I could pinch 2 inches".

Hope that makes sense!

kathryn41 · Dec 18, 2004

Cats, like people, come in all shapes and sizes. There is no 'one size fits all' formula. Some breeds run on the large side - Maine Coons for example - and they can easily weight in the high teens and into the 20s without being fat; others are smaller - siamese and persians come to mind and depending on the cat's skeletal frame, may be obese at 11 lbs.

I have one cat who is just big all over - big paws, big bones, long length - and he is 16 pounds. I have another who is the same length but finer boned and leaner build who weighs 10 pounds. His brother, who is stockier and not as long weighs 11 pounds. My other two, however are small boned, small sized - one is just right at 9 pounds but the other one needs to lose weight at 10 1/2 pounds.

Evaulating how much padding each animal has over the hips and ribs along with how much 'belly pads' they have below is usually a better indication of whether an animal is underweight, overweight or just right.

Kathryn

batgirl2good · Dec 18, 2004

I got a laser flashlight, an activity blanket, and some chase toys!! Thank you!!

Originally Posted by Kathryn41

Okay,

there are several things you can do to help your kitties get back down to a better weight.

Your vet can give you a weight reduction dry cat food for the one cat. I use Hills w/d for cats and they all like it - even the one who I want to gain weight:-). That will reduce the amount of fat and extra calories that he doesn't need. You may even find that the one who eats only canned food likes the dry food too.

You can reduce the canned food gradually - don't go right to giving him half of what he is used to - he will notice and definitely demand the rest. Just start giving a bit less each time. half a small tin will be fine for him morning and evening once he gets used to it. You could check out the ingredients on some of the other cans of cat food. Some of the premium brands cost more, but they are better quality nutrition and have less 'fillers' which is one of the main contributors to cats getting fat. The higher protein content cat food has, the better it is for the cat (assuming he doesn't have a kidney health problem). You can read the nutritional information on the label and it will tell you how much fat, how much protein, etc. the cat food has. There are some canned foods that are formulated for weight loss as well. You will find these at a pet food store rather than just a general grocery store.

The second thing you can do is to find a way to get your cats more active and playing so they will burn off energy. If you have stairs in your house dropping a toy down the stairs and letting them chase it is a good energy burner plus lots of fun. The other benefit is that if you are interested in losing any weight you will because you have to run up and down the stairs to retrieve the toy, too:-) (unless you train the cats to carry it back upstairs:-). A laser flashlight is really fun - they will run up and down halls chasing the little point of light and you will all enjoy their antics as they try to catch it.

Good luck and I hope some of this might be of help:-).

Kathryn

Please help me and my babies!

batgirl2good

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golden_moon_luv

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stormy

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