Gracie Is Overweight

[daisyd]

So my Gracie is slightly overweight- not obese the vet said ; however overweight! Unfortunately we have moved a couple of times in a few months and is suppose I have fed her too many treats. We are both settled now so time for a health kick (for both of us). She loves Thrive cat wet food and has twice a day , I’ve now cut out dreamies and sticks , so wondering if I should swap her Thrive for a low fat wet cat food for a while ? Wondering what one on par with Thrive as they do not have a low fat offering ..

 

[KarenKat]

I've heard that low fat is not actually great for cats ... it's better to try a low carb food instead. Moderate fat helps with coat quality, for one, and I'm sure I myriad of other things.

I've never heard of Thrive, but I looked at their website at the Chicken flavor, and it looked like really good food with not many fillers. I think instead of switching food cutting back a little on overall calories, making sure there is daily exercise and watching treat intake is good.

 

[denice]

Did the vet give you an ideal weight? You can find the calorie counts for wet food on the food's website if it isn't on the can. It's really the same thing as with people, cutting down on calories. Cats are prone to serious liver condition if their calories are cut too drastically, the rule of thumb is no lower than 15 calories per pound of their ideal weight.

 

[mservant]

I think you have had good advice so far, and agree that Thrive is a decent food. If your cat is used to and likes the Thrive I'd be inclined to stick with it and do exactly what you have done - cut out the treats. It is amazing how what seems to be a small adjustment to us humans is actually massive for a cat. Remember, your cat is a lot smaller than you are and eats a tiny percentage of your food needs each day.

Mouse was put on a strict diet a year ago as his weight had crept up too far and the vet said it was getting unhealthy. We had vet tech' support to calculate the exact amount of his regular food that he should be given each day and it was only a couple of grammes less than he had been getting -around 8 to 10 of his dry kibble / biscuits. He lost weight almost exactly as the chart advised for healthy cat weight loss just by doing that - oh, and adding a couple of cat-chums to chase him around a bit more and up his 7 year old cat exesrsize vs sleep activity. It took 7 months of Mouse whining and pleading for food but he got to his target weight and so far has only put about half of it back on... still whining and pleading for food but we are about to go back on to the daily weighing of rations to catch the weight gain before it goes too far again.

You do need to be precise and what I would say is use proper weighing scales and not cups or spoons : it was cups I had been using and that was enough to result in his gradual weight gain over the years.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Unless Grace has diabetes, pancreatitis, or has a serious medical condition I'd say No to low fat diets and would go by the others recommendations.
I heard someone once state that fat is like a low, slow burning fuel. It burns long, and low for hours. To our bodies, this is we have even constant energy...
Carbs are like throwing kerosene on a fire. The instant results are fantastic. The fire goes insane, it grows, it burns hard...but only for a short time. In a very short time it stops burning like that and becomes "hungry for more." To our bodies it means we eat these things and in some cases, are starving for more an hour later.
Just a different perspective is all =)

If your cat is eating the minimum recommendations for calories and is still struggling to lose weight/gaining, a vet visit may be in order....just as a precaution to make sure nothing is going on!