Feeding to lose weight

[danielledw]

Hi - I'm looking for suggestions. At Lola's last visit 6 months ago, the Vet said she could stand to lose about a pound (she's at 11# right now). He said I didn't need to make any big changes - just cut back on her food about 5%.

I leave out dry food all the time, and used to give her 1/3 - 1/2 can of wet food about every other day. So I've started doing that a little less often, but she hasn't lost weight - seems to make up for it in dry food.

So now I'm thinking I need to put out a set amount of food for her each day, but I'm not sure how to do it. How much should it be? What mixture of dry and wet? Also, it seems cruel, since I'm often out at work all day, to not let her have food whenever she wants it! And what if I end up spending the night at a friend's place after going out or something - will she be traumatized that she didn't get her food on time?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[hissy]

Why not invest in an automatic feeder? You can set it for any amount during the day, or just have it dribble small amounts out all day long if you want. I feed 3 times a day for the inside cats and 4 times a day for the outside cats. I leave the food down only a half hour then I take it up (what is left. You don't want your cat to lose weight quickly- that can cause problems. You can also increase the activity level either in interactive playing or leash training and taking her for a walk.

 

[blondiecat]

I had to put The Sammycat on a diet about 8 months ago. My vet told me to just decrease the amount of dry food that he has access to. I only give him and Oscar 1/2 cup of food daily each. I also bought the weight control Iams for them since that is the only brand of cat food that The Sammycat will eat. He has lost from 14.2 to 12.6 as of about a month and a half ago.

Right now his weight is stabilized and he hasn't lost any more but he hasn't gained any either. It is hard to get a starving(they think) cat to lose weight but it can be done with time and a little effort to control what they get. I had to cut out almost all of their kitty cookies since that was the main thing that was causing the weight gain in The Sammycat. There is nothing worse than a mad kitty that wants his cookies.......NOW! Shredded ankles are not fun

I am not sure about the wet/dry mix since my boys will not eat the wet food anyway. I hope this helps you a little bit

 

[woodsygirl]

I'd give her wet food again, but limit the amount of dry she's getting. I had stopped giving my cat wet food to make her lose weight and she ate more dry too, however the dry food is higher in calories whereas the wet food is more water. You might find that feeding her some wet food daily helps.