My cat is overweight

[ragh]

Hi there,
My cat weighs 12lbs (5.5kg) and her vet said that she’s overweight and should lose at least 1kg. I’m struggling for a while now to get her weight down.
I’m feeding her 1 can of wet food Schesir which is 85g (half a can in the morning and the other half at night), and I leave 25-30g of dry good (Carnilove) for a snack. Is this too much?
Any tips on what should I do or how much should I feed her?
Also are these two brands good? (Schesir and Carnilove) or is there any other suggestions?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
I personally think she looks terrific and doesn't need to lose weight. I wish veterinarians weren't so anxious about pets becoming obese, which your cat is a long way from becoming.

What country are you living in? I'm not familiar with those food brands.

Her coat looks a little rough, could you groom her, and perhaps add a small amount now and then of cooked egg.

This may help - along with the thought that you want to feed the calories for the weight that you want your cat to be.
How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat? – TheCatSite Articles

Also, this may be useful for your own purposes of determining how her body condition is (if you scroll down a bit you'll see a chart. To me she looks like about a #5.
Obesity in Cats | International Cat Care

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! How old is your cat? I agree with the above! While 12 pounds is usually considered high for an adult cat, your cat doesn't seem to be what I would call overweight! Sometimes gauging a cat's 'size' is better done by using a body condition chart - such as the one I've included below. Probably not much different than the one provided above. The only unfortunate part about this chart is that it does not show the primordial pouch that almost all adult cats have (a little bit of a belly flab right in front of the hind legs.

As a very basic guideline most cats use about 20-25 calories per pound of body weight. So, in theory, a cat that weighs 12 pounds can sustain that weight on 240 - 300 calories a day. You'd be better off calculating the calories in what your cat is eating, just to see is she falls in this basic guideline. If she is over, you could try reducing her food intake by no more than 10% for several weeks and see if that changes her weight a bit or changes her body size. If she is in that range, I wouldn't bother changing a thing about her food.

I am also unfamiliar with the foods you are feeding her.

 

[ragh]

Thank you both so much for your replies!!
My cat is 2 years old. I’m so happy to hear that you both think she’s not overweight! Although, just wanna mention that she has a belly, i realize now that it’s not so obvious in tho photos I’ve posted earlier, I tried to find photos from different angles to show you guys..
At first I thought it was primordial pouch and from what I understand that it’s normal and there’s nothing we can do about. But I took her once to groom her and the guy asked if she was pregnant and then I was like maybe she’s overweight and got worried so I took her to the vet and once the vet touched her belly she said that she’s overweight and she did an xrays to show me that she has lots of fat.
These are different photos of her and her xrays. Do you guys still think she’s okay and no need to lose weight?
Thank you so much for your help!
I’m in Saudi Arabia but I can order online any other brands, any suggestions?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
I'm not a vet, but what does her poop look like when it comes out? Is it smallish, dry hard balls? Can you talk to the vet about whether they think your kitty is constipated?

As best as I can tell the Schesir is fine to feed. You might add one or two of the broths and the soups varieties for more moisture through the week, maybe one of the varieties with pumpkin which has fiber that could also help with her poop. Not too much fish though.

You might consider stopping the kibble for a while - it's very dry so doesn't help regarding hydration in her digestive system, and often a kitty that's on an only wet diet will lose some weight very slowly, which is the only safe way for a cat to lose weight

Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake – TheCatSite Articles

If your vet is open to your interest and is willing to listen, if they think that she is or might be constipated talk about a product called Miralax, or something similar (the ingredient is PEG 3350 and nothing else). This is considered by the veterinary community to be better than lactulose to help cats eliminate their poop better/more easily. I give it to my Poppycat, 1/8 up to 1/4 teaspoon, dissoved in a little water and mixed with food twice daily.

 

[FeebysOwner]

That second pic looks like a primordial pouch based on the placement. But first things first - check out her caloric intake to see how it plays out with the general guidelines we have given you, and also use the size/body charts to compare her to.

The third pic, if you compare it to the size/body charts would seem to indicate she is overweight. As I said before, if you do decide to reduce her caloric intake, don't do it by any more than 5-10% to begin with. A slow reduction helps a cat - both physically and mentally - to adapt to lesser food over time, and you may just find out that is all you end up needing to reduce her food by overall! Dry food tends to have more calories than wet food, so it might be best to start there with any reduction.

I don't read x-rays well, so I will leave that part up to what Furballsmom has discussed.

 

[ragh]

Hi
I'm not a vet, but what does her poop look like when it comes out? Is it smallish, dry hard balls? Can you talk to the vet about whether they think your kitty is constipated?

As best as I can tell the Schesir is fine to feed. You might add one or two of the broths and the soups varieties for more moisture through the week, maybe one of the varieties with pumpkin which has fiber that could also help with her poop. Not too much fish though.

You might consider stopping the kibble for a while - it's very dry so doesn't help regarding hydration in her digestive system, and often a kitty that's on an only wet diet will lose some weight very slowly, which is the only safe way for a cat to lose weight

Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake – TheCatSite Articles

If your vet is open to your interest and is willing to listen, if they think that she is or might be constipated talk about a product called Miralax, or something similar (the ingredient is PEG 3350 and nothing else). This is considered by the veterinary community to be better than lactulose to help cats eliminate their poop better/more easily. I give it to my Poppycat, 1/8 up to 1/4 teaspoon, dissoved in a little water and mixed with food twice daily.

Yes the vet did say that she has constipation and said to give her 1ml of olive oil for 3 days.
Thanks for your advice! I’ll mention Miralax to her thanks so much

 

[ragh]

That second pic looks like a primordial pouch based on the placement. But first things first - check out her caloric intake to see how it plays out with the general guidelines we have given you, and also use the size/body charts to compare her to.

The third pic, if you compare it to the size/body charts would seem to indicate she is overweight. As I said before, if you do decide to reduce her caloric intake, don't do it by any more than 5-10% to begin with. A slow reduction helps a cat - both physically and mentally - to adapt to lesser food over time, and you may just find out that is all you end up needing to reduce her food by overall! Dry food tends to have more calories than wet food, so it might be best to start there with any reduction.

I don't read x-rays well, so I will leave that part up to what Furballsmom has discussed.

I calculated how much she’s eating right now and it’s a bit less than what you’ve given me, she’s eating around 210 calories
Can I still reduce her food by 5-10%?
Thank you so much

 

[Furballsmom]

Can I still reduce her food by 5-10%?

Ooh, that's a lot, I personally think that's way too much to reduce her calories.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I calculated how much she’s eating right now and it’s a bit less than what you’ve given me, she’s eating around 210 calories Can I still reduce her food by 5-10%?

That's pretty low already given she weighs 12 pounds. So, at 210 calories she is maintaining that weight at a rate of 17.5 calories per pound of weight. Are the food amounts you listed a change you've made - in other words, was she getting more food before? If so, maybe she has already lost weight that you are not aware of.

I looked up those foods. It seems that you might be giving her less than even the recommended amounts. So, I am not sure what to say about reducing her intake. You might want to tell the vet what you know about what she is eating and ask their opinion.

Do you have other cats, and could she be eating their food? Anyone in your household that might be giving her human food, snacks, and/ or treats?

The other thing you might consider is trying to get her to be more active, rather than cutting her calories, especially if she doesn't really play much now.
7 Proven Ways To Get Your Cat To Be More Active – TheCatSite Articles
17 Best Toys For Lazy Cats – TheCatSite Articles
8 Superb Automated Cat Toys That You’re Going To Love! – TheCatSite Articles
Playing With Your Cat: 10 Things You Need To Know – TheCatSite Articles

 

[Furballsmom]

The other thing you might consider is trying to get her to be more active, rather than cutting her calories,

I completely agree with this, because exercise will additionally help with the constipation.

I really think you need to focus on getting the constipation taken care of, at least to where she's able to poop normally.

You absolutely don't want to reduce her hydration while this is going on. As I mentioned above, stop the kibble because it is only adding useless carbohydrates which cats don't need, and it's dry. I personally wouldn't reduce the wet food, in fact you may want to replace at least some of the kibble calories with one of those broth or soup varieties.

 

[lisahe]

I completely agree with this, because exercise will additionally help with the constipation.

I really think you need to focus on getting the constipation taken care of, at least to where she's able to poop normally.

You absolutely don't want to reduce her hydration while this is going on. As I mentioned above, stop the kibble because it is only adding useless carbohydrates which cats don't need, and it's dry. I personally wouldn't reduce the wet food, in fact you may want to replace at least some of the kibble calories with one of those broth or soup varieties.

Yes to all of this... but I especially agree about focusing first on the constipation since it can cause cats to feel very uncomfortable. It can also affect their appetites significantly.

One of our cats has tended toward constipation for some years. Adding egg yolk to the cats' food helped some. What has really worked, though, is this: I started giving her Vet's Best Hairball Relief Digestive Aid tablets around six months ago. I bought the tablets for our cat who has hairball problems but then read that they help some cats' constipation, too -- our constipated cat has been very regular ever for months now, without even taking the full dose. She loves the tablets, which I put on her food -- they're treats for her.

Hairball Relief Digestive Aid | Vet's Best

Prevent hairballs and support healthy digestion for the finickiest felines with Vet's Best Cat Hairball Relief Digestive Aid. They will love our classic chicken flavor recipe; you will love not having to clean up after them. Formulated by veterinarians and loved by cats.

vetsbest.com

It looks like Amazon in Saudi Arabia has them. They're a lot more expensive than in the U.S.! Maybe you can find something that's manufactured locally that has similar ingredients.

Good luck!