How do you put a cat on a diet? (serious question)

[JR6ooo4]

My kitty needs to lose a couple pounds. The vet said she's at the maximum, highest weight she should be already. She hasn't gained any weight since being weighed last year, which is good, but the vets want her to lose a couple pounds. Yes, she does have an obvious inch layer of fat around her. They told me to do it slowly.

The problem is, if I remove ony 5 kibble from her usual amount, my poor kitty acts like she's starving all day. She will sit by the bowl long after it's empty, waiting for me to come give her some more. I feed her four times a day.

She tends to be an emotional eater, eating when she's bored or anxious - which is how she got to this weight, and always wants more in her bowl. I think she's also used to feeling over-stuffed.
But this seems to be different. She truly acts like she is starving all day and not just anxious that there's no food in her bowl.

If I don't save enough for her to eat overnight, she WILL try to wake me up in the morning to feed her. Normally, she's just very happy to greet me with a "Good Morning! You're awake! " Now, it's a "Oh, good, now you can feed me." Anytime I stand up or walk around, she seems to be underfoot all the time, hoping I will walk over to put food in her bowl. She never used to do that before. I can't tell you how many times I've almost stepped on her or nearly, accidentally kicked her in the last few days.

When my dogs beg for food I tell them NO! And they go lay down.
Just tell your cat that.

Mikeeee

 

[Tina]

The problem is not so much about HOW MUCH your feeding your kitties, it's WHAT you're feeding them. Most commercial foods (especially dry) are fast food for kitties and not very good for their diets - even the diet formula foods!

Read: http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm

For a real eye-opener, scroll down a bit on this site and read the case studies of Bennie and Molly. Its frightening, shocking, and will make you think twice about letting your cats become obese. My sister has 3 fat cats, one was closing in on getting as large as Bennie and Molly on this site. She read this site and got her cats on Wellness as fast as she could (it took some time to convince the fattest of her fatties to make the switch). She has seen amazing results, albeit slowly. I have 2 young boys (just about a year old now) and have had them on Wellness for several months. They are doing great and love it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Hmmm, I'll have to look into one of those towers. I wondered if the absence of food was more the problem. I gave her her quarter portion this morning. And 10 minutes later while I'm up & walking around, she meowing in front of the bowl like she's starving. Like she didn't get enough since last nite. "Hello! I fed you 10 minutes ago. " I didn't put more in her bowl.

But, now as I'm sitting here typing away, she's been snoozing away like she doesn't have a problem, knowing I'm not heading near her bowl. But, as soon as I stand up, she'll be underfoot again.

Once you start a schedule, they will get used to it. It will take time.

She has 2 older cats and got 2 kittens and the kittens had to be on kitten food so she had to devise a way to feed them.

It was tough at first esp. one of her cats protested every meal and sometimes did not eat.

Eventually they all feel in line. It took about 6 months.

ETA...

She made up a "feeding station" for them. It is really cute. They all eat right in a line. I will have to get a pic. I am going to be hanging with the kitties this weekend.

 

[pppiglet]

First, if you are worried about Diabetes, take your cats off dry food! Cats sleep most of the day so they won't be hungry then. You should feed them twice a day (wet food) and anywhere from 3-5oz each meal. We feed ours at 5:30 in the morning and 5:30 at night. Kittens under 6 mos.will need 3-4 smaller meals a day.

 

[shortbun]

My cat is skinny but I leave dry food out all day long and always have. All my cats have been able to eat any time they like. Wet food is a treat about 3X a week. I had a cat that got a little overweight once he got older and began to lose his muscle tone. I really concentrated on playing with him-running arond the house with a string-him following, I'd roll up aluminum foil balls and throw them for a few minutes-then he'd continue playing with them as though they were a mouse, I hung a noisy thing on an elastic band for him to bat around. Then I'd give him a rub down. He lived to be 22 years old. The vet and I felt it was because of all the attention, activity and love.

 

[pppiglet]

Like shortbun said...activity helps also. We use a laser light. The cats love to chase it. I run it the length of the room, back and forth.

 

[mackeysmom]

Stay away from the "Weight Control" dry foods out there if possible.

After Mackey was diagnosed with diabetes over five years ago, I did so much research on the ingredients in store bought foods. Some of those "weight control" foods were the human equivilant of a pasta/potato/bread diet.

While they may not have caused Mackey's diabetes - they certainly didn't help prevent it.

As with human foods - check the labels when you are in the pet store. You want to look for foods that have meat and proteins high up on the list and grains way down on the list.

I also agree with a PP poster - try free feeding. You'll actually find that they eat less when they know that there is food available to them 24/7.

Good luck,
Laura

 

[dalt01]

Reduce the amount of food you give her

thats it...........nuf said.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Two of our four have been on a diet for about 6 weeks, and we're seeing improvement.

Yes, they complain. We just don't give in. The two who do not need to be on a diet. . .one is quite healthy and atheletic. He's the only cat fit enough to get on top of the entertainment center, so there's a bowl of food up there JUST for him. The fat cats know this and watch the top of the entertainment center jealously. When they get skinny enough to jump up there, they can have that food too. The other one is old, arthritic and crochety. She went on a hunger strike a while back and would not eat unless we fed her one of 3 specific types of Fancy Feast wet. As she is the Alpha blankety-blank of the household, the other cats do not steal her food. DH puts most of it in her bowl (healthy athletic cat gets a little - with her knowledge - she can't finish the can and knows it.) and she eats it. Fat cats can lick the bowl when she's done if they'd like.

The main thing is to remain firm and not to feed them when they try to make you feel guilty. You're not doing this to be cruel, you're doing this so that they'll live longer, happier, healthier lives. The 'meezer beaster, btw, is almost down to normal weight and is sooooo much happier and healthier now!

 

[denisem]

I agree with those suggesting she's eating when she's bored. My Millie is one of those cats. When she's underfoot, try distracting your cat with play and attention and see if that helps.

I know this is an unrealistic solution for most (trust me, we do it because we HAVE to) but we've been feeding a homemade raw diet to our two for years, occasionally giving them canned & dry when our supply runs low.
The raw diet definitely keeps them satisfied longer than commercial foods.

Chubby Millie still packs on the pounds only because DH has a bad habit of "sharing" snacks. (I was thrilled to learn she loves asiago cheese, of all things!)

 

[Morganpics]

We are also really interested in this thread. We have 2 - one is half a dog, the other a skinny minnie. We feed Nutro Natural Choice Indoor weight management. I don't really think it's working and we're pretty frustrated. They both get fed in the morning their total allotment. I'm really interested as to why we should NOT feed dry food?

 

[MichelleVW]

The problem is not so much about HOW MUCH your feeding your kitties, it's WHAT you're feeding them. Most commercial foods (especially dry) are fast food for kitties and not very good for their diets - even the diet formula foods!

Read: http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm

For a real eye-opener, scroll down a bit on this site and read the case studies of Bennie and Molly. Its frightening, shocking, and will make you think twice about letting your cats become obese. My sister has 3 fat cats, one was closing in on getting as large as Bennie and Molly on this site. She read this site and got her cats on Wellness as fast as she could (it took some time to convince the fattest of her fatties to make the switch). She has seen amazing results, albeit slowly. I have 2 young boys (just about a year old now) and have had them on Wellness for several months. They are doing great and love it.

My mom commented on how good my cats look and wondered why her two were so overweight. I told her, "its the food". I don't know if she believes me, but I tried to convince her that it was like eating McDonalds every day.....ok every now and then, but mostly junk. Plus, any cat food that has ground corn as it's first or ANY ingredient, isn't something I want my cats to eat...blech..

 

[denisem]

I'm really interested as to why we should NOT feed dry food?

I know in the cat world, the wet vs. dry debate changes every coupla years. (Kinda like margerine vs. butter for humans?) "Wet is bad for their teeth!" "Dry has too much added carbs!". Then you throw in the recalled commercial pet food problems of the past few years and EVERYONE is confused.

Again...I had to look into this stuff because we almost put our hybrid bengal kitten down because of "diahwea" (I love that term!). Was surprised to learn (in spite of advertising) of all the unnecessary "fillers" added to pet foods nowadays that are are antithesis to what pets actually require. Looking into Hill's Science Diet was especially enlightening.

Anyhow, I'm not militant about it - heck, I've fed commercial wet/dry to my mutts/alley cats for 100 yrs and they thrived. Maybe because they weren't purebreds? Maybe the food has changed? I dunno. But if anyone has specific problems with their pets, looking into alternatives is a good idea. (Yeah, I know...one MORE thing to put on your to-do list!)

 

[TheLittleRoo]

Okay, true story: I got my orange tabby at the pound when he was about 1 year old and very lean. Then I had him neutered and brought him home. Fast forward 3 years at my place, and the "cat" is beagle sized! Seriously! He weighs 23 lbs, is 21 inches long from nose to base of tail, 14 inches wide (not around, ACROSS!) and does not fit in an approved cat carrier - he needs dog-size!

BUT! He only eats Iams dry food, and I keep a scoop in his metal can so there is NO WAY he gets more than 1/2 c in the AM and 1/2 c in the PM. That is ALL he gets, for sure. So how on earth can he be getting bigger?! We saw the vet and she said put him on wet food, which we did but he had constant "diaweea" which was causing my husband to threaten taking him to the pound... (whole 'nother story there...)

I'm stumped, except to think it's a metabolism issue for him. But I would sure love to see what kind of replies you get to your question. I'm actually working on the "calories burned" side of the equation with him, since it's not the "calories consumed" side that is doing him in. We play chase with him, make him run after toys, etc to try and tire him out.

OMG - - thank you to whomever put the link to the Mollie and Bennie vet story! I spent the better part of the day (!!) reading all those posts and sub-posts by that wonderful vet who did a great job educating the public about cats, food, and litter box issues!

Well, regarding my post above - - wow, I am seriously harming my cat with Iams dry food. If a cat is supposed to consume about 250 cals / day, and each 1/2 cup of Iams kibble is about 180 calories, then he's getting 110 EXTRA calories per day, or almost an extra 50% more calories than he's burning. No wonder the boy is obese!

I went to the store today to find dry Wellness/ EVO which I'll use until I get back from summer vacation since I'm not going to stress him out further by messing with wet food at my sister's house with his history of "diawhea". We'd be out on our tails in no time!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm intrigued by the raw diet for him. I wouldn't mind doing that if he'd eat it. Make a batch each month and freeze it - how hard could that be, and like the vet said, it's pay me now or pay me later with respect to the cheap food/ high medical bills later vs. better food/ fewer vet bills later.

I was also surprised by her awesome tips about litter box issues! Best of all was the tip to cut a door hole in a deep storage box and fill that puppy up with 4-5 inches of litter. My cat is a kicker when it comes to Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract litter - he would dig a hole to China if he could - - and he flings litter everywhere in his traditional box. That big, tall-sided storage box would catch all the flying litter and save me so much trouble. And who knew how important it REALLY is to have 4" of litter?

Great site to read if you are interested in understanding why dry food is so bad for cats, and if you have cats who sometimes don't use their box.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I promised a pic of my sister's feeding station and here it is. Her DH built it and she painted it.
Cats from left to right are Pepper, Peanut, Cinnamon, & Morgan (the only boy). Cinnamon and Morgan are still kittens.

 

[Cool-Beans]

Stop feeding her cat food. Buy some mice and let them loose. Then she'll get to eat, but she'll have to work for it and get her exercise.



I have no idea. I'm thinking that if the cat is going to howl and drive you nuts that maybe cutting back on food isn't the way to go and getting the cat more exercise is better. Does she jump and run after toys? Can you get a leash and walk her?

I wouldn't want to listen to the howling, that's for sure.

I dunno. Good luck.

 

[kldmom2000]

My vet had me put our 18 lb cat on the kitty-Atkins diet. She's a long hair, so she's built to be a little bigger than other cats... but not THAT big. We could never understand how she'd gotten so fat because our other 2 cats eat the same amount that she does, but they're short hair and slim???? Vet said some cats are just built that way. They're all indoor cats so they're not getting food elsewhere. We were told never to leave the dry food out for grazing... set "mealtimes" for them. All 3 cats whine and complain still over a year later begging for food in between meals... but we don't cave.

Anyway, the kitty-Atkins diet is wet food only since it's all protein.... no carbs like the dry. What we do is give them each a can of Fancy Feast in the AM and then at night, we give them each the correct amount of LIGHT Science Diet dry food (for the teeth mainly) based on their weight. Annabelle lost a pound in a year It's coming off VERY slowly......

 

[wdwmom2]

The best way that I have found to keep my kitties at a good weight is to feed each cat 1/3 cup dry Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul Light formula in the morning. In the evening my two split a can of Friskies Special Diet formula.

 

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

My vet had me put our 18 lb cat on the kitty-Atkins diet. She's a long hair, so she's built to be a little bigger than other cats... but not THAT big. We could never understand how she'd gotten so fat because our other 2 cats eat the same amount that she does, but they're short hair and slim???? Vet said some cats are just built that way. They're all indoor cats so they're not getting food elsewhere. We were told never to leave the dry food out for grazing... set "mealtimes" for them. All 3 cats whine and complain still over a year later begging for food in between meals... but we don't cave.

Anyway, the kitty-Atkins diet is wet food only since it's all protein.... no carbs like the dry. What we do is give them each a can of Fancy Feast in the AM and then at night, we give them each the correct amount of LIGHT Science Diet dry food (for the teeth mainly) based on their weight. Annabelle lost a pound in a year It's coming off VERY slowly......

I just feel sorry for your kitty, you can't afford shoes for the front paws?

hehehehhehee

 

[babytrees]

A pound a year is what our vet said to expect....though he does have one cat in the practice that lost 12 lbs in a year.

Our Pearl weighed in at almost 22 lbs....you wouldn't know it except in picking her up.