Choosing Weight Control Kibble: Wellness, Natural Balance, or Other?

[luvlace4]

Hi Everyone!

I have been doing some research recently and was hoping to get some help as it seems I am drowning in a sea of information. My Jinx is 3 years old. He was not blessed with a fast metabolism and he is lazy as heck. He will play a bit, but he is hard-pressed to actually get up for playtime and has never been much of a jumper. He mainly prefers to be cradled and cuddled. Anyway, for the second year in a row, during his vet visit the doctor's topic of choice has been his weight gain. He has a small frame and weighed in at 14.4lbs today. The doc wants him down about 3 pounds, and I want him healthy (of course)!!

I have been feeding him Taste of Wild since he was a kitten. I switched for a few months to Chicken Soup for the Cat's Soul per my friend's recommendation, but he continued to gain weight and did not seem quite as excited about the food. Eh... so I switched back. He only gets 1/4 in the AM and 1/4 in the PM. The doc has suggested feeding him 1/8 cup 3 times a day, and making a chase game out of lunch if I don't want to switch him, which I will do! However, I think I would like to try some other food.

So, finally... to my main dilemma: I am not sure what food to switch him to. I have been doing research all day and was settled on Wellness Healthy Weight until I saw on Chewy.com that it has 450 calories per cup vs his current food being in the mid 300s. This is concerning as I am already feeding him what seems to me to be a small amount, and even if the food is very very filling I do not think I can cut back the portion much more. I also know that there is some disagreement as to whether calories are the main consideration or if carbs play a role in weight-gain, but this still seems like a large increase in cals for a weight balance food. I also considered Wellness core solely based on its awesome reviews, but there is no low cal formula. Additionally, I considered Nature's Variety Instinct (which I ruled out based on the info about Montmorillonite Clay), and the fat cats/reduced calorie formulas of Natural Balance. I was just wondering if anyone had experience with these foods and could recommend which one would be the best for weight loss and the healthiest choice. I am also open to other options, but these are about the top of my price range unfortunately. 

I know that wet food is a great option, but right now I am just looking for a kibble to switch him to. I will consider introducing some wet food into his diet in the future

 

[tom the bsh]

If you only want to feed kibble, choose those with high protein (40%+) and moderate fat (20%). Please only choose those kibble made with high meat contain.

You probably can adjust the portion bit by bit everyday to check whether he gain or lost weight.

All my four cats are at healthy weight even with free feeding of kibble (but they don't eat much). They are eating Farmina N&D grain free and Petcurean GO!. I suspect that Taste of The Wild (chicken) has too much peas in it compare to the brand I feed. That's why TOTW is a lot cheaper.

The better way to reduce calories intake is probably through wet food, and more healthy too (in term of dehydration). My cats eat wet food in the morning and night.

 

[NewYork1303]

 
 Additionally, I considered Nature's Variety Instinct (which I ruled out based on the info about Montmorillonite Clay)

I've read a bit about the montmorillonite clay, but haven't seen anything too bad about it. 

My cats eat Nature's Variety Instinct in addition to Fancy Feast, Sheba, and Weruva wet food. It seems to be a food that is plenty filling. Lots of calories per cup generally indicates a good quality food with less additives and fillers. Even if cats don't eat much of a portion they'll be full. 

Very good idea to feed the cats more often through the day. My cats eat four times each day and do better with this schedule.

 

[solomonar]

Personally, I do not believe in such a thing like "fast/slow metabolism". Yes, individuals differs, but not that much.

If the feeding is OK and if the activity is to the higher possible level, then it comes to the following 2 (logical) causes:

- there is something faulty in the cat's environment (to be checked with a behaviorist)

- there another disease that causes this weight gain, either directly or mediated  (to be checked with the vet).

I found most kibbles are equal in terms of calories and as far as I know, cats can anyway manage variability in calories intake. Well, except some speciality food that are good for health at general (not specifically for weight abatement) - they are high in protein and in fat (note that fat content condition varies with the age).

 

[destinyz12]

Is there a particular reason you're not planning on feeding wet food?  Wet food is definitely the easiest way to get them to lose weight since its normally much lower in calories per serving.  If it's a budget issue, there are definitely some decent low priced brands that could be recommended.  

As for dry food, a lot of the good quality ones (including their "weight control" formulas) I've come across are much higher in calories than the mid 300's per cup brand that you mentioned, so I would stick with that one for now, especially since your cat likes that one and try to adjust the amount based on weight loss (or lack of loss) results.   Perhaps you could try out a half dry/half wet diet even.

 

[missmimz]

Weight control foods don't work. They are essentially a gimmick (as are hairball foods, senior foods, etc). Fat cats are from kibble, because kibble is loaded with carbs, and even if your cat is eating the correct amount of kibble they want more because they're still hungry, because cats need high protein, not high carbs, and all kibble is high carbs. The best thing you can do for your cat is switch him to ideally all all wet or raw food diet, or at least half wet food half kibble. You likely wont be able to get the weight under control until you remove the kibble. 

 

[luvlace4]

I was thinking of waiting on the wet food for a couple of reasons. This first is with him being a little chunky, I thought it would be better to get the kibble brand and portions leveled out and then experiment with adding something else. Additionally, my little guy comes to work with me everyday, and at work it is more practical for me to scoop some dry food than store/mix in wet food.

However, if wet food is the best option, what brands would you recommend? Also how much kibble should I cut and how much wet food should I replace it with? I am completely new to wet food so any info is helpful!

 

[destinyz12]

I think starting out with a 50/50 combo of wet and dry would be a great idea, and then depending on how well its received by your cat, go from there and possibly add more.  For example- start out giving half of a 3 oz can In the morning before work, feed 1/8th of dry in the middle of the day at work,  give the other half of the can at dinner time after you get home,  and give another 1/8th dry for overnight snack  (that was based on if you work regular 'office hours')  What type of hours do you work exactly?   That's basically the feeding schedule that my cat currently gets, except she gets high calorie food since she's still young and very active.   Some good low calorie wet food brands that I can think of are Weruva, Soulistic(Petco exclusive brand), Fussie Cat, and Nutro Natural choice.   If you're looking for a lower budget food than those, Fancy Feast Classics and Sheba are decent choices-although slightly higher in calories (but still better than any dry food).  I am also making the assumption that you live in the U.S. and have accessibility to all of these foods.  if you don't- other people may have to help you out, lol.

 

[lalagimp]

Nature's Variety Healthy Weight. It's less calories than regular formula, but if your cat is fat and needs to lose- they will be eating very little still. Maintenance is different. Tommy is supposed to be 13 lbs and was eating 60 grams of food for the day to steadily lose *12 grams per feeding five times a day*. I had gotten him off prescription (Hills Metabolic and I hated the first three ingredients )diet and got this guy to lose 2 more lbs. His roomie is supposed to be 12 lbs and needed to lose so he was on 55 grams per day *11 grams per feeding 5 times a day*.

We eat raw now and Tom gets 5 oz a day and if his weight goes up he gets taken down to 4.5 oz a day.
Stewart gained weight transitioning to raw and ended up being taken down to 4 oz per day.