Reading this thread and from my experience, my first take away from it is do NOT go by the feeding instructions offered by any pet food company. Always remember even with their diet food they are more interested in selling more and more food than anything else.
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Mickey, my 27 lbs foster and his journey back to a healthy weight
- Thread starter mschauer
- Start Date
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My beautiful sweet Graycie.... overweight ,nearly 15lbs but very difficult to control with free feeding .... my little Bella ( 7lbs)would not do well if she didn't graze on dry throughout the day,she has never been interested in food and eats to survive-Max lives to EAT and Graycie is a bit of a glutton.....
So I've made some changes -everyone was transitioned to indoor weight mgnt for free food and now they're basically eating wet separately .... Graycie & Max would sneak over to Sami & Bellas dishes
Treats became the problem,Timmy (outdoor adult feral)was malnourished,parasite infested and terribly underweight when I took over a yr ago because he lived 6 yrs on Temptation treats( no food)..... so treats were all I had to win him over to start with and my 4 began eating the Temptations ( uggh,was my tool for introductions )
Anyway,Timmy's perfect now-12lbs and living with us inside,on a healthy diet and lost interest in those darn Temptations--- so almost done with those things . then back to normal life & Lean Treats
So I've made some changes -everyone was transitioned to indoor weight mgnt for free food and now they're basically eating wet separately .... Graycie & Max would sneak over to Sami & Bellas dishes
Treats became the problem,Timmy (outdoor adult feral)was malnourished,parasite infested and terribly underweight when I took over a yr ago because he lived 6 yrs on Temptation treats( no food)..... so treats were all I had to win him over to start with and my 4 began eating the Temptations ( uggh,was my tool for introductions )
Anyway,Timmy's perfect now-12lbs and living with us inside,on a healthy diet and lost interest in those darn Temptations--- so almost done with those things . then back to normal life & Lean Treats
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GOOD ON YA,
Kwik
! Those "T" things are POISON, linked to many losses of life. Of course the corporation won't own up to it, but it's factual. I used to buy them because, yeah, my cats were addicted to them. NO MORE. Elvis loves the Feline Greenies, some of which are similar, and fed in moderation, they are okay for us.Bella's a cat after my own heart. Eat to live, not live to eat!!!
Yes,I agree- none of my cats EVER knew what a "T" was ... I believe it's cat crack!!!!GOOD ON YA,
Bella's a cat after my own heart. Eat to live, not live to eat!!!
I had no choice and thought " well,here's one for you and you and you while I'd spread them on the walkway for intros-they were addicted very quickly but Timmy just would not eat anything else,finally with the help of Churu he started eating Fancy Feast meats w gravy....so everyone is kinda screwed up right now,bowls by Timmy's enclosure etc.. After Timmy & the gang are together loose- treats are over!( Maybe just Bella,teeny tiny Bella)
tarasgirl06
That's Bella in pink,Max on my walker and Timmy
Oh,Sami looking under the bush for lizards
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So Timmy is sans harness, leash and collar...? A future project, yes?
That's Bella in pink,Max on my walker and Timmy
Oh,Sami looking under the bush for lizards
They're all looking very healthy, happy and well!
tarasgirl06
Timmy is the 7yr old feral I just took in,no more outdoors for Timmy( except eventually the caged in patio ) he is officially indoor only!
Just a note that this thread is about Mickey. Let’s try to stay on topic 
My apologiesJust a note that this thread is about Mickey. Let’s try to stay on topic
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I think you would find if you transitioned them to wet and fed them three meals a day, with at least one 10-12 hour fast, their appetites would improve. Digestion takes an enormous amount of energy and a cat nibbling on high carb kibble all day, along with the dehydration that comes with it, is going to have poor appetite.
Transitioning to a better diet and schedule takes a lot of time and effort but when you see the difference in your cats after you break that kibble addiction, you'll be glad you did it.
They all eat wet food and everyone hasn't any issues-only Bella is not a big eater- she eats wet food as well but enough to survive,she's teeny tiny and not a big eater.... they aren't addicted to kibble ,it's there for grazing and they prefer their wet food
As a cancer patient I had to be rushed to the hospital many times,that's when I added in free feedijg-"I have peace of mind if I'm detained,even overnight ot 2days..... at least it gives me time to make arrangement for them as I don't have anyone nearby in case of emergency.....
So that's our story just to clarify,thought I did
Oops-off Topic again- apologies to
mschauer
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Hi there, I know this is a decade old post but do you have any more updates about Mickey?Mickey is my newest foster kitty. He is 7 1/2 years old and weights 27 lbs. This is the first of hopefully many posts chronicling Mickey's journey back to a healthy weight.
He is with me solely for the purpose of losing weight. He is actually in pretty good shape other than his weight. His rear end has been cared for and he is in good spirits. He doesn't seem to be in pain when he moves. He has no known health issues other than his weight.
He was an owner relinquish to the shelter where I volunteer. I don't know what reason they gave for dumping him at the shelter. I don't usually ask that about my fosters because it is usually some bs reason anyway.
Before coming to me he was in another foster home for a couple of months. He wasn't losing weight there so I volunteered to take him on. His former foster parent was feeding him a dry food, Iams Proactive Health Indoor Weight and Hairball Control. She was feeding him 1 2/3 cups a day as per the Iams instructions. She said he rarely finished it all. Thank Goodness! I calculated that the full 1 2/3 cups would have been over 500 calories! She was instructed by the shelter to put him on an all wet diet and although he has no problem with eating wet food she switched him to dry because it was "easier". Sigh.
The vet at the shelter said to feed him the amount he should eat if he were at a healthy weight. So I'm starting him at 6 oz of Fancy
Feast Classics. That is what I usually have on hand for my fosters because it is well liked and I usually get fosters when they are sick so it is important that they eat. I feed my cats a raw diet and since I'm going to have Mickey for a long time I'll be trying to get him on raw also. The FF is low carb and although the protein quality may be questionable it is, IMO, a decent food and a good one to start Mickey on.
I also add 1/2 oz of raw, minced duck heart to his FF to add a bit more protein. That with the FF should be about 230 calories a day.
Eventually I'll weight him once a week but until I know for sure that the amount I'm feeding him is OK I'll weight him about every 3 days. A safe rate of weight loss is 1-2% of current body weight per week. Weight loss at any faster rate than that risks hepatic lipidosis. I'm shooting for 1.5% per week.
I picked him up last Sunday (6-10-2012) and he weighted 26 lbs 14 oz by my scale. I weighted him tonight and he weights 26 lbs 10 oz. That's a bit faster than I would like but he squirms on the scale quite a bit so his weight might be closer to 26 lbs 11 oz. I'll wait until the next weight in before I make any changes to his diet.
Here are a couple of pictures of him:
My cat Leo is very big himself and I am concerned. I want to see some progress in his weight loss. I've been strict but he has not shed the pounds yet.
I’m interested in what happened to Mickey and his weight. Was he able to get his weight down, was he able to find a forever home? I have a multi-cat family (all indoors) but there are 2 that are very over weight and one more on her way to be over weight. I feed them 2 5.5 cans of Friskies wet food in morning (7:30) and again at supper time (6:00 pm) I also mix it with some dry food. Later in the morning they get hungry again so I give them small portions of dry food.
At night time I also leave out some dry food..they’re probably getting too much dry but I have been cutting down on how much I leave out at night.
I was able to get some samples of the dry Dr Elsey to see if they would eat it, they seemed ok with it so I ordered a 6 pound bag, it’s very, very expensive!
I don’t think I could afford to use it in place of the dry food they eat now. But I was thinking if I could find another decent dry food they would eat that’s more affordable I could mix them both together with the wet.
Any suggestions? My cats are very fussy, they won’t eat pate wet, I’ve tried other brands of wet food and they won’t eat it after once.
If this is in the wrong forum, I’m sorry
At night time I also leave out some dry food..they’re probably getting too much dry but I have been cutting down on how much I leave out at night.
I was able to get some samples of the dry Dr Elsey to see if they would eat it, they seemed ok with it so I ordered a 6 pound bag, it’s very, very expensive!
I don’t think I could afford to use it in place of the dry food they eat now. But I was thinking if I could find another decent dry food they would eat that’s more affordable I could mix them both together with the wet.
Any suggestions? My cats are very fussy, they won’t eat pate wet, I’ve tried other brands of wet food and they won’t eat it after once.
If this is in the wrong forum, I’m sorry
Here's a new picture of Mickey.
I wasn't going to post a new picture until he got down to 25 lbs but I can't wait!
So, here he is at 26:14 (lbs
I tried to get the pictures as close to the same scale as I could. I think they are pretty close.
I think there is a noticeable difference already! He's still awfully big though!
I visited with Mickey at Charlie and Susan's house on New Years day. He continues to do great with them! They are still feeding him Fancy Feast 3 times a day and are carefully weighting how much he gets at each meal.
I tried to get a video of him chasing after a toy but in true kitty fashion as soon as I started to record he stopped moving.
Here's our boy at 17 lbs compared with 27 lbs when I first got him:
And here he is compared to 19 lbs:
Here he is just looking all cute and happy:
wiz.k
Babypaws
There is a lot of info throughout the whole thread. It is super long but there is a lot of great updates and information.. here are some pictures of Mickey
My #1 suggestion is veterinary involvement. Putting cats on diets needs to be done carefully. That said, my comment would be that 11 oz. of wet food per cat, per day, is a lot; adding dry to that adds still more calories.
I feed half a 5.5 oz. can morning and evening. With younger, more active cats who are hungry mid-day, another half can. I'm not big on dry food, but I'm not against it, based on lifelong experience of raising many mostly healthy, happy cats. Elvis is 16 now, and I feed him Blue Buffalo Tastefuls dry. It's a higher quality food. The canned foods I feed are mostly Blue Buffalo as well, with some Soulistic and Weruva.
Again, I would strong recommend veterinary involvement before putting any cat on a diet.
Hope this helps!
Mickey did go to a new forever home and they kept him on his diet. Here is the last picture I can find of him at his weight of 14 pounds:
Definitely enlist your Vet's help with weight loss as losing too fast can cause serious health issues. Read this thread closely at the beginning for many tips on what worked for Mickey and you too may find success in your cats' weight loss journeys.
Definitely enlist your Vet's help with weight loss as losing too fast can cause serious health issues. Read this thread closely at the beginning for many tips on what worked for Mickey and you too may find success in your cats' weight loss journeys.
I’m happy Mickey found his forever home. The comparison pictures are amazing…wow, what a difference!
Hi
Babypaws
Why not start a Thread of your own in this section-it would be great,you'd get so many replies with suggestions and others sharing their similar experiences without going off Topic about Mickey
There's a wealth of info here in this thread for you to gather but just as others suggested,I too think it's best you ask your Vet to help you plan a diet that will be best for your kitties
As
tarasgirl06
mentioned,I too think that sounds like alot of food,I divvy up a little 3ounce can & one Fancy Feast Petites small portions between 5 cats twice a day -thats like half the amount your feeding wet food -as you know I also free feed dry kibble as well ...
Start a thread so we can all focus on your kitties and talk there
Babypaws
Why not start a Thread of your own in this section-it would be great,you'd get so many replies with suggestions and others sharing their similar experiences without going off Topic about Mickey
There's a wealth of info here in this thread for you to gather but just as others suggested,I too think it's best you ask your Vet to help you plan a diet that will be best for your kitties
As
tarasgirl06
mentioned,I too think that sounds like alot of food,I divvy up a little 3ounce can & one Fancy Feast Petites small portions between 5 cats twice a day -thats like half the amount your feeding wet food -as you know I also free feed dry kibble as well ...Start a thread so we can all focus on your kitties and talk there
