FAT! the debate between dry and wet food

Hi there,
I have 1 kitty, Luna, and she is rather overweight. I already feed her weight-management Nutro dry food, and only 1/2 per day but she doesn't seem to be losing any weight. Then I heard that wet food would be better for her because it has less carbohydrates in it (kinda like the Atikins kitty diet). The problem is, she'll only eat the packet wet food - the chunky kind w/ gravy. So I changed to feeding her 1 packet of Nutro wet food in the morning and a little bit of dry food at night. (The wet-packet's instructions say to feed your cat 2 packets per 5lb of body weight. But that seems kind of ridiculous to me, as well as pricey.) However, she's been crying a lot when she's out of food, or knows she will be fed soon. I would like to know if I'm doing the right thing or if I should switch to a higher quality dry food or what...
Thanks,
the owner of a fat cat.

I would try a six ounce can.. right now your giving her fove ounces a day... Some disagree and this varies by cat but you should feed 3/4 to 1 ounce per lb of body wt ... also try regular not light ... the difference is fat ( which helps them feel full) avoid dry if wt is an issue

First off I believe it is 5 lbs per body weight per the cat's ideal weight, not how much the cat actually weighs. That is if your cat needs to be on a diet. If your cat is obese and weights like 15 lbs, you want to get the cat to 10 which would be more ideal then feed her as if she weighs 10 lbs.

Can anyone back me up or am I inaccurate? Also you should only do this under vet recommendation. It can be dangerous if you just do it on your own.

The vet did tell me that she was overweight. But that was several months ago. It was then that he said I should feed her 1/2c. of dry food a day and if that didn't work to bring her back. The only problem is that I don't really have the money right now to pay a vet to tell me that she's fat again (her weight hasn't changed since the last visit) so i'm looking for something to do to keep her healthy in the meantime....

How much wt did the vet say she should lose???

Yes Jen it is written for wt lose on the packet ( look at the amount for her ideal wt

Originally Posted by sharky

How much wt did the vet say she should lose???

Yes Jen it is written for wt lose on the packet ( look at the amount for her ideal wt

Click to expand...

she should be 10lbs. now she's 15-16lbs

oh really? I just guessed a weight scenario, I didn't even know that was actually the correct weight.

You do want to be feeding for her optimum weight, not the weight she is BUT you can't do this if it means more than a 15% reduction in food, as you are risking health issues, which is why it should be done under vet supervision. In the UK, vets have weight clinics where it is free to just pop in and have your cat weighed, maybe ask your vet if they offer this?