Good weight loss foods?

melontine

TCS Member
Thread starter
Adult Cat
Joined
Oct 8, 2016
Messages
124
Purraise
196
One cat in our household is 13lbs, nearly 14lbs. She's quite overweight for her size, a healthy weight for her I think would be back around 10lbs.
We used to leave bowls full of dry food and free feed but now feed small amounts at a time to try and limit the amount she eats. So far it hasn't been working. Though the fact that she steals from the table when we're not watching doesn't help either. Because we're limiting food, she's taken it upon herself to take whatever she can from us, the dogs, the darn fridge, wherever she can get her paws on.
I'd like to try feeding her more and more frequently to try to keep her full, but lower-calorie or diet food so she actually starts to lose some weight. But I'm having trouble finding one that'll work for us. Most vet offices I know recommend Hills, Royal canine, or even Purina but it's still a lot to look through for a well-balanced diet.
I think a wet food-based diet would work best, making it easy to track how much she eats based on the number of cans.
 

susanm9006

Willow
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
13,152
Purraise
30,219
Location
Minnesota
My Willow has a weight issue for all the nine years she has lived with me. She was on dry food only and I kept whittling it down until she was on 1/4 cup a day as her only food and still she didn’t lose weight. Last year I transitioned her to wet food only and her weight is finally coming down some. She seems to be quite satisfied with her new diet even though It is less than what most cats have in a day. She gets a 3 oz can of Natural Instinct for breakfast and a 1.6 oz packet of Crave for dinner, both of which are high protein pates. She also gets a tablespoon of dry food as a night timer snack.
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
I think a wet food-based diet would work best, making it easy to track how much she eats based on the number of cans.
Yes, a canned food only diet will help with weight loss. It's not the number of cans or amount of dry food you need to count. It's the calories. It's generally suggested to feed 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. Dry foods are super dense in calories, like a meal of a fast food burger with extra large fries and a milkshake. Less dry food might seem logical but it's still too many calories plus it doesn't keep a cat's tummy full and satiated for very long. That's why your cat is seeking out more food to eat by stealing from your table, eating the dog's food, etc. Canned foods are much lower in calories, generally around 70 calories or so per 3 oz can and maybe 150 or so for a 5.5 oz can but it depends on brand / variety / etc, and keeps a tummy full and happy much longer.

Some people have to feed some dry which is ok. Just be sure to that into account when feeding the cat the appropriate amount of calories.

Calorie content is listed on the label as kcal. This canned food chart is helpful: https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

There's good info here:

 

mrsgreenjeens

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
16,390
Purraise
7,127
Location
Arizona
Wet food is definitely best, but you want to look for high protein, low carb as well. That way the calories they take in will be mainly meat, which is what cats need. They don't need vegies or rice etc. Pate versions are usually higher in protein and lower in carbs. You normally will NOT see the carbs listed anywhere on the cans, but sometimes the websites will list them. I try to stay under 10% carbs.
 

furdoctor

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Oct 14, 2020
Messages
8
Purraise
7
for weight loss you need to aim high protein, carb and low fat. fat percentage of the food you give is the key to the making your cat obesite. for homemade foods its really difficult to achieve daily calori numbers because of low fat diet with no support of carbs. after you do a visit to your vet and make sure your cats metabolism works normally i recommend hill's metabolic kibble. you dont need to focus on wet foods particularly. they are not that good as you think. but you can back up with some wet food of hill's metabolic. i got nice results with hills prescription series. aim no more than 250 grams per month loss. also never let your cat starve cuz of hepatic lipidosis risk.

for homemade food you find your cats current fat portion. then you find your cats weight all the fat removed. you add %20-25 fat to this number and you find your cats ideal weight. then you give the caloric need daily to your cats ideal weight even though your cat is 14 lbs.
for 14 lbs cat on a weight loss diet you need to give 266 kcal per day.
 

mrsgreenjeens

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
16,390
Purraise
7,127
Location
Arizona
for weight loss you need to aim high protein, carb and low fat. fat percentage of the food you give is the key to the making your cat obesite. for homemade foods its really difficult to achieve daily calori numbers because of low fat diet with no support of carbs. after you do a visit to your vet and make sure your cats metabolism works normally i recommend hill's metabolic kibble. you dont need to focus on wet foods particularly. they are not that good as you think. but you can back up with some wet food of hill's metabolic. i got nice results with hills prescription series. aim no more than 250 grams per month loss. also never let your cat starve cuz of hepatic lipidosis risk.

for homemade food you find your cats current fat portion. then you find your cats weight all the fat removed. you add %20-25 fat to this number and you find your cats ideal weight. then you give the caloric need daily to your cats ideal weight even though your cat is 14 lbs.
for 14 lbs cat on a weight loss diet you need to give 266 kcal per day.
Am I reading this correctly in that you are advocating a high CARB diet? I'm sorry, but where are you getting this information. And why do you say wet food is not as good as we think? Just wondering where you are getting this information. I know there are many of us here who've had overweight cats and the only way we got them to lose weight was to get them off kibble, including the prescription weight loss kibble.
 

furdoctor

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Oct 14, 2020
Messages
8
Purraise
7
Am I reading this correctly in that you are advocating a high CARB diet? I'm sorry, but where are you getting this information. And why do you say wet food is not as good as we think? Just wondering where you are getting this information. I know there are many of us here who've had overweight cats and the only way we got them to lose weight was to get them off kibble, including the prescription weight loss kibble.
it's high protein, moderate amount of carb and low fat (%9 minimum) diet. you can check the data from hill's website. i give you this information from my experience and from the books i read. on a typical diet you gotta reach enough amount of calories per gram of the diet daily basis so this diet will be enough healthy for your cat. epidemiologic data have suggested that high-fat, rather than high-carbohydrate, foods play a role in obesity. further data show that total energy intake affects weight change in cats, with high-fat diets promoting excessive calorie intake, not high-carbohydrate content. dry kibble is not that bad its just people giving it unconsciously leads sometimes obesity.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top