Cat Food Portions

[juless804]

My vet is saying that my cat needs to lose weight, and to put him on a wet food only diet, as he has been having severe anal gland problems.  I just don't see the benefit in this, as most of the food would spoil during the day while I'm at work, and it is not good for their teeth.  I am thinking, perhaps just a tablespoon of crunchies along with 1/2 packet of wet, twice a day.  Any thoughts?

 

[LTS3]

A canned food only diet is pretty much the only way to help a cat to lose weight. Dry foods are too calorie dense, as much as 300, 400 or mre calories per measured cup. That's far too many calories for most cats to have daily. Canned foods are typically under 200 calories for a 5.5 oz can, under 100 for a 3 oz can. It's much easier to control calorie intake with canned food. The general rule is to feed 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight daily. So a 10 pound cat may need only about 200 to 250 calories daily.

Please don't feed just a tablespoon of dry food with 1/2 a packet of food. That is not enough calories for your cat and you risk the cat developing fatty liver disease. Simply cutting back on the amount of food doesn't help with weight loss.Your cat will literally starve and will constantly meow in hunger and will try to eat anything he can find just to get enough calories for his body to survive.

Canned food can be left out all day

Canned food is already cooked so there's no worry about it spoiling. It may get a dry but most cats are ok with that. To keep canned food fresher longer, you can use a programmable timed feeder such as this one to portion out canned food so your cat has a few small meals during the day. Some people like to freeze canned food into serving sized portions and then pop the frozen food into the feeder to slowly defrost.

There is more info about how to help a cat to safely lose weight here: http://catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity Weight in cats takes time so be patient. Depending on how much weight your cat needs to lose, it make take a couple of week or a couple of months. Weight loss must be done slowly.

Here's a reply I made to someone with an overweight cat. There are links to food charts so you can see how many calories are in canned foods vs dry food. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/316049/...testinal-issues-what-to-feed-him#post_3962927

Here are other threads on how to help a cat to lose weight safely. You may find other suggestions in these.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/307774/safe-weight-loss-for-cat

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/274190/how-to-achieve-weight-loss

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/296164/best-dry-food-for-weight-loss

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245236/mickey-my-27-lbs-foster-and-his-journey-back-to-a-healthy-weight

The thing about canned food being horrible for teeth is a myth. No food keeps food clean. Only regular home dental care keeps teeth clean, just like how daily toothbrushing keeps your teeth clean. You can brush a cat's teeth with pet toothpaste

 

[lisahe]

LTS3 already covered all the high points about dieting for cats so I'll just mention a couple things, one of which (carbs) your vet might have already said anyway. Lowering a cat's carb intake is a key part of dieting: foods like Fancy Feast classics (the pates) and others without ingredients like grains, potatoes, or peas in any form are most likely to make cats feel filled up on food their bodies can use. They don't process the carbs well so tend to gain weight on them.

The other thing is tooth brushing. Some cats (like ours) love it. We brush their teeth with CET toothpaste and they love it so much it's like a treat for them.

Good luck!

 

[sivyaleah]

 
Canned food can be left out all day

Canned food is already cooked so there's no worry about it spoiling. It may get a dry but most cats are ok with that. To keep canned food fresher longer, you can use a programmable timed feeder such as this one to portion out canned food so your cat has a few small meals during the day. Some people like to freeze canned food into serving sized portions and then pop the frozen food into the feeder to slowly defrost.

Would you please give evidence that wet food can be left out all day?  I don't see how this is possible given that most homes ambient temperature would spoil any food, cooked or otherwise if left out for many hours.

I wouldn't want to eat a cooked burger left on the counter the next morning so I can't see how this is appropriate for pets either.

 

[LTS3]

Well you do want to throw any uneaten food before you go to bed and wash out the bowl or feeder tray

Many diabetic cat owners use a feeder to provide mini meals to their cats during the day and have never had a problem with spoiled food or the cat getting sick. I used to fill the feeder at 5am with food, go to work, and not get home until at least 5pm or so. There was never any leftover food in the tray compartments and my cat never got sick from eating food that's been sitting in the feeder, even during the summer. I think the first meal was programmed  for 2 hours after breakfast, then another meal around noon, then an afternoon meal. Some feeders do have an ice pack that helps keep canned food cool. There are bowls like the Frosty Bowl that keeps pet food cool for hours. Some raw feeders recommend using the Frosty Bowl to leave raw food out for any length of time.