Obese Uno the cat!! PLss help!!

seesee123

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HI!
my cat Uno is obese, i've already started hiding his food so that he has to look for it instead of eating whenever he wants.
I've been told that he should get more exercise but hes not a very active cat. i've tried catnip, all kinds of feathery toys and fluffy ones aswell, i have a collection of boxes set out for him in the corridor ( his play zone) and a i have a tunnel thing but he's just not interested! Sometimes hes about to play but my other cat Pillo pounces on the feather before him and he looses interest

or sometimes he just looks away, could he be fed up of feathers and fluff? or am i waving the toys around in the wrong way???


PlSSSSS helpp!!
THnxxxxxx
 

anjya

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Sometimes the simplest things are the answer... papertowel rolls, paperbags, and a string dragged around the house are things my lazy, once chubby kitty loves when nothing else works.

Do you free feed? Start interval feeding and find a brand that has dry food "for inddor cats with a tendency to be overweight"... i live in Sweden and have a brand that says exactly that. Right now i cant set my finger on the brand's name but the style is called "Silhouette". I also have found that she will run after thrown pieces of dry food, not sure how many other cats will do that but worth a try.

Good luck!
Anjya, mum of once-fat Tipper and underweight Professorn
 

urbantigers

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Try taking a treat, dry kibble or small piece of meat and wrap it in paper. Tie the package to a piece of string or to the end of a fishing rod style toy and get him to run after that. Never fails to get Jaffa racing up and down the room. Make him do a lot of running before he gets the treat
 

kittycorner

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It could be that Uno is just obese, but it could maybe even be that it is not his fault at all. First off let me say what a GREAT name Uno is-I would love to see pictures of another Uno! Now-how old is Uno? It could be he has a thyroid issue-cats will gain wait if their thyroid gland is not working properly. There is also a food that Science Diet makes called M/D-it is basically the Atkins diet for kitties-works great, is a little expensive but will definitly over time get the weight off! Please send pics-would love to see them!
 

katachtig

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Originally Posted by seesee123

Sometimes hes about to play but my other cat Pillo pounces on the feather before him and he looses interest
You may want to put Pillo in another room so Uno has no interruptions. I've done that a couple of times with Lucy and Carly. They interrupt the other's play so I try to give them individual attention.

As to feathers, etc. Some cats like to chase them dangling in the air, some like to follow them along the floor like mice, Lucy likes to play peek-a-boo with them under a blanket. If you have stairs, try encouraging Uno up the stairs with a treat at the end.
 

etain

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Have you tried the cat dancer yet? My Etain takes laziness to a whole new level, she's a complete princess and has almost never been playful. But when I took out the cat dancer, she really got into it. I can usually get her to play for a few minutes at a time. She doesn't get as active with it as my other cat who is "bouncing off the walls" playful. But it's enough to get her heart rate up, and it's better than nothing.

I would definitely agree to seperating the cats for playtime, lazy cats give up easily if the other cat is willing to do all the work.

If the cat dancer doesn't work, try crumbling up balls of paper and batting them around to get his interest, milk cap rings on a hard floor usually go over well too. I find a lot of cats like it if you take a good sturdy ribbon or string and wad up tin foil to make a ball on one end, really press it in so there are no sharp edges. Lots of cats like a paper grocery bag turned over on its side, it crinkles and gives them a hiding spot from which to pounce on you. Oh, and don't forget the laser pointer (a flashlight that produces a small spot will work too). My cats love big fat highlighters (cap on securely), these roll around in just such a way that they find them very amusing.

Also, I have a treat ball, I can't recall the brand, but it's actually two balls, a solid red one with holes the size of treats inside a bigger yellow one that resembles a cage, treats go in the inner ball and they have to bat it around to make the treats fall out.

And finally, you have to control how much and what kind of food he's getting. If you're feeding dry kibble, figure out exactly how much you are feeding him every day and very, very slowly decrease it over a period of months (make sure you consult with your vet on this). Also, your average dry kibble is usually full of carbs and sugars, which makes a lot of kitties fat and sometimes diabetic. I have had great success just getting rid of the kibble all together and only feeding wet food. Wet food is mostly meat, which is what a carnivore should be eating. Just by eliminating the kibble and slightly increasing exercise time, my kitties have come a long way in the past six months. They still have a long way to go, but we're on the right track.
 

malikitty

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As for toys you may find the "around the house" toys he may like, i know like kirra chases empty soda bottles (the 24oz or smaller oners) pens, my shoe laces still on the shoes, laser pen.

i would have them do blood work though and make sure its not something that needs attention medically.
 

momto3cats

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I hope you can get Uno to play, that should really help his weight problem. My oldest cat, Julie, won't play at all any more (she's 16). With free feeding she was getting fat, so now I measure out the amount of food she should have each day and give it her a little at a time, throughout the day. I also put it in places where she has to climb or jump to get it, so she gets a little exercise that way. She has slimmed down nicely with this method.
 

yosemite

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Bijou was over 16 lbs. and since I've started feeding more wet than dry food he has dropped some weight and maintained a good weight for him.
 

jen

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I suggest a lazer light pointer. That is the only toy that my cats will chase all day long if I were sit there and do it all day long
 

icklemiss21

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Originally Posted by sharky

the last two posters have what I was going to say... I will say most cats DONT need a wt control diet just people controling portions... Has the vet said anything about Unos wt???
I agree, the worst thing you can do is feed a weight control food, all they do is put fillers in the food to make your cat feel fuller, but they can not digest the foods and so do not get nutrients from them and can actually put on more weight as the body can go into storage mode for starvation.

When I got Scully he was over 30lbs - way past obese, and now he is 19lbs (as of yesterday). Firstly, if Uno is not used to exercise you are going to have to make it fun and give rewards for it so that the behavour keeps up. If she gets he gets excited when being fed, walk the length of the hall a few times with him following you. If you have stairs, call him up so he climbs the stairs a few times a day (or better still put the food on one floor, water on another and litter in the basement if you have a house set up like that) or space them out in an apartment to force him to move around a little more.

Invest a little time each day to play with Uno, set aside 30 mins where you are doing nothing but playing with him... the cat dancer is cheap and I am yet to meet a cat who wont play with it even a little. I made my cat do 'squirrels' for treats to stretch his tummy muscles.

Also make sure you are feeding him the 'right' amount of food. The amount on the bag is for weight maintenance so you need to feed a little less than that - but do not go too low either so its best to consult with your vet
 

cheylink

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Heres another common household toy, foil balls. Every cat I've had can not resist them! The rabbit fur mice are great, I've seen a few friends cats go crazy when I bring them as a gift!
 
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seesee123

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Is it normal for Uno to have a belly hanging out?
if you push up on it then its really soft, but if if you press down on the side then its hard.
he's asleep right now.
i've been hiding his food under the table (not hard to look for), but he meows at me for not giving him his non-diet food. Sometimes i feel as if hes a bit sad and aimless when theres no fish food.
Uno is currently eating Iams lamb and rice adult mixed with Hills science diet hiarball control light.
could this affect his weight!?!

THnxx for the replies guys!!
Here's a photo if you guys wanna see, hes a bit thinner then but you can see his beer belly starting to grow

http://ace123.mypicgallery.com/numba...4620_large.jpg
 

cheylink

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He is so cute! Maia is a similar tabby and we had a vet visit last night...Guess what, she is over weight!!!! I was'nt shocked....but it is hard to not feed them when they want. I was told 1/4 cup of dry a day. She's only 5 months and weighs 7.1 lbs, but is a little filled out in the sides. The older they get they may develop a little of the hanging pouch kinda belly. The vet told me that it's better for a cat to be hungry, 1/4 cup dry a day in portions......I also feed her canned Iams and Nutro Maxcat, which he said was very good for cats, so you are good there.................Exercise maybe the trick............
Here she is being a silly kitten!
 

sibohan2005

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My kitty Duke has been overweight since I got him. I finally got to a vet that was interestred in his overall wellbeing. My vet put him on Eukenuba calorie reduced vet formula. I know what people say about Eukenuba but the high protien was exactly what Duke needed he has lost almost 2 pounds since April and is more active than ever. The price is also just a tiny bit (about 75 cents) more than I was paying for dry food. I think because he is feeling better my efforst to get hime to chase string and play with catnip toys have worked. Ask your vet about a diet food.
P.S. Duke was on a diet food befor the Eukenuba that made him compleetly listless and he had no interest in food, play or even cleaning himself. You have to find the one that works for your cat wether it's high in protien, water, grain... whatever. Don't let what the vet tells you be law you have to look around and make the decision best for your pet.
 

icklemiss21

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Originally Posted by Sibohan2005

I know what people say about Eukenuba but the high protien was exactly what Duke needed he has lost almost 2 pounds since April and is more active than ever. The price is also just a tiny bit (about 75 cents) more than I was paying for dry food.

You have to find the one that works for your cat wether it's high in protien, water, grain... whatever. Don't let what the vet tells you be law you have to look around and make the decision best for your pet.
I totally agree, a lot of vets have surprisingly little training in animal nutrition, and the training they do have often comes from whatever food company is brought in to do the training who are obviously biased.

My new vet listened to what I knew about animal nutrition and was happy for me to make my own choice after looking over ingredients... she agreed that they need a high protein food which is what they are getting - and not a calorie reduced formula as she suggested as I pointed out the food i was feeding was actually higher in protein and lower in fillers than the food she recommended.

She had never heard of Evo, but sees the difference in my cats.

And as far as I am concerned, Sibohan, there is a lot worse you could be feeding than Eukenuba. I tried feeding mine lots of 'better' foods, but they simply wont eat them and I would rather they were happy and healthy on a slightly lower grade food (thankfully they settled well with Evo) than to have them not eat at all or throw up the 'good' food
 
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