Weight loss & maintainance

Hi- I read on one of the posts a few months ago of a dry weight conscience food that allowed your cat to lose weight fast. I need to know what that food was as I cannot find it when I search. I want to say it was purina brand, but I'm not 100% sure of that. I have a 3 year old large boned and long cat weighing in at a whopping 19.5 pounds. The vet said he needs to lose some weight. Please any help would be appreciated. Thanks a ton

Susanna in Arkansas

What are you feeding now??? I would recommend wet food since it is mostly broth or h2o thus fills with fewer calories ... there are some very good wt control food s

Susanna,
What ever approach you use, you do NOT want fast weight loss. I may have misunderstood you, perhaps you mean you just need to quickly get your fellow losing

But..the weight loss needs to be gradual. Here is why: article on hepatic lipidosis it applies in the sections that discuss what can happen when a cat loses too much weight too quickly, the anorexia that can come with not eating (a vicious circle).

I'd love to know what you currently feed, and agree with Sharky that switching to a quality canned food diet (if an option) is one way to deal with this, or using one of the quality lite foods, or simply, as a member recently discovered, switching to a better quality dry w/fewer carbs, and increasing excercise.

Tips to try to increase activity: place food dish up or down a flight of stairs, or up on a counter or stable cat tree. Schedule a daily play session of 10-15 minutes - using a wand toy or doing toss of a favorite cat ball toy for him to chase and bat around.

hope some of the above helps,

I have 2 cats the big one which I described, and his sister that is at a suitable weight. I'm currently feeding them, profile (which is from the coop, and to my understanding is a good brand). I feed them 2/3 cup twice a day. And they tend not to finish it. I have considered excersizing them more, but don't, for reasons unknown, seems like they get bored with it. Perhaps I have not found the best excersize toy that is for them.
Thanks for all your comments. Looking foward to more.

Susanna in Arkansas

I think the poster said she fed her cat Purina One Weight Management. I don't know if cost is an issue for you. If it's not, a good brand of dry food is Innova Light. I just switched my four adult cats over to it. They're all indoor only and spayed. Three of the four are slightly overweight (and the fourth was also starting to chunk up). I had actually been using the Purine One Weight Management before I switched to Innova Light. The reason I switched was because one of my cats had a possible food allergy, so before putting her on one of the "allergy" foods I decided to try a dry food without corn, wheat, soy, etc. They all seem to like it. I pay $32.00 for a 16.5# bag (which lasts about 6 weeks). It turned out that my cat wasn't allergic to the food after all. She was allergic to "scented" clumping litter. I switched litters (same brand but unscented) and her allergy symptoms disappeared (about 4 weeks later). Since they all like to Innova Light I decided to keep them on it, because it is a better food than Purina One. If I couldn't afford to buy the Innova Light though, I would buy Purina One (because it is also a good food if price is a concern-just not as good as Innova).

Loki got Purina One weight management mixed in with his usual food. Plus i did all the little tricks of putting the bowl up higher, and such. hes not big on playing with things or treats at all. but the vet wanted to see him drop 1.5lbs we took it easy and he did! WHOO YEAH LOKI! hes not at his ideal weight we now feed the Purina mixed with Bil Jac, and his maintaining just fine.

if you look into higher end foods look for one that has some l carnitine ... it is an amino acid that metabolizes fat and aids in lean muscle mass ... I still think wet food is best but there are very good dry foods for wgt mgmt some have been mentioned... If baby is on a grocery food , premium may have higher protein and fat than current food it has less carbs which for some is a good wt mgmt plan

How much does each cat weigh and what should they weigh ??
2/3 of a cup times two is 1 and a third cups a day ... my older cat should be 13.5 lbs and she would eat half of that ... what does the bag say??

Can someone please explain to me why many people think they have to buy special food for their cat to lose weight? All that needs to be done is to reduce the portion at each feeding of current food. This is the most logical way to go about it. Id hate to think all these people are buying into gimmicky marketing.

Originally Posted by catguy

Can someone please explain to me why many people think they have to buy special food for their cat to lose weight? All that needs to be done is to reduce the portion at each feeding of current food. This is the most logical way to go about it. Id hate to think all these people are buying into gimmicky marketing.

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Imo, it is not gimmicky, for those who do feed dry, to formulate a cat food with higher fiber and less fat, which is what most lite foods do. Is it the best way to go about it? Probably not, is it understandable and most easily utilized by many, probably.

Originally Posted by catguy

Can someone please explain to me why many people think they have to buy special food for their cat to lose weight? All that needs to be done is to reduce the portion at each feeding of current food. This is the most logical way to go about it. Id hate to think all these people are buying into gimmicky marketing.

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There is actually a lot of vets who recommend against decreasing the amount of food that a cat eats for various reasons, but mostly because the foods are made to have a set amount of nutrients based on what a cat should eat - if you feed only half the food - you are also decreasing the nutrients your cat gets but needs. So if you are going to decrease the food - you have to make sure you use a good vitamin supplement.

Although, many people feed their cats more than it recommends on the bag. Cats need roughly 20-30cals per lb to maintain their weight (depending on the cat) so most foods base getting the required amount of vitamins on this. Make sure you measure the food and are not feeding more than this.

Wet food can help as it doesn't have so many fillers that cats can't digest properly, which light food is loaded with and can actually make a cat put on more weight.

We have been feeding Innova Evo and a vitamin supplement - ours get less than 1/2 cup per day (about 200-250 cals each) and have been losing weight. Make sure you also count any treats you give your cats as part of their daily calories (they can add up quick with only 20cals per lb)

The reason I buy "light" food for my four cats is because they can get their usual amount (1/4 cup each twice a day) and still lose weight. They were eating 1/4 cup each twice a day of the "regular" food and gaining weight. In order to get any of them to lose weight I would have had to cut them back to 1/8 of a cup each (which is only 2 Tbsp of food) twice a day. To me that just isn't enough food. I was also worried that if I cut their regular food back so much in order for them to lose weight they might suffer from poor coats from not getting enough nutrients. I also have two Pomeranians that were getting a little pudgy. I cut them back to 1/4 cup each twice a day of their regular food (Natural Balance). I stopped giving them any treats and I walked them for 30 minutes a day. A month later neither of them had lost an ounce! I switched them to Natural Balance "Reduced Calorie". Again, because I didn't want to cut them back to 1/8 cup twice a day. I actually tried it for just a few days, but they gobbled their food down in seconds and were constantly hungry and begging for food. After two months on the Reduced Calorie food (1/4 cup each twice a day) I weighed them and they had both lost weight! My female Pom lost 2# and my male lost 1#. I really didn't like the idea of light foods for my animals (because the oldest one is only four years old), but sometimes it's the only way to get the weight off them without cutting their food back so much that they feel like you're starving them!

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

Although, many people feed their cats more than it recommends on the bag.

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Yes, thats what I assumed to be the reason the cat is fat in the first place. That the cat is actually getting more nutrients than it needs because it is eating more food than it needs to be at a healthy weight. Thus, going down to proper portions should not cause nutrient deficiency. There just wont be a useless excess of nutrients and calories as before. Does this make sense? This seems pretty logical to me.

And I suppose its easier for me since I make/weigh the food and know how many calories each cat needs to maintain, lose, or gain weight. Although it shouldnt be too difficult to do the same with dry/canned.

Call me lucky but the only kitty i have had get over weight was Loki..and I free feed. with 14 kitties i kinda have too. Loki was only 1lb over weight. the vet said he didnt even really have to go on a diet. but i didnt want him to get anymore over weight. we mostly did exersise i made (and still make) an effort to get his booty moving!

I havent had any over wt since switching to high end foods that are really high end not just the $$.... right now working on a mainly raw diet ... one eats canned or raw or cooked hoemade , one eats 70% homemade with canned and raw ( kibble is still avail)... one is eating 70% dry she is a toughy since i refuse to make mouse for dinner

yeah loki is just a lazy bumb. my vet said he woulda gotten a litle heavy no matter what i fed him...*shakes her head* trust me i was in trauma mode when he was just 1lb overweight..we dont do overweight in this house! Silly boy..he still hates when i get him going with the laser lol

Originally Posted by ScamperFarms

yeah loki is just a lazy bumb. my vet said he woulda gotten a litle heavy no matter what i fed him...*shakes her head* trust me i was in trauma mode when he was just 1lb overweight..we dont do overweight in this house! Silly boy..he still hates when i get him going with the laser lol

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Loki
Get off your cute little tushy and move it all about with some lazer fun

hes gotten to the point were now he sits and just bats at it with his paws. without moving. So now i flash it on him so he gets tackled by the kittens, than he has to move LOL

the other problem with reducing food intake is that you can't reduce it by more than 10-15% without risking liver problems.