Best Diet For Overweight Cat?

[KittyCookie]

My mom, brother and I adopted an almost 5 year old cat in May. She is 13.0 lbs, and we've been trying to get her to lose weight for a month and a half now. While I do know the importance of wet food, and proper balanced cat diets, my mother does not agree, and she makes the final decisions.
The cat has not lost any weight even though my mom agreed to feed her some wet food to help her lose weight, but she insisted the cat only eat Fancy Feast Classics Turkey and Giblets when it comes the wet food. I don't know how much dry food my mom is giving the cat, but she gets one 3 ounce can of the Fancy Feast each day along with Merick LID Turkey dry food.
I think she is more open to changing the cat's diet because the cat isn't losing any weight. What would be the best diet? Wet only? If so, what wet foods?
I would prefer if the food be from Petco, as that is where I work.
Thank you!!(:

 

[abyeb]

Wet food is generally considered healthier for cats because it contains more water which will help keep your cat hydrated, as well as feeling fuller for longer, which helps to prevent overeating. With overweight cats especially, you can also mix in extra water to the food, to magnify this effect further. For picking a food, it's best if a protein is the first ingredient, and is grain and potato-free (as these act as more like empty calories for cats). You can ask your vet for the exact number of calories your cat should get daily, as if you reduce too quickly, cats can get hepatic lipidosis, a potentially life-threatening condition.

 

[orange&white]

Wet only is preferred for all the reasons abyeb mentioned. I pulled all the kibble out of my 16.5 lb cat's diet in September, and fed all wet canned through December, and he lost 2 pounds. Then I switched to raw in January, and he gained a bit back because it took me a while (too long) to figure out how many calories and how much fat was in my mixes. He would probably be down to his ideal weight by now if I had just stuck with canned for a while.

I just started (on canned) with reducing about 20 calories/day once per week until he started losing and fed that amount as long as he kept losing slowly. If he hit a plateau, I reduced another 20 calories for a week.

Do you have a good scale to weigh your cat? He can lose weight on any diet (including a mix of canned and dry), but you need to track his calories (preferably daily) and his weight (preferably weekly). The key is to very slowly reduce the calories until you see results.

 

[MeganLLB]

My cat is also around 13 lbs and needs to be more like around 7 or 8. She should be eating 144 cals at her ideal weight. Right now she is eating about 170 cals which is down from the 200+ she had been free feeding before. So once she has been eating that for awhile I will cut back another tablespoon of dry food so she will be eating closer to the 144 and will see if she continues to loose.

You just want to get a food that is high in protein, low carb and moderate amount of fat. And just count the calories taking into consideration their metabolism, age, current weight, and activity level. Don't reduce too fast or like they said she can get fatty liver disease.

 

[Lalka]

play time is also important if they are indoor cats, they ll burn calories playing. Tell your mom to buy toys. Its hard to find toys that your cat will like, so try different one.