Emily needs to lose a little....

[txcatmom]

Hi.  I'm putting this in the raw forum since I feed raw.  Emily is 2 years old and was holding steady at 9.6 lbs for a while.  The vet said that was a good weight for her.  Then about a year ago I started giving the kitties one CET oral hygiene chew each day and they all gained a pound in two months.  (I later read they have like 16 calories each...a lot for a kitty.)  Oh and at the time they were eating grain free canned.

Anyways, they are all eating raw now, 4 cats, all a healthy weight except Emily is up to 11.4 lbs now (well, Eko could stand to lose one pound maybe.) 

2 or 3 months ago I started monitoring meal times closely because Emily was definitely going after the other cats' leftovers.  She just really loves her food (I can relate.)  I thought for sure by taking up the plates so Emily couldn't get extra she would drop the extra weight.  She hasn't.  She may have even gained 0.2 last month.  (I weigh them each month.) 

At breakfast and dinner she is getting a little less than 2 oz of Hare Today raw (Chicken, Turkey, Rabbit are the main ones.)  At midday she gets 1/2 teaspoon (literally, just a few nuggets) of grain free kibble.  They also have been getting a smaller cheaper version of the CET oral hygiene chews.  She has great dental health (my only cat who does) so I might cut out that treat for her.

Anyways, I use 8 oz bags of the hare today and split it up so the boy cats (who are bigger) get a little more than the girl cats.  I'll continue to make sure Emily's portions are a bit smaller, but I'm hoping to avoid actually having to weigh her meals and count calories. The thought makes my head spin.   I thought for sure just cutting back a bit and not letting her eat from the other plates would help. 

Are there ways to tweak a raw diet for cats who need to lose a little, or just make sure portions are small enough?  Chicken is their favorite and I know HT does ground the whole chicken...skin and all...so I'm sure there is a good bit of fat there.  But they love Rabbit too and I think it is leaner.  Maybe she's getting too much fat though?

The vet has seen her recently and wasn't too alarmed by the weight gain.  She just cautioned that it is hard to get it off if they gain too much.  I guess she's right...lol. 

I think for now I'll just ....1)  Cut out the dental chew treat.  and 2)  Continue to make sure her portions are smaller than the boys and make sure she doesn't eat off other plates.  Any other ideas?  Hopefully we'll see her start to shed a little soon.  I don't want it to get out of hand.  She's always been my healthy cat....good alley cat genes.

 

[ritz]

Oh can I relate!  Ritz has been on raw (frakenprey) for over a year and she certain hasn't lost weight, she's gained it, almost 11 pounds now.  My vet doesn't scold me about Ritz weight because the vet knows I know, and knows I have an eating disorder (anorexia, ironically).

Was Emily a rescue, did she live on the streets?  Ritz lived the first 4 to 6 months of her life on the streets, I think that is partly why she seems always hungry.  I'm learning though that not all meow mean FEED ME.

Does Emily seem/act hungry?

I would first cut out all kibble and the dental chew treat.  You might try substituting dehydrated treats, 100% chicken or turkey, I believe they are around 2 calories each depending on size.  Ritz loves them (too much...)

Specifically what version of raw do you get from Hare Today--the kind that is complete with bones, liver, organs?  I ask because actually bones (raw) are much better at cleaning teeth than dental chews.  Ritz loves bones,

I would try to decrease the portion size, very gradually.  Chicken, Turkey and Rabbit are all white meats; you're right that rabbit is especially low in fat.  If the chicken is ground with the fat, be advised that chicken fat is particularly high in calories.

Paradoxically, when I fed Ritz a higher fat meat like beef or pork, she actually eats less/doesn't bug me as much.  So you might want to mix proteins in the same meal or day; for example, today I am feeding Ritz Rabbit (around 1.8 oz) and pork (2.5 oz) plus appropriate amounts of liver and kidney (she gets bone about three times a week).

 

[txcatmom]

Specifically what version of raw do you get from Hare Today--the kind that is complete with bones, liver, organs?  I ask because actually bones (raw) are much better at cleaning teeth than dental chews.

Yeah, they do get the meat/bones/organ mix with the alnutrin added.  Do even ground bones help with the teeth?  I know my boys with the poor dental health would benefit from frankenprey....I'm just not sure I'm up for the learning curve right now. 

Was Emily a rescue, did she live on the streets?

She was rescued as a very young kitten (never found out exactly the age but I assume around 7 weeks) and I doubt she went hungry.  The vet who rescued her put food out for the alley cats (and try to TNR as many as they can.)  But she has a very savvy mama (has evaded TNR) and she may have taught her to eat while the eating is good. 

She doesn't seem overly hungry, just very interested in getting more food (subtle difference, hope it makes sense.)  The poor thing watches the other cats finish their meals hoping they will leave a little and I take the plate up before she can get any....poor thing.  Sometimes if they left nothing but the smallest trace (I mean almost nothing) I do let her lick their plate because she's so hopeful waiting there. 

I'm guessing if we switch to frankenprey one day in the future, maybe her eating will take longer and she won't have to pine over the other cats' food as much.  She doesn't bug me for food during the day...but they will remind me about that midday snack when the time hits. 

chicken fat is particularly high in calories.

This could be part of the problem.  I asked Tracy at Hare Today and they do grind the whole bird, skin, fat and all. 

I might be asking more questions about adding chunks or meaty bones to their routine soon....I'm just getting settled into the ground raw routine right now though. 

Forgot to mention....thought she was rescued as a young kitten, she sat in a cage at the vet's office for months awaiting adoption (she was extremely shy.)  We adopted her at 6 months and she had a definite cage belly from the steady diet of SD dry food and lack of exercise.  She slimmed right down eating canned and getting more exercise.  Then, later gained the belly back. 

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Well, I've been trying to get Darko to lose some weight, so I added some Krill Oil to his raw, per Carolina (with Bugsy) and LDG (with Billy).  Both of them have had luck doing that, and so far, Darko is losing a little bit.  Haven't weighed him in a couple of weeks, but I DO see the beginnings of a smaller waistline on him

.  And I haven't even worked my way up to the full 500 mg capsule yet! 

This is what we're using 

 

[txcatmom]

added some Krill Oil to his raw

Huh.  Interesting. I wonder how that would affect weight loss.  Emily does get 500 mg of salmon oil every other day.  (We'd do it every day but we are tightening the budget these days.) 

beginnings of a smaller waistline on him

That's great!  Emily hasn't lost her waistline yet, but has a definite belly sway!

 

[ldg]

I think that's a good plan to start.

Just like with people, cats have very individual metabolisms. :nod: Our Billy weighs 13 pounds, and only needs about 3.5 ounces of food a day. I was trying to get him to lose weight, and his body went into starvation mode, and even at 3 ounces of food (TOTAL) a day, he didn't lose weight! I ended up using a "feast or famine" approach to his diet. I would feed him less than an ounce at one meal, and then twice that amount at a different meal. The trick was making it random. So yeah - I had to keep track of how much I gave him at each meal so that I was sure it was averaging that 3.6 ounces daily over a period of 5 days. But that really worked, actually - and continues to, although at a slower rate. But he lost a pound the first month I did that.

And yes - he always finishes first, and tries to steal food from the other cats. I have to police, because they would let him.

 

[ritz]

Thanks for the info about Krill oil and losing weight.  I recently started giving Ritz fish oil for the Omega 3 about 3x a week.  Maybe I'll also start doing random amounts.

And shutting myself in a room with the door closed when Ritz keeps on meowing for more food.  Her meow is not a dainty one.....

 

[txcatmom]

I ended up using a "feast or famine" approach to his diet.

Wow.  What a dedicated cat "parent" you are!  That sounds like a lot of work.  Great that you saw some results with it.

And yes - he always finishes first, and tries to steal food from the other cats

Yeah, Emily will slowly stick her little paw into the plate of a cat who is finishing up...then lick the food off her paw.  I need to get it on video. 

 

[ldg]

Wow.  What a dedicated cat "parent" you are!  That sounds like a lot of work.  Great that you saw some results with it.


Yeah, Emily will slowly stick her little paw into the plate of a cat who is finishing up...then lick the food off her paw.  I need to get it on video.  :lol3:

:lol3: That's our Ming Loy! Only she doesn't stick her paw in the dish to get food on it to lick off - she sticks her paw in their dish, and just slowly pulls it over to her! Now I feed them on all different levels, rather than together on the floor, so she can't do that any more. But it was so darn cute! (And even cuter that they let her do it!).

And no, it wasn't hard at all. :dk: I just kept a spreadsheet that tallied a running average. If the total amount of food was running a little low, I'd give him a big meal. Sometimes I'd give him a couple of big meals in a row, let it really bump up there, and then just give him a super small one - and then a few mid-sized ones. But I weigh their food at meal time anyway.

 

[txcatmom]

she sticks her paw in their dish, and just slowly pulls it over to her!

I usually don't use such crude language but....LMAO.

(And even cuter that they let her do it!).

At this too....

  Ours don't object when Emily sticks her paw in their food....but if she actually took their dish....I don't know....LOL.  They eat on flat saucers so it would be hard to pull toward her.