Has anyone successfully trimmed down a fat cat?

[yeartolate]

In my life I have had 2 fat cats. In different times in there lives I have tried to help them trim down upon advice of the vet.

I never fed my fat cats wet food (until old age) and the occasional saucer of milk was the exception rather than the rule. I refused to totally control their enviroment (meaning they were allowed outside) so any decrease in amount of dry food usually meant the cats would eat out. As I dislike cleansing bird innerds from our porch, I usually just gave up. Each of the two fat cats I had were pathetically healthy until old age (18) when they developed some malady that took their life.

Our neighbor is being harrassed by their vet to get their fat cat to lose weight. The cat never loses weight and they are facing cleaning up the 'Kills" - just as was my experience. This cat is now 12.

The funny thing is that my present cat is almost 15 (wait-maybe 16) and has always been slender and ate like a pig. Fancy Feast (kitty crack) two cans a day, lactose free milk, occasional kibble, and she can take a roast chicken if it is left out for more than 30 seconds.

So - has anyone ever trimmed down their fat cat?

 

[Tigger_Magic]

I'd love to know, too. We have a 2 year old we got from a shelter; we appropriately named her Molly McButter. Before we adopted her she'd had a litter and still had her sagging, rather AMPLE belly (which still swings from side to side when she runs). She's very active and playful; I love chasing her through the house, mostly to watch her belly swing (I know I am terrible, but it is so funny to watch). She really doesn't eat much more than Marco, who is fairly thin and very light. Maybe 1 can of food a day between them and we often throw out maybe a 1/3 of it.

(BTW, I loved your reference to Fancy Feast as "kitty crack." )

 

[alliecats]

The reason your kitty is probably so slender is because she eats Fancy Feast. Really Kibble is the kitty crack. It is usually LOADED with carbs. Cats are obligate carnivores, yet we feed them diets full of corn, rice, etc. Cats generally do not eat corn in the wild, that I know of. Yet it is in most dry foods in large qtys. Studies are showing that diets low in carbs (ie, grains), and high in fats and proteins are best for most cats. We called making the switch to low-carb canned her Catkins Diet.

We switched one of our cats from prescription weight loss food (while on it, she got up to 17 pounds) last year, to Fancy Feast. She slowly trimmed down to just under 15 pounds, and is still slimming. Previously we had tried everything, including diet food as stated above and portion control.

And I know this is not information a lot of people will believe, because the pet food industry has trained us to think otherwise. Many vets still advocate dry food for its convenience, etc. So here is a link with this info, written by a vet. You don't have to take my word for it!
http://www.catinfo.org/

ETA: Some canned foods, esp. the gravy and pouch varieties are also loaded with carbs, so you have to watch that.

 

[yeartolate]

Alliecat, that is very interesting.

And the vets involved always did recommend the kibble - but if I recall, alot of the reason had to do with keeping strong teeth. But the last time a vet said anything was over 10 years ago, so I may be behind the times.

What you say makes sense - as it is essentially Atkins for cats.

But I must say, my skinny cat eats anything. I served our guests birthday cake and the remainder was left in the kitchen - she downed a huge chunk before we realized what she had done. The blue accent frosting pawprints were a clue.
aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw:

 

[ReggieB]

Thanks alliecats for the link. I have just stopped feeding dry food to my cat on the recommendation of our vet. Like another poster I had him on a weight management food (both wet and dry) and he actually put on weight, he used to eat fancy feast too. Anyway, it's too soon to tell if it's working. The other quirk about all this is that the vet insisted I used kitten food. Kind of like an Atkins diet for cats, not convinced it's good for him, but I'll try it for now. Not going back to the dry stuff though, that's for sure. I'm off to check the sachet packets of cat food I have now too!

 

[4cruisin]

But I must say, my skinny cat eats anything. I served our guests birthday cake and the remainder was left in the kitchen - she downed a huge chunk before we realized what she had done. The blue accent frosting pawprints were a clue.
aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw: aw:

OMG, that is funny

 

[yeartolate]

OMG, that is funny

No, what is funny is the litter box the next day. Apparently blue dye makes green poop.

 

[4cruisin]

No, what is funny is the litter box the next day. Apparently blue dye makes green poop.

Stop it......I'm supposed to be reading financial reports and I don't want to explain why I'm laughing

 

[yeartolate]

Yup, she had a blue tongue one day and a blue butt the next.

 

[cherylp3]

Yes my cat has lost about 8 lbs. We feed him Wellness Lite (The vet had him on Purina perscription O/D we changed that after realizing wellness made a light food.) We now feed him about 12 dry pieces of food 3-4 times a day.
(Occasionally he might get sick, if that happens we feed babyfood)
The cat has always been a little big but bulked up when we got our dog. My previous vet didn't say much. Our current vet is big on him losing weight.

 

[alliecats]

Just some additional, anecdotal info--my other cat is a diabetic and I belong to a diabetic message board for kitties. Several cats there have had "honeymoons" (where they regain non-diabetic blood sugar numbers for a period of time--can be weeks or years--where they no longer need insulin) after carefully making the transition to an all-wet or raw food diet. We've seen it happen over and over again. aw:

 

[Sleepy]

I have a cat that has always been 22-23 pounds. The vet tried to put him on a prescription diet and had him cut down to 2 portions a day of 1/4 cup. After about a week of this and some severe kitty attacks on my way to bed (he knew bedtime meant no more food), I decided enough was enough and stopped the diet. He is still on the prescription diet food with reasonable portions and still weighs the same amount as when on regular food.

Interesting observation is I am watching 3 cats for a friend while they get moved into their house. They have been with me for 2 months. They too are on a special diet. One cat is equal to my cat, one is average and one is skinny (well, to me she is skinny as compared to my cat). I think cats are no different than people when it comes to weight.