Oliver doesn't like diet food

I made the decision to switch the kitties to the diet version of Purina One. They like the regular kind very much. Oliver is just not the "ideal" shape anymore, but he's not really fat. Tripod is getting just a little chubbby. They were at the vet's months ago and the vet did not recommend putting either on a diet, but he said that Tri was getting close. Now I am having a hard time defining his neck, so I think its time.

I still give them kitty treats, but I cut down on the amount. I mixed the dry food at first (part regular, part diet).

Heres the problem. I have not seen Oliver eat the new food. He might be, but I feed them in the morning and we are in work all day. It has been 2 days. How long should I wait? It would be very hard to separate them and probably cause a lot of stress.

Of course, the other option is just give them less of the regular food. I may need to do that, but kind of want to avoid that for selfish reasons: When Olivers dish is empty in the middle of the night, he attacks my feet.

How much were you originally feeding them of the regular food? It should say for sure on the bag but a single serving for an adult cat is only like 2/3 a cup PER DAY. Which doesn't look like much. Were you feeding more then this?

You really shouldn't put your cat on a diet without a vet's recommendation. Sometimes if your cat is obese and you put them on a diet food, they lose weight quickly and get really ill. Then you are in trouble big time. Let your vet know that you think the cat is to obese, and have him evaluate and tell you if a diet is in order, and if so what diet to follow. You want the weight to come off slowly, not rapidly.

I agree with Hissy...and 2 days is long enough to answer that question, imo.
Please put him back on the food he'll eat, take a look (as Jen asked about) at the recommended amount of food (the feeding guidelines on the package) and try the lower end of that amount.

If you don't want him attacking your feet, save a portion of the day's food allotment to give to him at bedtime, for him to eat during the night

OK - thanks! Stopping by Publix on the way home today to get the regular stuff. I'm sure Oliver will be happy. I was probably giving them a little too much. I'll start measuring.

I can sympathize with you about changing Oliver's diet. Sasha was overweight before we moved to a house with a staircase. I bought the diet foods and he hated them, and probably hated me, too. But as soon as we moved, he loved to sleep upstairs (heat rises) and over the course of 4 months he got into really fabulous shape - he's still big but he's trim and buff, looks great. I returned him to his normal food and he eats whatever he wants now and I rarely worry, he's a much happier kitty in the kitchen, that's for sure. I'm more inclined not to cut corners with thier foods but rather thin of ways to do kitty-cardio or get some regular exercise going on.

Oliver is the big guy on the left, right? He's very similar to Sasha, a tuxedo boy, too.

Originally Posted by sashacat421

I can sympathize with you about changing Oliver's diet. Sasha was overweight before we moved to a house with a staircase. I bought the diet foods and he hated them, and probably hated me, too. But as soon as we moved, he loved to sleep upstairs (heat rises) and over the course of 4 months he got into really fabulous shape - he's still big but he's trim and buff, looks great. I returned him to his normal food and he eats whatever he wants now and I rarely worry, he's a much happier kitty in the kitchen, that's for sure. I'm more inclined not to cut corners with thier foods but rather thin of ways to do kitty-cardio or get some regular exercise going on.

Oliver is the big guy on the left, right? He's very similar to Sasha, a tuxedo boy, too.

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Good for Sasha!!!
Yup, that's Oliver. Neither of them are HUGE, but I will ask the vet next time we go what he thinks (again). The photo of Tripod is getting old - he's a little bigger than that now. I want to be especially careful with him since he only has 3 legs.

They are back on the regular food - and very happy to be, but I'm measuring now. I wasn't too far off eyeballing it, but with their size I'm sure every ounce counts. They split 1 can of Fancy Feast or packet per day, so I'm backing out a little dry food to make up for it. Tartar control kitty treats went from 14-16 a day to 8-10. We'll see how this works!

We have such a small apartment and would LOVE to get a bigger place. I'm sure a place with stairs would help a lot. I don't see that happening for awhile. We do use interactive toys to play with them and Tripod likes to play "chase" with me, but other than that it's hard to get them any exercise. Any suggestions there?

Oh gosh I so sorry -- a duh! Not everyone will have stairs!
I was thinking the other night that little Sasba gets just as much exercise from a catnip toy on a string that I hold above her head, as compared to Sasha's cardio up and down the stairs all day......and the fishing pole that twitters and flys all around with the bird on the end - she just loves to run that around. I'll pick her up for kisses when she's done really well, and I can feel her heart just pounding, so that's good!

Originally Posted by sashacat421

Oh gosh I so sorry -- a duh! Not everyone will have stairs!
I was thinking the other night that little Sasba gets just as much exercise from a catnip toy on a string that I hold above her head, as compared to Sasha's cardio up and down the stairs all day......and the fishing pole that twitters and flys all around with the bird on the end - she just loves to run that around. I'll pick her up for kisses when she's done really well, and I can feel her heart just pounding, so that's good!

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Thanks, we play those types of games too. I think we'll start playing more with remote control cars. Oliver LOVES to chase them. Too bad Tri's afraid to get close.

That's a fantastic idea!!!!