Too fat?

mitzi

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This is our cat: We've only had her for a few months. The vet says she's 4 or 5 years old, and has been spayed. She loves to eat! I know she was "lost" and half-starved, because she was pretty skinny when we found her. I'm afraid we're feeding her too much, because now her belly is pretty big. She weighs twelve pounds.
 

yosemite

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She does look quite "muscular" as I'm fond of saying about Bijou. Are you feeding just dry food? If so, that could be a source of her gaining weight. Since we started feeding Bijou a wet diet with much less dry he has maintained and actually seems to have lost a bit of "muscle".
You could try some different wet foods to find one she likes.

BTW - welcome to TCS - you'll find we are a pretty wonderful site.
 

zissou'smom

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She is a bit chubbly, but her life up till now has probably been pretty feast-or-famine, so its no surprise that she's stocking up. She's gorgeous though! More pics in the Fur Pictures forum!
I agree with the wet food. They like it better, typically, anyway! Zissou gets 50/50 and is pretty happy on that, and perfect weight though she is also free-fed.
 
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mitzi

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I feed her canned food twice a day, and put dry food outside for her in case she gets hungry between meals. I'm not sure how much of the dry she eats, because there are a lot of raccoons and opossums here. Will squirrels eat dry cat food?
 

moggiegirl

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Squirrels and opposums will eat dry cat food but it looks like your cat is eating the dry food or she wouldn't be gaining weight. Don't worry about her weighing 12 pounds. My cat Spotty is almost 16 pounds and he is on a diet. My advice is just to not let your cat gain any more weight. Try to maintain it and maybe reduce the amount of dry food you leave out.
 
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mitzi

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Thanks! She eats anything we give her. I wish she would just stay and eat inside, but she likes to roam around, especially during the day, when we have classes or work.
 

goldenkitty45

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I'd cut out the dry food. You really do not want to be feeding the local wildlife (raccoons, skunks, etc.)

When you say you feed her canned - is this an entire can (twice a day)? or is it 1/2 the can at one meal, the other 1/2 next meal.

A female her type should probably weigh about 10 lbs so she's not that fat, but continued feeding like you do now, will cause her to be very fat.

Just cut out the dry and only feed her one can a day - 1/2 at one meal, 1/2 at the other and you should do fine.
 
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mitzi

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I feed her two little cans of Solid Gold a day. According to the instuctions, that's how much a full-grown cat should get, but I have a guilty conscience about us being in classes during the day, so I put out Pro Plan and a bowl of water. She stays inside when we're home, but wants to be outside when we're not.
 

moggiegirl

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You might wean her off the dry food slowly then or if you don't want to cut it out of her diet, significantly reduce it. If you normally put out a full bowl of dry food, that's going to make her fat. If she's eating 6 ounces of wet food a day it's likely that she doesn't need much extra food. Start by putting out only 1/4 of a cup of dry food and then maybe reduce it to 1/8 of a cup or somewhere in between. Because generally 4-6 ounces of wet food a day is enough for an average cat to maintain calorie balance but then it depends on your cat's activity level, breed, size, etc.

I used to feed 3 ounces of wet food, basically a quarter can twice a day and 1/4 of a cup of dry to each cat which is fine usually, but one of my cats still gained quite a bit of weight from the dry food, maybe because he was probably eating my other cat's dry food too. It's the carbohydrates. I wish it didn't cause weight gain but it does.

At Petco the only flavor I've seen canned Solid Gold come in is tuna and tuna is not good to feed as a staple diet for cats. Is she eating other flavors, such as chicken, turkey, or beef?
 

zissou'smom

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Is she strictly outdoor?? If so, you have to take into consideration all the other things she is eating as well-- birds, rodents, etc. You could try feeding her inside so you can monitor what she is eating better, and also if wildlife is eating her food they will continue to come around and pretty soon you'll have pet coons, too!

She's not too overweight at all yet, but nipping the problem in the bud is the way to go, esp with cats.
 
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mitzi

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She's outdoors about 8 to 10 hours a day, and she does hunt mice and birds. She brings half (literally) of her prey home to feed us,
 

wookie130

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Well, in all honesty, she does look a bit on the more rotund side to me...and trust me, I'm not one to talk with Fergus weighing 18 lbs (he's a Turkish Van, which is a larger breed, and he's not round at all...he's long, and very sturdy, or maybe that's me in some kind of denial...
).

Here's a possibility with cats outdoors...neighbors feeding outdoor kitties or offering scraps/treats unbeknownst to you. It happens...and kitties start to gain weight. And I do agree with others, I'd cut out the dry. Wet is better, less carbs (which are the #1 reason of obesity in cats), and more protein.

Ripley and Fergus each get 1/2 can of wet food twice a day...once in the morning and once at night...and that's it. Ripley is 9 lbs, and is at a very good weight. Fergus...well, he's just one of those natural giants...he's got a big build.
 

booktigger

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She is lovely, maybe a bit on the heavy side. You could try taking her back to the vets, and getting her re-weighed, and letting the vets check her over and let you know what they think she should weigh for her build - I had a 12lb female who didn't look heavy due to the fact she was so long, so a vet might be able to give you a better guide. OTher things to look for are can you see a waist, can you feel her ribs etc.
 
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mitzi

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Originally Posted by moggiegirl

You might wean her off the dry food slowly then or if you don't want to cut it out of her diet, significantly reduce it. If you normally put out a full bowl of dry food, that's going to make her fat. If she's eating 6 ounces of wet food a day it's likely that she doesn't need much extra food. Start by putting out only 1/4 of a cup of dry food and then maybe reduce it to 1/8 of a cup or somewhere in between. Because generally 4-6 ounces of wet food a day is enough for an average cat to maintain calorie balance but then it depends on your cat's activity level, breed, size, etc.

I used to feed 3 ounces of wet food, basically a quarter can twice a day and 1/4 of a cup of dry to each cat which is fine usually, but one of my cats still gained quite a bit of weight from the dry food, maybe because he was probably eating my other cat's dry food too. It's the carbohydrates. I wish it didn't cause weight gain but it does.

At Petco the only flavor I've seen canned Solid Gold come in is tuna and tuna is not good to feed as a staple diet for cats. Is she eating other flavors, such as chicken, turkey, or beef?
She's eating the tuna. She doesn't seem to like the other flavor (I think it was chicken), but I'm still trying out foods on her. I bought some Nutro pouches yesterday, and will see if she eats them.
 

beach bum

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Originally Posted by wookie130

I'm not one to talk with Fergus weighing 18 lbs (he's a Turkish Van, which is a larger breed, and he's not round at all...he's long, and very sturdy, or maybe that's me in some kind of denial...
).
We would love to see a photo of Fergus, Wookie. I think we can count on the fingers of one hand the Turkish Vans we have seen on TCS other than our pair. You can see our lovelies, Samwise and Molly, by clicking on their names in our siggy. They are both devils, but such lovable devils. Sam is also a big fellow -- he weighs about 17 pounds now, and he is a relatively young 3 year-old, but, as you know, a Van can get that big without being obese, they have such an almost distinct body, bone and muscular structure. Quite the cat, aren't they?
 
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