Help Putting One (out Of Two) Cats On A Diet

[klmd302]

Hello,
I have a tux girl who is about 1 1/2 years old. She was originally a stray, then we got her spayed at about 6 months and adopted her. Shortly after she came inside her weight ballooned up and she has quite a tummy now. I tried to weigh her on a pediatric scale and she is about 13.5lbs. My other cat, a 7 year old male tabby, is a healthy weight (about 11lbs and he has a tall frame). We had two cats pass away in the last year due to old age. When we had four cats, Sadie (chubby tux) would always follow each cat to the food dish when they went in to eat. So, she was eating about 3x as often as the others! Now that we have only two cats, I don't notice her doing that much anymore. We also switched to a different food (with only two, I could afford to give them a higher quality) that they don't like as much, so I suspect that's also why she isn't eating so much.

Both cats eat Nature's Recipe Grain Free Dry Cat Food - Chicken & Potato

They get 2/3c daily, but usually leave food in the bowl. According to the bag, a 7-10lb cat should get 1/2 - 3/4c daily.

They've been on this food/amount for about 3 months and I haven't seen any change in her weight. She's also decently active (for a cat!) being so young, and will chase toys/laser pointer with gusto until she gets tired out.

I am not sure how to put only her on a diet without restricting my tabby boy. He definitely doesn't need to lose weight, if anything he is too skinny. If I just put out less food, I worry she will eat more than her share and he won't get enough.

I do work from home except for one day a week, so I have some flexibility as far as feeding them. Any advice?

Attached some pics of my fatty. The last one is from about a year ago when we adopted her. Of course, she was still a kitten then but she has a small frame and I know she is meant to be much thinner than she is!

 

[Kieka]

Given your situation, a microchip feeders might be the best option. That would allow each cat access to only their specific food bowl so you can better control portions and consumption. The other option would be to switch to a scheduled feeding and not leave food down outside of those times.

 

[klmd302]

Funny enough, I actually have one as one of the cats who passed was diabetic and needed special food. The only problem is Sadie refuses to wear a collar and the feeder never seemed to open correctly with the chip -- I always had to use the collar tag. I suppose I could put Toby's food in the feeder and leave only a smaller amount out for Sadie to eat. I will try to set that up again. Thanks for the idea!

 

[MissMolly08]

Is that 2/3 cup dry to share or is that EACH?

Generally, the guidelines on bags of pet food are gross overestimates! The rule of thumb here is that cats typically require around 20 calories per lb of body weight in order to maintain weight. If they need to lose, you can cut calories by 10% and adjust each time she loses a bit of weight.

The food you are feeding has 395 calories/cup. If you are feeding 2/3 cup EACH, then each cat is getting around 263 calories/day. Divide that by 20 calories and it makes sense that your girl is 13lbs.

Another thing to keep in mind is that just because a food is labeled "grain free" does not mean it is CARB free. High carbs can lead to weight gain in cats. Potatoes are very starchy and are high on the list of ingredients in that particular food. Switching to a wet food would be best but even a lower carb dry would probably help keep her full longer.

 

[Tobermory]

In 2011, my vet told me that one of my three cats was fat (she was more tactful than that ) and that I needed to change how I was feeding her. No more free feeding dry food, she said. Begin meal feeding instead, two to three times a day. AND switch to canned food so that everyone was getting more moisture. So that’s what we did. I switched them all over to canned and fed them twice a day. We went very slowly because rapid weight loss is bad, but Lily gradually went from 14 pounds to 11 pounds. Lily’s sister, Iris, is on the thin side—not even nine pounds—so I have to pay close attention to make sure she isn’t losing. Max, my senior boy, was diagnosed with diabetes not long after Lily’s “fat” diagnoses, so it was even better that we started feeding canned.

Because everyone ate at a different rate, I fed in three different rooms, and I hovered to make sure Lily didn’t try to suck down the other two cats’ food after inhaling her own.

If you stay with dry, you might want to consider something like Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein. To compare, the food you’re feeding now has 29.7% of its calories from carbs (ideally you want much lower), 35.4% from protein, and 34.9% from fat. Dr. Elsey’s is 6.4 carbs, 53.8 protein and 39.8 fat. I know fat is higher, but you’re getting many more of your calories from protein.

Your girl is gorgeous with her shiny black coat!

 

[klmd302]

Thanks for the calorie info! Yes, 2/3 each. Ok, so if she eats the whole 2/3c then she is maintaining, that makes sense. So it sounds like a little over 1/2c would be better, that would be about 200-230 depending on how much over it is. And that would be good for the other cat too at 11lbs.

When my diabetic cat was still around, she ate primarily wet food but I used to buy super low carb kibble to give the others so she wouldn't get into anything HC. The trouble I had was finding one that was easy to get. They liked EVO but it would always go out of stock on Amazon. Young Again gave them all diarrhea for a few weeks, also it took a week for new bags to arrive and I was always running out. But I can look for at least a lowER carb food for them that is more easily available.

I do give them wet food sometimes, but I will try to make a point to do it more often as well.

 

[klmd302]

Your girl is gorgeous with her shiny black coat!

Thank you! I fell in love with her as a little kitten and couldn't let her go even though we had way too many cats already.