Not able to reach

My Cat Duke is a 3 year old Nutered male who is on the basketball shaped side of large. He can't clean himself properly and that duty somtimes falls to me. Duke has however been groming himself whereever he can reach and there now seems to be bald patches around his niples. I don't know exactly what i'm asking but does anyone else with a big cat have this? Is it normal?

Its perfectly normal, LOL! My Shebs was 20lbs until she
got a bit hyperthyroidic - as she is now age 16yrs.

But,
in her heyday, she couldn't groom her rump, and so was
constantly grooming her belly areas...

I had to shave her rump area (to help clean up...)
perhaps yr. vet can do that for you? Lasts till
fur grows back and can be a real life saver for
both cat and owner....

Now she's smaller she grooms back there and
doesn't groom tummy as much.

It is extremely unhealthy for Duke to be so severely overweight and puts him at risk for numerous life threatening illnesses in his years to come. I strongly recommend that you and Duke see his Vet very soon so the three of you can work together to form a gradual, healthy weight loss program for your darling boy.

Originally Posted by dawnofsierra

It is extremely unhealthy for Duke to be so severely overweight and puts him at risk for numerous life threatening illnesses in his years to come. I strongly recommend that you and Duke see his Vet very soon so the three of you can work together to form a gradual, healthy weight loss program for your darling boy.

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he ought to lose it somehow. The vet will be able to help you hopefully.

I would agree that the cat is way to obese to stay healthy the rest of his life. My vet has a saying, I find to be quite true. Most cat owners feed the bowl and not the cat. If you talk to your vet, he will put the cat on a sensible diet that will allow the weight to come off gradually. You do not want to put a cat on a crash diet, they can't keep their health if they are starved or monitored with food in the wrong way.

i third the talk to your vet ... possible if you have tried wt mgmt food try a high protein and fat instead of high carb??

Originally Posted by opilot

I had to shave her rump area (to help clean up...)
perhaps yr. vet can do that for you? Lasts till
fur grows back and can be a real life saver for
both cat and owner....

Click to expand...

What a great idea . . . Sam, who spent her first four years fending for herself in largely hostile territory, just fell in love with eating once she moved in here and could actually eat without looking in four directions at once. She would actually step into the dry food bowl to get as close to the food as she could. Needless to say, as happy as we are that she now feels "at home," our "little girl" has gained quite a little bit of girth, and she has lost her ability to . . .um . . . tidy herself up. She also has a bit of a "Love/Hate" attitude to assisted cleanings with kitty wipes ("Stop! . . oh, that's not so bad . . .Stop!"). Maybe I can get the vet to shave her, and the cleanings will not seem so . . humiliating?

My two were only 2lb over the weight that they should have been and i was told by my vet that they should lose it because health problems could arise in the future.

It was hard at first to give them the quantity the vet said because i used to free feed them, but in a case such as this you have to be cruel to be kind

One of our members cats has lost weight and she can see a difference in the way he runs around already

My cats are 1.5 lbs over the weight the vet said.
How did you do this? I am giving 2/3 cup dry food a day to Humble and 1 1/2 small cans of Fancy Feast a day to Shenandoah.
How long should it take for them to lose this weight?

Originally Posted by rosiemac

My two were only 2lb over the weight that they should have been and i was told by my vet that they should lose it because health problems could arise in the future.

It was hard at first to give them the quantity the vet said because i used to free feed them, but in a case such as this you have to be cruel to be kind

One of our members cats has lost weight and she can see a difference in the way he runs around already

Click to expand...