Diet plan advice requested for a fat cat!

Talien

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She’s extremely affectionate and talkative while I prepare the food, rubbing on me, purring, and meowing. She’ll also lick my legs or whatever she can reach. Both bites have occurred within thirty minutes after she finished eating. I’m not sure if she wants more or she’s so excited and worked up over eating. She’s extremely food motivated.

After she bit me last night and I yelled, she hid under a chair then isolated herself in her bed for about 3-4 hours before coming up to me and purring. I’m not totally convinced it was a peace offering as much as a more polite request for additional food.

Saving money is definitely something I’m interested in. She’s starting to eat better than I do!
Ah, I misread it then, I thought she bit you while you were preparing the food. If it was after then yeah that was different. Did she break the skin or was it just a little harder than her normal "love bites"? My hangry Cat will occasionally act like that after eating too, but with her it's really hard to tell what's causing it since she is easily overstimulated and has redirected aggression issues.

Pets eating better than people isn't all that uncommon, I mean I spend almost $200 a month on food for my 4 Cats and less than half that on my own food.
 
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Sophia_

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Did she break the skin or was it just a little harder than her normal "love bites"? My hangry Cat will occasionally act like that after eating too, but with her it's really hard to tell what's causing it since she is easily overstimulated and has redirected aggression issues.
4 punctures both times, drawing blood and bruising the surrounding skin. They’re not terribly deep but painful and I’ve been vigilant about cleaning them and watching for infection. I’ve been bitten worse by my dwarf hamster, frankly, but I believe the infection rates are much lower. Strange that both bites have been after her second meal of the day.
 

Spookyandsammy

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I have a chonky cat too she demands noms at 4 am with impromptu wake up call but i feed mine 2 times a day morning and night
 
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Sophia_

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A lot of changes this week:
  • Sophia weighed in at 17.2 lbs, which was expected. She was fed two 3 oz cans of Merrick’s Purrfect Bistro per day and about 0.7 oz of Tiki Cat After Dark at night to test how it affected her stomach. She was also getting a freeze dried Vital Essentials minnow or Simply Nourish shrimp about every other day for a low cal high protein treat. She is now completely grain free!
  • I added a second litter box and Sophia has taken to it easily. She has now gone from only going once every 24-30 hours to about 2-3x per day. I moved her high sided box to the new location and got a jumbo sized one for the old location. Still using World’s Best litter, as we like it well enough.
  • Forgot to report this a week ago, but her daily coughing fit has stopped! I purchased an air purifier, removed grains from her diet, but also gave her 1/8 TSP of canned pumpkin every other day for a week and saw a small amount of fur pass in her stool. I’m not sure which of these factors helped more, but I’m happy to report no more painful sounding cough!
  • I began giving her 2 daily Cosequin capsules 4 weeks ago and have noticed significant improvement. She runs and even jumps for some toys. The stance of her back legs has changed too, from toes pointing outward to more forward. There’s less sway in her gait, too. I think I’m going to give her 6 weeks on the full dose then taper down to once daily for maintenance.
  • Sophia is now free to roam the house at night instead of sleeping in the closed bedroom with me. I will sadly have to part with some of my favorite house plants since she can’t be left alone with them, but it’s nice to not have paws banging on the door to get out. I think this contributed to her litter box hesitation — she was afraid to go into the bedroom to use the box in case she got closed in for hours. Originally, I didn’t want to leave her unsupervised with the fish tanks and hamster, but I think she has gotten used to them and realizes she has no hope of hunting them. Unfortunately, she has started to meow for attention some random nights, but it’s easy enough to ignore.
Thank you for reading!
 

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Sophia_

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Update:
  • Sophia weighed in at 17.1 lbs! I have not reduced her calories any further, but she has been getting much more exercise this week. I bought her some new pom pom toys that she is utterly in love with and pushes down the stairs like a slinky. She’s been going up and down the stairs about 10-15 times a day! Which brings me to...
  • The pom poms have been shedding short 2 inch pieces of tinsel everywhere, and apparently Sophia ingested some. I heard her making some noise in the litter box and while she went just fine, there were some pieces of tinsel sticking out of her poop. I then took all the pom poms and pulled the tinsel out, but she’s much less enchanted with them now. I don’t think they move the same way.
  • She also had a brief coughing spell on Saturday, which may or may not be related to the tinsel. She is still eating and using the box, but I’m keeping an eye on things.
  • We also had a bite attempt earlier in the week on Wednesday. :( I was 10 minutes late getting her breakfast and she followed me into the bathroom. She started licking my bare foot, I moved it away, and she lunged to bite. I yelled and she left the bathroom. Thankfully this one didn’t break the skin, but can’t I even get some peace on the toilet?! This at least establishes a pattern in the last few bites: in proximity to mealtime, provoked by removing the foot she was licking.
  • I’ve attached a photo of her from the day I got her compared to this week. Even though she’s still big, I’m shocked at how much she has slimmed down.
 

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Furballsmom

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Thank you for a good update! Hopefully that tinsel does not cause further issues and you can find a replacement that works for her :)
 

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Sophia_ Sophia_ i think throwing the kibble and occasional hand feeding are great ideas! Minish tends to gain weight and demands food a lot and I do the same. Feeding a little by hand satisfies her attention motivation in asking for food so she usually settles down easily. In addition to throwing the kibble, you may also use kibble dispensing balls. I sometimes feed minish's whole dry meal in a ball. As she rolls it around the house, eats much slower so gets fulfilled more easily
 
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Sophia_

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It’s been a little bit since the last update! Sophia weighed in at 16.8 lbs this Wednesday! But weight loss actually isn’t why I’m writing today...

This past Sunday I switched her from two 3 oz cans to one 5.5 oz can in addition to the Tiki Cat she gets.

On Tuesday she had a very bad unproductive coughing fit in the morning. She was also constipated for about a day or so, which I figured could have been from less food. I gave her a dab of coconut oil on the nose and that seemed to help things get moving. Her bowel movements were sticky for the next two days and seemed to contain a small amount of hair.

However, today she vomited on the couch about 3-4 hours after eating. :cringe: She hasn’t vomited since she was eating 5.5 oz cans a few months ago. I think the gravy in those cans is too rich? Basically, my dilemma right now: is this a hairball or just tummy upset from gravy? Last vomit was turkey, this time was rabbit. She does not vomit when water is added to her food, only when I pour the can gravy in.

I brush her a few times a week but she hardly sheds since I got her shaved in August. She doesn’t leave fur on clothing or furniture and frankly my hair brush is furrier than hers. :lol2: I’m just wondering what I should do before I go out and buy some hairball remedies.
 

Talien

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If she's only vomiting when the gravy is added to her food then yes, that's probably what's causing it.

If you're concerned about hairballs, you could try a few drops of olive oil in her food once a day. It's best to use first cold pressed extra virgin olive oil to avoid possible contaminants. It can cause diarrhea if you use too much so if that starts happening just use less.
 

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Is the gravy part of the cat food cat... like "meet and gravy" or is this a sperate can of gravy you are adding to the food, if the latter what are the ingredients in that gravy can?

She does not vomit when water is added to her food, only when I pour the can gravy in.
I ask as the above made me think this was a separate can of gravy.
 
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Is the gravy part of the cat food cat... like "meet and gravy"
Yes! To clarify, the Merrick Purrfect Bistro pate cans have the normal solid/jelly consistency, then there is normally some liquid gravy on/around the pate. Different meats seem to have different amounts of liquid, with rabbit having the least and turkey the most. It isn’t advertised as added gravy. I figured by withholding it, I was shorting her some calories, but if it’s making her sick....
 
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Sophia_

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Thanks for asking, Furballsmom Furballsmom . Here are the weigh ins since my last update:
Sunday 11/8: 16.5 lbs
Sunday 11/15: 16.6 lbs (gained back after the vomit episode)
Sunday 11/22: 16.3 lbs
Sunday 11/29: 16.3 lbs
Sunday 12/6: 16.2 lbs

I figured the small stagnation was from reaching a caloric plateau, so I adjusted her diet mid-week on Wednesday, 12/2.

Previous diet:
One 5.5 oz can of Merrick Purrfect Bistro Pate, rotating rabbit, chicken, and turkey flavor
1/4 (0.7 oz) of 2.8 oz can Tiki Cat After Dark, chicken flavor
Treats 1-3x weekly: Vital Essentials Freeze-Dried Minnow, Simply Nourish Source Freeze-Dried Shrimp
Mealtimes 8:30 AM, 6 PM, 11 PM
Estimated daily calories (fluctuation with flavors): 200-210 daily

New diet:
3/4 5.5 oz can of Merrick Purrfect Bistro Pate, rotating chicken, turkey, and duck, rabbit occasionally
1/2 (1.4 oz) of 2.8 oz Tiki Cat After Dark, rotating all available flavors. Will be upgrading to the 5.5 oz cans soon.
Treats same as above.
Mealtimes same as above.
Estimated daily calories at a ~20% reduction and flavor fluctuation: 170-180 daily

I've been researching alternatives to Merrick, which is why I've been leaning a bit more heavily on the Tiki Cat. I'm trying to balance affordability with caloric density and nutritional value. I'd love to feed her freeze-dried or premade raw instead, but I don't think it's in the budget at the moment. :(

Poop talk warning: Since she's my first cat, I'm not sure if this is normal, but her poops are huge. Like, 6 inches huge. And she goes multiple times a day. I'm interpreting this as her body not absorbing the Merrick food very well because -- gross -- it smells exactly like Merrick. It seems healthy otherwise and only this week has she had some softer stools with the Tiki Cat adjustment.

On a non-diet related note, she had some baaaad dandruff at the base of her tail and mid back where she simply cannot reach to groom. I tried massaging some melted coconut oil in for a few days before brushing and WOW, her fur looks amazing.

She has been behaving with the Christmas tree. :)
 

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Talien

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Poop talk warning: Since she's my first cat, I'm not sure if this is normal, but her poops are huge. Like, 6 inches huge. And she goes multiple times a day. I'm interpreting this as her body not absorbing the Merrick food very well because -- gross -- it smells exactly like Merrick. It seems healthy otherwise and only this week has she had some softer stools with the Tiki Cat adjustment.
It smelling the same as the food is normal for foods that have a lot of carb content or filler, as that is what gives the food it's odor. It's junk that mostly passes through so it comes out smelling similar to how it did going in.
 
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Sophia_

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Sophia weighed 16.0 lbs today and has officially lost all of her foster weight! As a refresher, Sophia was taken in by a foster in May weighing 16.1 lbs and was 18.4+ lbs when I adopted her mid-August.

She’s still on the 170-180 calorie diet I mentioned in my last update and over the next ~two weeks, she will be transitioned to a majority diet of Tiki Cat After Dark.

She turns 10 on March 31st, so I would like for her to go to a follow-up vet visit then for some updated blood tests, a new exam, and possibly her first dental cleaning. Her previous records mention tartar a few times and her breath isn’t the freshest. With her bite history, I’m not sure brushing would be the most ideal for me to start with her.

Hope everyone is doing well. Happy holidays!
 

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Sophia_

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Happy New Year, everyone!

Last week (12/27) Sophia weighed 15.9 lbs! Sunday’s weigh-in will unfortunately be skewed because this morning she vomited up her breakfast. Like her last vomit a month ago, this was 3 hours after eating. I thought the gravy included in the food was the issue, so I’ve been straining it and adding water instead. Maybe I added too much water this time and the volume was uncomfortable. She at least had the decency to get out of bed. ;) Every time she’s vomited so far, it’s been the Merrick and not Tiki Cat, so I’m even more motivated to get her off the Merrick.

I had a scare on Tuesday where she almost ate a broken rubber band but I caught her. She has been eating and pooping since, so I don’t think that was the cause of this vomiting. Light brown in color and slightly fluffy canned food. No objects. No hair.

The poor thing is begging me for food now, waiting where her bowl normally is and following me from room to room. I don’t want to give her a second meal just yet, so is she okay to wait for dinner at 6 PM? Or should I skip that and just do her 11 PM feeding?
 

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FeebysOwner

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Happy New Year to you too!

Is there any correlation, in terms of the food, between the last time she threw up about 3 or so hours after eating (which was early November, correct?) and this time? If there is, that food might just not always settle right with her. Was there gravy involved? I know you said before it seems like she is more inclined to throw up if you feed her the gravy. Is this her usual pattern to want food right after throwing up?

I am a sucker, I know, but I would try to give her a little bit of food just to see if it quells her tummy. Sometimes, vomiting can promote acid production and make an empty stomach worse. If you are leery about giving her some of her 'regular' food, do you have a bit of boiled chicken or something similarly easy to digest that you could give her?

Congratulations on her weight, btw!!!
 
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