Fat Cat Dilemma...

[miao_kitty]

OK, so I have two cats - Luna (age 5, 15.5 lbs) and Shermie (age 1, 10lbs). Shermie is not a huge fan of the wet food (he pretty much licks the gravy off and leaves the rest) so he gets mostly dry. Luna, on the other hand, loves dry food. She loves wet food too. She loves food..and treats. =P My vet had put her on a diet of wet food to get her to slim down. And it did work. She went from 18.2 lbs to 14.2 lbs (around the wt. my vet recommended. She is a very small boned cat.). Shermie was eating wet food too, until he stopped eating it (then Luna would just eat the rest) so I switched him to dry.

Now I used to have the dry on the fridge (where Luna couldn't get at it.) and that worked out well. However, Luna discovered it up there and now is able to get up. So if I leave food out while I'm gone, Luna will go up there and eat it. IT's been causing her to gain weight again so I've been hiding the dry food while I'm away or asleep. This makes me nervous b/c I worry that Shermie is not getting enough food. I try to encourage him to eat while I'm around by putting the food in different locations, and he does seem to nibble. but then I forget to put it away and when I come back it's gone (and Luna is probably fatter. =P)

I know Shermie is destined to be a bigger cat b/c he's tall and has big paws/ears and a long tail. Is this something I should be worried about? Is there any way to keep Luna from the dry food while allowing Shermie to eat it? I put in a call to my vet, but he hasn't called me back yet. Any suggestions would help! If you've had a situation like this, please let me know.

(I keep thinking back to my friend who has 3 cats and one of them is so overweight that she can barely walk...no joke. And I don't want Luna to end up this way).

 

[strange_wings]

What dry food are you using? If you choose one that's lower carb it could be ok for her to have a little. And if you want to go all wet with both of them, wait Shermie out. Get a good healthy food that he likes, portioned meals during the day, and make sure he knows that's it - if he doesn't eat, he doesn't eat. The majority of cats will get hungry and learn they better eat.

 

[mom of 4]

Just thinking, would a wet kitten food work for him - denser calories, so he could eat less and get the nutrition he needs......

 

[miao_kitty]

WEll when he was a kitten I started him out on wet food only and he just stopped eating it. I switched brands and he didn't eat that either. I tried pate and chunk,but it was all the same, he just licked the gravy off and Luna ate the rest. I don't have a lot of disposable and that was starting to get expensive. Also, I worried that he wasn't getting enough nutrition for his growing phase so I started adding dry.

I feed him Blue Spa Select chicken flavor. But he eats others (pretty much all kinds) and for a while I fed him Natural Balance L.I.D. Veal. When Luna first had her weight problem I tried a lower carb dry food for her but it didn't seem to have any effect on her not gaining weight (meaning she still did), the wet has been the only success with her.

Plus, I think she may be allergic to something (vet said allergies could be one cause of her dander) so she's on the Natural Balance L.I.D.. Another reason why dry food may not be so good for her...

 

[cloud_shade]

I would suggest trying treat balls, like these: http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=6835

They work well for extending the amount of time it takes the kitty to eat, so they feel fuller. Plus, they have to exercise in order to get to the food. Your dry-only cat would still have food available while your chunkier kitty would be forced to "work out" if she wants to eat.

My younger kitty loves the treat balls. Unfortunately my older kitty, who is chunkier, is also not bright enough to understand how to use them (or at least not fast enough to get the ball away from his younger brother).

 

[miao_kitty]

Originally Posted by cloud_shade

I would suggest trying treat balls, like these: http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=6835

They work well for extending the amount of time it takes the kitty to eat, so they feel fuller. Plus, they have to exercise in order to get to the food. Your dry-only cat would still have food available while your chunkier kitty would be forced to "work out" if she wants to eat.

My younger kitty loves the treat balls. Unfortunately my older kitty, who is chunkier, is also not bright enough to understand how to use them (or at least not fast enough to get the ball away from his younger brother).

What a good idea! I'll check them out! =)