Mickey, my 27 lbs foster and his journey back to a healthy weight

[mschauer]

Well that's fine and good, and makes it a lot easier... but will WE still get updates? And pictures?

 You're really hooked aren't you!

I doubt I'll post weekly updates but I'll post some updates. It will be interesting to see if they have any problems keeping his weight loss going. I really expect not. As long as they feed him the same number of calories per day that I am they should do fine. Dr. Pierson's chart has come in very handy for this. I'm going to switch him over to the food they will feed him a couple of weeks before he goes to them so I'll know for sure how much is the right amount.

 

[riccadawn]

Yes, yes we are hooked! I come back to check for your updates every week! It's just such a great story, you and Mickey. And we wanna see the happy "ending" of him hitting goal weight

 

[mschauer]

I promise I won't leave you hanging! 

We still have 3 months of weekly updates before he goes to his adoptive parents and hopefully within a couple of weeks he'll be ready for his 19 lbs side-by-side photo. 

 

[ldg]

YAY! Thank you.

 

[mschauer]

Update - week 38

Mickey weighted in at 19:7 (lbsz) on Saturday for a one week loss of 4 oz and a total of 7:7.

The boy continues to do great! His energy level is higher. Maybe because of that he seems to be hungrier at meal time. As much as I don't want to slow his weight loss I may need to give him more food so he doesn't get too uncomfortable between meals. Just adding 1/2 oz a day will increase his calorie intake by about 10%. I don't want to go up more than that.

 

[catspaw66]

Good for you, Mickey.  And a continuing

for both of you.

 

[otto]

 

[ldg]

Go Mickey Go!

So... are you saying you're GOING to increase his food? Is he acting hungry between meals?

But yep, with all that energy, he's burning more calories!

 

[mschauer]

When I posted before I wasn't sure but now I know I am going to add about 10% more calories. Between meals he is OK but close to meal time he acts pretty desperate for food. He isn't losing weight any faster than before though. At least not in terms of quantity. For the last 2 months he has lost on average 2.75 oz a week. For the previous 6 months he lost on average 3.25 oz a week. In terms of how much he is losing as a percentage of his weight though he is losing more. Before it was about 0.85% and now it is about %1.0.  

 

[minka]

If it's only at 1% I see no need to add more calories. If I added more calories every time Grim got grumpy about the food amount, he'd probably be 22lbs again xD
How much are you feeding him right now?
I never tracked calories, just quantity, and Grim has gotten 1 can per day since he was 18 or 19 pounds. (He was eating Innova and Before Grain canned at the time.) Now that he's at 13,I'm starting to have to go under one can per day.

 

[mschauer]

If it's only at 1% I see no need to add more calories. If I added more calories every time Grim got grumpy about the food amount, he'd probably be 22lbs again xD
How much are you feeding him right now?
I never tracked calories, just quantity, and Grim has gotten 1 can per day since he was 18 or 19 pounds. (He was eating Innova and Before Grain canned at the time.) Now that he's at 13,I'm starting to have to go under one can per day.

The reason for increasing Mickey's calories isn't related to his rate of loss. It is because of his behavior. Over the almost 10 months I've had him on a diet he has, until recently, always been pretty content with the diet while steadily losing weight. Before he might act hungry at meal time but he didn't act desperate for food like he has for the last few weeks. 

My goal from the beginning was for him to lose weight at a safe and comfortable rate. He no longer seems to be comfortable so I think an adjustment is called for. Weight loss in cats, as in humans, doesn't have to be and shouldn't be torture. 

I've actually decided to go a step further and give him a diet vacation this week. It's getting close to the time when I need to figure out what his maintenance number of calories is in preparation for him going to his adopters so this might be a good time to do it.I'm guessing 180 calories might be right for the maintenance calories so that is what I'm feeding him this week. Hopefully he won't gain or lose any weight this week. So far he seems much happier. 

 

[txcatmom]

My goal from the beginning was for him to lose weight at a safe and comfortable rate. He no longer seems to be comfortable so I think an adjustment is called for.

This sounds like a good idea.   You're right...there's a difference between hungry and desperate.  With his increased activity he may need some more calories. 

By the way, my Leo has the same coloring as Mickey so I've been thinking his "after" photos might look something like Leo....

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• txcatmom
• Mar 6, 2013

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• txcatmom
• Mar 6, 2013

Leo is a large (14.8 pounds) cat, tall and long, but at a healthy weight.  Does it look like Mickey will be a large cat, even once his extra weight is off?

 

[mschauer]

 Thank you for posting those pictures! I am so looking forward to seeing what Mickey will look like when he is lean. Next best thing is to look at those pictures and imagine it's him! 

I've thought for a long time that Mickey would be pretty big even after he is at a lean weight. He is quite a bit longer than any of my cats. With that in mind I thought that once he got under 20 lbs he would start looking a lot more normal. With him still looking so fat I'm wondering if his lean size will be smaller than I thought. We'll just have to wait and see!

Would you measure Leo from between his ears to the base of his tail? I'd love to compare that to Mickey.

 

[txcatmom]

Would you measure Leo from between his ears to the base of his tail? I'd love to compare that to Mickey.

Sure, I'll try to do this later on...may need the husband to help keep him still.  I was hoping the photos might be fun for envisioning the future for Mickey. 

 

[mschauer]

Thanks!

Leo is a handsome boy.   I hope Mickey will look like him!

 

[mschauer]

I measured Mickey and he is 15" from between his shoulder blades to the base of his tail.

I couldn't measure from between his ears because he kept turning around to look at me! 

 

[txcatmom]

I couldn't measure from between his ears because he kept turning around to look at me! 

I had the same problem....LOL.  I measured from the neck/shoulder blade area too and got different numbers each time...the average being about 16 inches.  And I think he is about 14 inches tall at the shoulders, but that number is iffier. 

 

[mschauer]

Yeah, I got different results depending on how he was positioned. Getting a measurement while they are standing or while someone is holding them stretched out is probably best. Probably not worth the effort for our purposes though! I don't think Mickey is 16" regardless of how he is positioned. Leo is probably a little bigger than him.

I tried to get measurements from my other cats for comparison but as soon as they saw me coming towards them with a tape measure they were off like rockets. I have idea what they thought I was going to do! 

 

[mschauer]

BTW - I weighted Mickey last night and he was 19:6 (lbsz). That's 1 oz down from Saturday. I know from past experience that a mid-week weight doesn't necessarily tell me what he will weight come his regular weight in on Saturday but it does give me a good idea that I won't find he has gained a lot of weight on the higher calorie diet.  That makes me doubly glad I gave him a diet vacation. If he doesn't gain weight on 20% more calories then I likely wasn't giving him enough before.

After his diet vacation ends on Saturday if he hasn't gained any weight I'll start him back at 165 calories rather than the 150 calories I had him on before.

He is definitely happier and more content this week!  

 

[mschauer]

Update : week 39

Well, this has been an interesting week. First things first. Despite being on a "diet vacation" Mickey weighted in at 19:6 (lbsz) for a 1 week loss of 1 oz and a total loss of 7:8.

I weighted him a few times during the week and on one day his weight was 19:5. I think that plus the 1 week loss of 1 oz probably means 180 calories is a bit low to use as his maintenance calories. 185 or 190 would probably do it. But I don't think I need to determine the optimal maintenance calories yet. I'm glad to just have a vague idea at this point.

OK, now for the interesting part.

I've made an embarrassing discovery. I couldn't understand why Mickey was suddenly so dissatisfied on the same number of calories he has been getting for months. His activity level has increased a little but not a lot. I looked back over his calorie history to see exactly how long he has been on 150 calories. Turns out I never intended him to be getting only 150 calories. He was supposed to be getting 165. No wonder the poor boy was hungry! 

Back when I switched him to an all raw diet I was using a combination of Darwin brand pre-made raw plus some of my own homemade raw. Then I became disillusioned with the Darwin's and decided that as it ran out I would switch over to using only my homemade. I remember at the time I realized I needed to recalculate the quantity I give Mickey because I knew the Darwin's is higher calorie than my homemade but somewhere along the way I forgot about that. I completed the switch from Darwin's to just mine a month or so ago but I continued to give him only 4.5 oz which was 165 calories when it was Darwin's plus my homemade but which is only 150 calories of just my homemade! I should have been giving him 5 oz of my homemade to equal the 165 calories I intended him to have.

This illustrates why in weight control calories are more important that quantity. If we feed only foods that have the same calorie densities it doesn't matter. We can mix and match them in any way and the calorie content will stay the same as long as the quantity stays the same. But, if we do like I did and change the mix we use of foods with differing calorie densities we can end up feeding too little or too much if we don't consider whether a change in quantity is needed.

It also illustrates how much difference only 15 calories can make in the diet of a cat! 

Starting tomorrow I'll put him on 165 calories.