Hills Prescription Diet Feline Metabolic Weight Solution

[drbobcat]

My cat is only about three years old, but probably about 3-4 pounds overweight.  My vet has suggested slowly moving her over to 1/2 cup per day of this dry food.  Yes, I know all the issues with dry food, but I would like to hear opinions on this specific weight loss method and reasonable alternatives.  I would like to see her drop about 2 pounds in a year if that isn't too much to expect.  Please don't lecture me about obligate carnivores. 

 

[xcourtney3]

I would recommend switching to WET food only! I'm doing the same thing. My male started at 20lbs last April, and today he is 13.5lbs. All that weight lost purely from switching from dry to wet.

 

[LTS3]

 
My cat is only about three years old, but probably about 3-4 pounds overweight.  My vet has suggested slowly moving her over to 1/2 cup per day of this dry food.  Yes, I know all the issues with dry food, but I would like to hear opinions on this specific weight loss method and reasonable alternatives.

I have not heard of this particular food. But here's the web site: http://www.hillspet.com/metabolic-pet-food.html

There is a resonable and more affordable option - canned food. Dry foods, even prescription foods, are too high in calories. A cup may have as much as 600 calories (!)  A typical healthy 10 pound cat only needs about 200 to 250 calories per day going by the general 20 to 25 calories per pound of ideal body weight.

1/2 cup of food a day isn't enough to satisfy any cat's tummy. Kind of like a person eating just one tiny meal of salad a day for weight loss.

There is a canned version of the HIlls Metabolic weight food if you want to give that a try.

Many commercial canned foods can be used for weight loss and are much more palatable to a cat and easier on the wallet. You can read http://catinfo.org/?link=felineobesity for more info on how to use diet to help a cat to lose weight.

 

[drbobcat]

This food is 289 calories/cup, far less than 600.  I can't quite believe that my cat is supposed to survive on a quarter of that per day.  Maybe it's twice a day.  She's about 12 pounds now, and the vet thinks should be 8 pounds, so I would think that about 145 calories per day would lead to weight loss.  He claims that the Hills diet is based upon the so-called Mediterranean diet which, of course, is not a protein heavy diet.  Yes, I know all about cats needing protein, but protein is a real problem for kidney disease, and an increasing number of cats suffer from kidney disease, probably because they're living longer.  I'm inclined to try his approach even though the ingredients in this food (chicken parts meal, corn gluten, etc.) give me pause.  He said that he managed to reduce his obese cat considerably using this diet.  No, he has no stake in Hills! 

 

[drbobcat]

I think you meant "switching from dry to wet".  If not, I'm really confused by your post.

 

[lisahe]

 
This food is 289 calories/cup, far less than 600.  I can't quite believe that my cat is supposed to survive on a quarter of that per day.  Maybe it's twice a day.  She's about 12 pounds now, and the vet thinks should be 8 pounds, so I would think that about 145 calories per day would lead to weight loss.  He claims that the Hills diet is based upon the so-called Mediterranean diet which, of course, is not a protein heavy diet.  Yes, I know all about cats needing protein, but protein is a real problem for kidney disease, and an increasing number of cats suffer from kidney disease, probably because they're living longer.  I'm inclined to try his approach even though the ingredients in this food (chicken parts meal, corn gluten, etc.) give me pause.  He said that he managed to reduce his obese cat considerably using this diet.  No, he has no stake in Hills! 

Others with more experience can correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding from our previous cat's mild kidney disease is that protein is primarily a kidney disease concern in cases of advanced kidney disease, if then... there's a fair bit of controversy about all this. (There's a good introduction to the controversy on Tanya's kidney disease site.)

In any case, protein shouldn't be a kidney concern in a young, healthy cat. When I asked our cat specialist vet a related question about feeding (should phosphorus levels be limited to prevent kidney disease), she said not to worry about it in young, healthy cats, they just need lots of protein.

I took a look at the Hill's page for the food your vet is recommending and noticed a high carbohydrate content -- over 30% -- which doesn't sound conducive to feline weight loss. I'd be concerned about the corn gluten, too, since it's plant-based protein. I don't mean that as a lecture about obligate carnivores, just as a statement of fact!

 

[LTS3]

 
This food is 289 calories/cup, far less than 600.  I can't quite believe that my cat is supposed to survive on a quarter of that per day.  Maybe it's twice a day.  She's about 12 pounds now, and the vet thinks should be 8 pounds, so I would think that about 145 calories per day would lead to weight loss.

A drastic reduction in calories can lead to fatty liver disease. Feeding 145 calories right away will certainly lead to a sudden weight loss but at the cost of fatty liver disease. How many calories is the food you are currently feeding? Start with that and slowly, over the course of weeks (not days), reduce it down to about 200 calories if your 12 lb cat needs to weigh closer to 8 pounds. 

 
I think you meant "switching from dry to wet".  If not, I'm really confused by your post.

Yes, switch from dry food to canned food. Canned foods are much less calorie-dense than dry foods. Many cats have lost weight on an all-canned food diet. If you can't feed only canned food, it's ok to feed some dry food, just limit it to no more than 50% of the diet.