Fat cat having hard time cleaning itself

[pbaumgar]

Hello all,

My cat is obese; about 20 pounds. She has a hard time cleaning up after herself after going to bathroom. Her fur in her "private" area tend to smell like urine and I am constantly having to wipe her behind. Does anyone have any suggestions to help deal with this while she is losing weight?

Thanks.

 

[slitty_kittay]

Originally Posted by pbaumgar

Hello all,

My cat is obese; about 20 pounds. She has a hard time cleaning up after herself after going to bathroom. Her fur in her "private" area tend to smell like urine and I am constantly having to wipe her behind. Does anyone have any suggestions to help deal with this while she is losing weight?

Thanks.

If she is too obese to clean herself, then there really is not much alternative - You have to clean her.
You may want to get some gentle cat shampoo or petwipes!

She could get urinary tract infections and all sorts of problems if you dont keep her clean. It must also feel quite uncomfortable for her - cats are generally very fastidious creatures.

She also needs to be on a diet. I'm sure you know this. As her caregiver it is your responsibility to look out for her health, just as you would a childs.
A good idea would be a visit to your vet - he/she can check the cats health and give you a suitable eating plan for her.
Good luck!

 

[starlie]

While Miko was losing weight, I used pet wipes from Petkin. You can also get them at Wal-Mart, Target, Pet Stores, etc. The wipes are also good for cleaning between their paws where the litter gets stuck.

As for the weight loss, I found Miko had more success with canned food rather than dry. Obviously due in part to the carbs in dry food. Go figure.

I fed him mostly Innova Lite. My mom is trying the Innova EVO with her cat so I'll let you know how well that turns out.

 

[pbaumgar]

Thank you for the replies everyone. Question about the wipes for her - are baby wipes okay? Or should they be "cat" wipes sold at the pet store?

Within the past week, she has pooped outside her box in my apartment. Some of her stool has been very soft. I recently moved, so I'm not sure if that is an issue. I've also noticed her "leaking" from her behind in the areas she has gone to the bathroom. Does anyone know what this might signify?

As for food, right now I'm feeding her Science Diet Lite - hairball formula. I give her 3/4 cup total per day. She seems fine with that. Is that fine?

I'm taking her to the vet this coming Wednesday, as it has been quite a while since her last visit.

I also think she may have ear mites, as I have noticed a black build-in her ear canal.

 

[starlie]

I would stick to pet wipes. I may be wrong, but I think baby wipes and pet wipes have different things in them (i.e. aloe or baby oil). There are lots of brands for pet wipes and you always find them in the store.

I'm not sure what the leaking is from. Maybe she doesn't use enough "strength" to push her poop out?

For the food, I would recommend canned food. If you can afford it, Innova Lite or Natural Balance's Reduced Calorie Formula. Oh, I forgot that Innova has a formula called EVO which comes in dry only. Basically the Atkins diet for cats.

My mom's cat had black wax build up. She took Savanah to the vet and it turns on the wax was just that...build up. She had a ball of wax stuck in there and they had to take it out. That said, it could be ear mites too. You won't be able to tell until you take your cat to the vet.

 

[petnurse2265]

When you are at the vet talk to him/her about a reducing diet cat food. Science diet makes R/D, Purina makes OM, Waltham (Royal Canin) makes CC (calorie control), and Eukanuba offers Restricted calorie, all of these come in canned and dry. The science diet lite formula is not going to be enough to get her weight down, it is more for when you have realized your cat is starting to get pudgy and want to keep it from getting worse. Also because she is leaking urine I would take in a fresh urine sample to rule out a UTI.

 

[pbaumgar]

If I go with wet food for her, how much? Right now, I'm feeding her 3/4 Cup dry per day. With the wet food I worry about it drying out and her not wanting to eat it during the course of the day. With dry food, I dump a 3/4 cup of it in her bowl before I go to work and it lasts until the following morning... that won't work with wet food I assume.

As for the leaking she is having; I don't know if it is urine. There are very small (pebble size) drops in various areas. I've only noticed one of the spots that looked like urine. The rest of them looked like brown colored liquid.

 

[starlie]

I fed Miko one can a day (1/2 in the morning, 1/2 at night). You can try 4 feedings of 1/4 if the 1/2 is too much at one sitting.

 

[carl]

The healthiest and most effective way for your cat to lose weight is for you to switch her to a good-quality canned food. I would recommend that you definitely avoid the so-called lite or reduced-calorie canned foods. While they do have fewer calories per can than their manufacturers' regular canned products, they are loaded with carbs (as much as some dry foods). Carbs plus cat equals fat! To produce these reduced-calorie canned foods, the manufacturers remove some of the fat (which has more calories than protein or carbohydrates on an equivalent dry matter basis) and add more carbohydrates. (I presume this is an effective marketing tool for these reduced-calorie foods; owners see that they are feeding fewer calories per can than the regular product and mistakenly deduce that they are doing the right thing for their overweight cat.) From the point of view of the cat and its peculiar metabolism, this is about the most nonsensical approach imaginable. Cats have very limited ability to derive energy from glucose (i.e. carbs) or to convert glucose to glycogen. They convert most of the glucose to fat.

As for how much to feed your cat, what do you think her ideal weight would be? My ten-pound cat gets one 5.5- or 6-ounce can per day, broken into two meals (morning and evening). If she were eating a little more than this, I would think that would be enough to keep her safe through her weight loss period, and you could adjust the quantity up or down as you go to get the desired results. Studies have shown that obese cats fed a high-protein, high-fat, low-carb canned diet maintain good muscle mass during their weight loss.

 

[starlie]

I started Miko off with Innova's Regular formula. He was fed according to his weight and after a few months he gained a pound or two. Same thing happened to my Mom and her cat. I switched over to Innova Lite and now he is down to a healthy weight. I don't think this was an unhealthy way as he had lost the weight at an average of 1/2 a pound every 3 weeks. He has no major health or digestive problems (other than a paw injury he had a few years back). I'm sure my vet would've mentioned if it was an unhealthy method.

So while you think Lite or Reduced Calorie food should be avoided, there are people who have success with it. Each cat is unique, and while some do well on regular canned food, some don't. Just like some cats do well on high quality food, and others don't.

pgaumber -
Innova's EVO is a dry formula. It's contains no grain so it's low-carb, high protein. Maybe you will have an easier time feeding your cat that rather than canned food. Also, don't forget to keep your cat active. Lots of interactive toys and play time will help.

 

[sharky]

Evo is quite high in calories.. it runs about 150 more than most "regular " cat foods .. I would try canned..

 

[starlie]

Originally Posted by sharky

Evo is quite high in calories.. it runs about 150 more than most "regular " cat foods .. I would try canned..

I know. I was giving her another option. It's just like humans. Some do well on high calorie/protein and low-carb diets, while other's do better on reduced calories and exercise. Also, it was in response to Carl stating that low-carb diets are better for cats trying to lose weight.

 

[jennyr]

The important thing is to get her to the vet, explain all your worries and take his advice. I would ask him to monitor her regularly while she loses weight.

 

[carl]

Originally Posted by starlie

I started Miko off with Innova's Regular formula. He was fed according to his weight and after a few months he gained a pound or two. Same thing happened to my Mom and her cat. I switched over to Innova Lite and now he is down to a healthy weight. I don't think this was an unhealthy way as he had lost the weight at an average of 1/2 a pound every 3 weeks. He has no major health or digestive problems (other than a paw injury he had a few years back). I'm sure my vet would've mentioned if it was an unhealthy method.

So while you think Lite or Reduced Calorie food should be avoided, there are people who have success with it. Each cat is unique, and while some do well on regular canned food, some don't. Just like some cats do well on high quality food, and others don't.

I don't question that cats can lose weight on a reduced-calorie canned food, but I do question the wisdom of feeding them when the extra carbs in the food work against the desired outcome (losing weight). A 5.5-ounce can of Innova Lite canned has about 183 calories versus about 224 calories per can for regular Innova, so I would expect, for example, that a cat going from Innova regular to an equivalent quantity of Innova Lite might lose some weight (given almost a 20% decrease in total caloric intake). However, I still believe that it would be healthier and more effective to feed, say, 183 calories worth of the regular Innova canned (approx. 4/5 of a 5.5-ounce can) than to feed an entire 5.5-ounce can of Innova Lite. 24% of the calories in Innova Lite canned come from carbohydrates, while only 9% of the calories in Innova regular canned come from carbs.

 

[starlie]

I trusted the advice that was given to me by Miko's vet and nutritionist. Neither of them said it was an unhealthy way. He has maintained a healthy weight till this day and that is what I based my advice/opinions on.

That said, what are your opinions on EVO? It's not a canned forumla, but it's marketed as low-carb, high protein. Like Sharky mentioned, the calorie intake is much higher than canned food.

 

[carl]

Originally Posted by starlie

I trusted the advice that was given to me by Miko's vet and nutritionist. Neither of them said it was an unhealthy way. He has maintained a healthy weight till this day and that is what I based my advice/opinions on.

That said, what are your opinions on EVO? It's not a canned forumla, but it's marketed as low-carb, high protein. Like Sharky mentioned, the calorie intake is much higher than canned food.

You are fortunate to have access to a veterinary nutritionist. I have to admit that I have a strong bias against dry cat food, both from the standpoint of its high carbohydrate content and the fact that its moisture content is so different from a wild cat's natural diet, so I don't have any personal experience with EVO. Looking at the Innova website, about 11% of EVO is carbohydrates (on a dry matter basis); this is outstanding for a dry food, lower than dry prescription diets for cats with diabetes and as low as some good canned foods. I am impressed.

For those owners who prefer a dry food, it seems that EVO would be an excellent choice.

 

[christine chand]

Was the Innova Lite dry food or canned. The reason I'm asking is because Innova Lite (accordingly to their web page) contains 44.8% carbs - that's high.

 

[cjandbilly]

I put Billy on Purina One Weight Management formula, and he started losing weight immediately! He even lost weight a little too fast, and he now gets a 50/50 diet of regular food and diet food.

 

[starlie]

Thanks for your opinion Carl.

 

[mzjazz2u]

Ask your vet what he would recommend for your cat to lose the weight. That is probably the best way to go.