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- Jun 28, 2017
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My 3.5 y/o rescue girl Babs was a tiny bit overweight when I got her, complete with floppy belly and juicy thighs... she got like this in the shelter, they said. She was feral when she came in, they spayed her and probably tried to tame her with food (but no luck). She's been with me for 3 months now and I notice she's getting fatter still, but she's also a very picky eater and that's the thing that puzzles me.
I free feed kibble and I offer her small portions of wet food at breakfast and dinner. She enjoys kibble and seems to handle it well. She takes the occasional bite throughout the day and night, nothing strange. She does tend to have a few extra bites at playtime to relieve built-up tension, but still, nothing in excess. I started out with Yarrah, then switched to Porta 21 Cats Heaven because it's grain free and have now settled on Applaws chicken and duck.
She refuses most of her wet food, or she'll lick the gravy and leave the chunks. I'm trying different brands and different types, to see what works. I started with Yarrah pate, then switched to Bozita chunks in jelly and chunks in sauce and have now ordered trial packs of Greenwoods, Lilys Kitchen, Almo Nature Legend and Herrmans Bio, to see if she likes any of those. We'll figure it out eventually, I'm just putting it here to demonstrate her eating habits.
She has no taste for snacks (tried several natural types) and I make sure she gets exercise every day (she's an indoor cat for now while she's still semi-feral). She drinks water regularly and her poop seems fine.
To my mind, she doesn't eat that much at all. My other cat eats way more and is still quite lean.
I'm not sure what to do next. She seems healthy and is very active at playtime, hunting and jumping through the living room.
Taking her to the vet would be a bit difficult, because she's still semi-feral and won't let me touch or approach her... and I can't lure her into a basket with food. because she doesn't really care about food. None of my tricks have ever worked on her. If at all possible, I'd rather avoid a visit to the vet until I've gained her trust a bit more. Unless something's obviously wrong with her of course.
Any thoughts on how to stop her from gaining more weight?
I free feed kibble and I offer her small portions of wet food at breakfast and dinner. She enjoys kibble and seems to handle it well. She takes the occasional bite throughout the day and night, nothing strange. She does tend to have a few extra bites at playtime to relieve built-up tension, but still, nothing in excess. I started out with Yarrah, then switched to Porta 21 Cats Heaven because it's grain free and have now settled on Applaws chicken and duck.
She refuses most of her wet food, or she'll lick the gravy and leave the chunks. I'm trying different brands and different types, to see what works. I started with Yarrah pate, then switched to Bozita chunks in jelly and chunks in sauce and have now ordered trial packs of Greenwoods, Lilys Kitchen, Almo Nature Legend and Herrmans Bio, to see if she likes any of those. We'll figure it out eventually, I'm just putting it here to demonstrate her eating habits.
She has no taste for snacks (tried several natural types) and I make sure she gets exercise every day (she's an indoor cat for now while she's still semi-feral). She drinks water regularly and her poop seems fine.
To my mind, she doesn't eat that much at all. My other cat eats way more and is still quite lean.
I'm not sure what to do next. She seems healthy and is very active at playtime, hunting and jumping through the living room.
Taking her to the vet would be a bit difficult, because she's still semi-feral and won't let me touch or approach her... and I can't lure her into a basket with food. because she doesn't really care about food. None of my tricks have ever worked on her. If at all possible, I'd rather avoid a visit to the vet until I've gained her trust a bit more. Unless something's obviously wrong with her of course.
Any thoughts on how to stop her from gaining more weight?