Cat Overweight After I’ve Been Away For A While!

[CatLoverOnWheels]

Not sure where to put this but I’m pretty raging. Some of you may recognise me and I just came back from 5 week trip to Kenya for a family emergency and I’ve just gotten back.

My cat, Nala, is 2x her weight when I left her.

Evidently, my family have been over feeding her ie. stepdad gives her 200g of cat food every time he comes in so twice a day and then my aunt puts in however extra a day and my cousin might come every other day and fill it up again. It’s so clear they’ve not talked to each other otherwise they’d have clocked she was gaining weight! She’s only 1 years and 4 months but she’s weighing close to 5 kilos! When I left her, she was weighing just over 3 kilos! Even her fur is somehow thicker...

Anyways, they’ve kept her alive so I need to get her to back to her previous weight. I need to book her vaccinations and yearly check. I hope the vets don’t blame me for her weight gain or say she’s developed something caused by weight gain.

Plus, she’s acting like she’s forgotten me slightly... almost like she doesn’t know whether it’s me or not as I sound like me but I don’t smell like home me...

 

[silkenpaw]

Of course she’s confused. She doesn’t know you had a good reason to leave her for 5 weeks. She’ll be back to her normal self soon.

I’m sure the vets will understand what happened and you’ll have her back to her normal weight in a few months. Just remember you have to be careful putting a cat on a diet because they are prone to hepatic lipidosis, especially if they are obese to begin with.

Good luck and please keep us updated.

 

[CatLoverOnWheels]

Of course she’s confused. She doesn’t know you had a good reason to leave her for 5 weeks. She’ll be back to her normal self soon.

I’m sure the vets will understand what happened and you’ll have her back to her normal weight in a few months. Just remember you have to be careful putting a cat on a diet because they are prone to hepatic lipidosis, especially if they are obese to begin with.

Good luck and please keep us updated.

Yeah, I thought that might be it because today she's been pretty happy and purr-y with us all obviously means she's super happy to have us all back.

What do you mean by being careful? I've usually been feeding her 50g (half a packet) x 3 (or 4 depending on season/her hunger) plus 60g of dry food aside for her to eat if I'm away or asleep. I always fill the dried food bowl so she always has food available when hungry and I know she'd eat that if peckish.

Her diet, since I've been away, she's been getting 200g of wet food x 2ce a day plus the 60g of dry food which may have been filled more than i do which is around a couple of days because she prefers the wet food

So if I resort back to her original diet too quickly does that mean that it's risky to do so due to the risk of her getting hepatic lipidosis?

 

[silkenpaw]

Cats are susceptible to hepatic lipidosis when they go too long without eating. I don’t really understand the reason (something to do with the way they metabolize fats), but it’s a disease that may kill the cat.

Most people will tell you to make sure a cat does not go longer than two days without eating, even if it means you have to force-feed it. But cats can get hepatic lipidosis even if they are not fasting, just not eating enough. Obese cats are especially prone to this. So you want to provide enough calories so that Nala does not lose weight too quickly. I’m afraid I don’t know how many calories to feed or an acceptable rate of weight loss. Maybe you should ask your veterinarian when you take her for her checkup. But I would think you don’t want to just go back to her original amounts right away.

I’m glad she’s back to her normal behavior. Of course she’s thrilled to have you back

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Basically, you want to go very slowly with the weight loss. Often members can achieve a gradual loss by feeding wet food and no kibble.

The suggested amount to feed is 20-25 calories per pound of ideal body weight. Brand websites and chewy . com can help with calories.

How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat?

How To Compare Cat Foods & Calculate Carbs: Dry Matter Basis

 

[CatLoverOnWheels]

Just checkin' in so I don't have to make a new thread about something vaguely similar.

I've been feeding her slowly and exclusively wet food but right now she's changed a bit. For the past few days, she's been very sleepy to the point I haven't interacted with her and when she isn't sleeping, she's just under the table. She is more active at night but I'm not sure to what extent as I'm usually sleeping by then.

We've had a new person staying as well so I'm not sure whether it's health wise or her being wary of this new person. I've got an appointment on Monday anyway for her boosters and annual check up but just wondering whether I'm worrying unneccesarily or have a cause for concern.

Also, it could just be that her not-so-favourite cubed cat food was bought instead of the chunks so she's just been eating the juices and leaving the cube. We just can't throw out the remaining packs so we're just finishing it.

 

[Furballsmom]

she's just been eating the juices and leaving the cube.

My boy will do this with certain foods and it's fine however you'll need to supplement with a food she'll eat more of, even some kibble would be ok, in general to keep her weight up but particularly since she's stressed. She needs more nutrients to offset the effects of the stress, even some unflavored Pedialyte as well

I'd hang in there with her, comfort her and be there for her when she's not sleeping, feed her more and talk to the vet about what's going on.

 

[CatLoverOnWheels]

I’ve put down the kibble and she’s basically wiped it down. It must be the hunger + not having her favorite wet food + something else is up.

She’s not even sitting in the living room when everyone is downstairs and that’s what she loves to do as she doesn’t like to be alone.

She’s still very sleepy though but certainly up at night yowling.

 

[Furballsmom]

I don't know if this would help for your situation, but you could try some musicforcats . com or some classical harp music - it's said that music like this can help to calm cats.

 

[CatLoverOnWheels]

Came back from the vets today and she's had her flea, worming, and booster treatment done. Vet students who saw us didn't say much about her change in behaviour, just put it down to stress.

After the boosters, she's been alright but very sleepy since. Not much will disturb her but I'm keeping an eye on her. I think she was like this as a kitten but it was a while ago

 

[Furballsmom]