Two incredibly overweight cats who don't like playing with toys. What's a good diet for them?

[Aszira]

I'm babysitting my mom's two cats and have come to the realization that they're incredibly overweight. I'm talking 20+ pounds. One of them knocked over my cat tree trying to get onto it. Another is out of breath just jumping onto the couch. I'm a bit shocked at how much weight they've put on. They used to be indoor/outdoor cats, but after moving they're now indoor cats with a much smaller space. Cat 1 is so overweight she refuses to clean her butt or take care of herself. She's always been that way, and always overweight, but it's worse now. Cat 2 is her sister. She's built like a bulldog (barrel cheated) so she's always weighed more, but now it's extreme. She weighs more than my friend's three month old baby!
Unfortunately my mother suffers from depression and doesn't always have time to play with them, though they get plenty of attention otherwise. I'm doubtful if I asked her to play with the cats that she would be able to keep it up. The cats are absolutely NOT neglected, they're just not active. My mother is also poor, and can't afford a ton of expensive wet food for her cats. Which is unfortunate, but it's the reality for the next year or so.
Regardless, the cats need to ditch some weight. Breathing problems run in that litter of cats. Their other sister snores loud enough to wake the dead, probably has some form of sleep apnea, and is just a loud breather. While the vet says the third sister is okay and to keep an eye on it, I worry the added weight on my mom's cats will cause heart issues. I'm not thrilled with that idea, so I'd at least like to get them on a healthier diet.
As of right now they're free fed, but I can most likely get her to feed them at specific times. They're on Purina One hairball since they absolutely love to barf hairballs even when brushed. They all suffer from dry skin for some reason and have dandruff. Which is gross. I'd like to get them switched to a kibble that will help them ditch a few (or a several) extra pounds and get them to the point where they can at least jump onto the couch without being tired.
They do have a third cat who belongs to my brother. That one is pretty active (main coon) and isn't very overweight. He's also about four years younger than the other two. That one enjoys acting like an idiot while playing so he gets played with now and then.

Is there a kibble I can put them on to help?? I can most likely get them set on a schedule so they're not free fed. I can also probably get them a separate hairball treatment if the cats will accept it. (Picky jerks) I know if they're more active my brother will be more inclined to play with them. And we definitely need to get the one skinny enough that she can clean her butt. In a year or so I can switch them to canned cat food (suggestions?) But for now that's not an option.

 

[Kris107]

Can you get your mom an auto-feeder for the kibble instead of free feeding? That in itself should help a lot! Does the house have stairs? Can you put their food on a different level so they're forced to go up/down some stairs to eat?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I want to preface what I would recommend with this one statement: Getting a cat to lose weight is a marathon, not a sprint.

Start by determining how much they currently eat. Even though they are free fed, their food can be measured in the morning and then at night - at the same time of day every day. You need a baseline to start with and that is what this step is for. I presume they are fed from the same dish - hopefully they are not, but if they are you will just have to assume they each eat about the same amount during a given day.

Next, once you have determined how much they are eating per day, reduce the amount in the dish(es) by 5% - no more than 10% - for the first step in the diet. The reason for this is to enable the cats to adapt - both mentally and physically - to a lesser amount of food over time. From here, you could consider splitting their food into 4 meals and only setting out enough for each meal of their total daily intake. I'd watch what their eating trends are, as that might help you determine the best schedule for them, and how much to put out for them for each meal.

The cats' weight should be monitored to ensure they are not losing too much weight too fast. The baseline rule of thumb would be to NOT have them lose any more than 1 pound per month, and tbh a little less than that would be even better for them. So, to start off with they could be weighed at least every other week, but at first it would be more ideal if it were weekly. That will give you a gauge to work with in terms of how frequently you can continue with the 5-10% reductions in food - that along with how well they are dealing with less food.

I would do this before jumping into a whole other set of changes for them, such a moving their dishes somewhere else or even adding a feeder. Too many changes at once could backfire the whole process. And the older they are the more likely that changes could bother them. As they lose weight, you might find them being more active on their own too. My cat who once weighed 18 pounds resumed cleaning her behind once she lost weight.

Check to see if there is Purina One harball food that also helps with weight. I think there is one called Indoor Advantage Hairball & Healthy Weight that might be an option; but compare the ingredients/calories to their current food to see how much of a difference there is. You can begin by reducing their food slightly and adding some of the newer food, and then continuing the reduction/increase over time. This is to get them used to the new food and help prevent potential digestive issues with the change.

Daily brushings might help with their coats, but that is something you might have to address later when you start to change some of their food to canned versions and consider an omega 3 supplement which can help with dry skin and dandruff.

 

[Aszira]

Can you get your mom an auto-feeder for the kibble instead of free feeding? That in itself should help a lot! Does the house have stairs? Can you put their food on a different level so they're forced to go up/down some stairs to eat?

Unfortunately it's an apartment, so no stairs. I have an auto feeder for my cats. They're terrified of it, which I find hilarious. It might be a challenge to get them to adapt to one.

Hi. I want to preface what I would recommend with this one statement: Getting a cat to lose weight is a marathon, not a sprint.

Start by determining how much they currently eat. Even though they are free fed, their food can be measured in the morning and then at night - at the same time of day every day. You need a baseline to start with and that is what this step is for. I presume they are fed from the same dish - hopefully they are not, but if they are you will just have to assume they each eat about the same amount during a given day.

Next, once you have determined how much they are eating per day, reduce the amount in the dish(es) by 5% - no more than 10% - for the first step in the diet. The reason for this is to enable the cats to adapt - both mentally and physically - to a lesser amount of food over time. From here, you could consider splitting their food into 4 meals and only setting out enough for each meal of their total daily intake. I'd watch what their eating trends are, as that might help you determine the best schedule for them, and how much to put out for them for each meal.

The cats' weight should be monitored to ensure they are not losing too much weight too fast. The baseline rule of thumb would be to NOT have them lose any more than 1 pound per month, and tbh a little less than that would be even better for them. So, to start off with they could be weighed at least every other week, but at first it would be more ideal if it were weekly. That will give you a gauge to work with in terms of how frequently you can continue with the 5-10% reductions in food - that along with how well they are dealing with less food.

I would do this before jumping into a whole other set of changes for them, such a moving their dishes somewhere else or even adding a feeder. Too many changes at once could backfire the whole process. And the older they are the more likely that changes could bother them. As they lose weight, you might find them being more active on their own too. My cat who once weighed 18 pounds resumed cleaning her behind once she lost weight.

Check to see if there is Purina One harball food that also helps with weight. I think there is one called Indoor Advantage Hairball & Healthy Weight that might be an option; but compare the ingredients/calories to their current food to see how much of a difference there is. You can begin by reducing their food slightly and adding some of the newer food, and then continuing the reduction/increase over time. This is to get them used to the new food and help prevent potential digestive issues with the change.

Daily brushings might help with their coats, but that is something you might have to address later when you start to change some of their food to canned versions and consider an omega 3 supplement which can help with dry skin and dandruff.

That's a brilliant writeup, thank you! Their food dish is on the floor next to where my brother spends 99% of his day, so monitoring trends wouldn't be an issue. I know as they get skinnier they'll be more active - mine sure are. I'll have to look into an indoor formula. Ages ago I had Purina One recommended to me, so that's what they're on. I don't know how it compares to like Friskies (absolute junk in my opinion) it's much harder to lose weight when you eat McDonald's for every meal vs eating a balanced meal. Do you know if Purina One is okay, or is there a different brand that would be better to eventually switch them to? The cats are mostly okay with changing brands as long as it's not too extreme.

I happen to have a cat scale due to my 16 year old, tumor filled cat who, according to my vet, should be in the ICU on life support if you go by her blood work alone. (she's fine - she caught a bird today. She goes in for monthly checkups) I can lend that to my mom for a bit. My end stage kidney failure cat hasn't had a weight change in six months due to the fact she literally has nothing left to lose, so it doesn't get used much. (Again, monthly checkups to make sure she's not in pain or anything) I'm sure my brother will find a way to turn it into a cat bed so he can weigh them while they nap. It's weird thinking one pound a month is a lot - if you think of humans, that's absolutely nothing.

I'll task my brother with measuring their food and adjusting it. It's kind of sad that the one cat can't get out of the yard to run away because she can't jump the fence. She wouldn't be able to escape the yard anyway due to the cat fencing acting as a trampoline and sproinging them back into the yard, but it's sad that she can't even make it high enough to find out.

As a side note, I'm now wondering if their dry skin is related to another quirk all three sisters have. For some reason they don't just clean their flanks. They rip fur out. I have a pheromone thing I use so the one sister will stop leaving fur chunks all over and quit ripping the fur off her knuckles. Her sisters do the same thing, just not to the same extreme. I wonder if that's caused by the dry skin, the ripping causes dry skin, or some sort of mixture. Or they could be two completely different things. They all have incredibly short and fine hair, which I know on humans can cause scalp weirdness. It's not incredibly important to the food issue, just something I noticed tonight.

 

[lisahe]

For some reason they don't just clean their flanks. They rip fur out. I have a pheromone thing I use so the one sister will stop leaving fur chunks all over and quit ripping the fur off her knuckles. Her sisters do the same thing, just not to the same extreme. I wonder if that's caused by the dry skin, the ripping causes dry skin, or some sort of mixture. Or they could be two completely different things. They all have incredibly short and fine hair, which I know on humans can cause scalp weirdness. It's not incredibly important to the food issue, just something I noticed tonight.

How much fur to they "rip" out? Do they have little bald patches? Cats sometimes do this because of stress or issues (sensitivities or allergies) to certain foods. It seems unusual that all three are doing it. Since you mention dandruff and dry skin, though, I'd echo what FeebysOwner says about adding some fish oil/omega 3s to their diet. It might also help to feed them some wet food. I know you mentioned that budget is an issue but even splitting, say, a can of Friskies or a store brand food might be helpful... Both to help them lose a little weight (most wet foods have lower carbs than most dry foods!) and to ease the itching (more water into their systems!).

 

[FeebysOwner]

Do you know if Purina One is okay, or is there a different brand that would be better to eventually switch them to?

I don't much about dry food as my cat hasn't eaten any in probably 10 years or more. And even then, she was eating a prescription food for urinary care, and I also gave her the canned versions too. All I know about dry food is that it generally contains a larger amount of carbs compared to canned food, has more fillers in most cases, and is generally higher in calories per serving. Since you consider Friskies to be junk food (most would probably agree with you), compare its ingredients to Purina One and see how different they are. You could do the same with other dry foods too. You can look up most any cat food on the internet and do comparisons that way.

It's weird thinking one pound a month is a lot - if you think of humans, that's absolutely nothing.

An equivalent amount of weight loss in a month for a human who weighs 140 would be 7 pounds, if that helps any.

As a side note, I'm now wondering if their dry skin is related to another quirk all three sisters have.

If they are truly related, that increases the odds of genetics playing a role. As mentioned above, it could be a food allergy, or even a litter or an environmental allergy (dust, pollen, cleaning products, candles/air fresheners, etc.). Regular brushings help spread natural body oils through the skin/hair, so that could help some, but might not do a lot if it is a true allergy.

 

[Aszira]

I don't much about dry food as my cat hasn't eaten any in probably 10 years or more. And even then, she was eating a prescription food for urinary care, and I also gave her the canned versions too. All I know about dry food is that it generally contains a larger amount of carbs compared to canned food, has more fillers in most cases, and is generally higher in calories per serving. Since you consider Friskies to be junk food (most would probably agree with you), compare its ingredients to Purina One and see how different they are. You could do the same with other dry foods too. You can look up most any cat food on the internet and do comparisons that way.

An equivalent amount of weight loss in a month for a human who weighs 140 would be 7 pounds, if that helps any.

If they are truly related, that increases the odds of genetics playing a role. As mentioned above, it could be a food allergy, or even a litter or an environmental allergy (dust, pollen, cleaning products, candles/air fresheners, etc.). Regular brushings help spread natural body oils through the skin/hair, so that could help some, but might not do a lot if it is a true allergy.

They're absolutely related, that I know for a fact. My brother's friend was moving and was just going to dump them in a field somewhere.

My cat has bald knuckles. She likes to rip at them as a way of relaxing before she sleeps. She used to rip out chunks of her flank. It would look like a cat fight in the areas she often slept. It's settled after I moved out and there are fewer cats. That's when the knuckle thing started. It's bizarre and seems to be how they think cleaning is done. They seem to do it no matter what food they're on.

My vet said Friskies is basically junk food/candy for cats. Apparently it can cause bladder crystals in older male cats. Maybe I'll have to look into it again.

It looks like wet food is definitely of the table. My brother is super sensitive to smells and my mom doesn't want to upset him. I'll start by getting her to shrink their portions for now. I guess they do a lot of boredom eating. I'll be glad when they can have a yard again.

 

[Furballsmom]

You could try Tiki Cat, it doesn't have an odor that I can tell and Merrick Backcountry pouches don't stink. These are available in brick 'n mortar stores so you can buy a few and test them.