Mickey, my 27 lbs foster and his journey back to a healthy weight

[oneandahalfcats]

 
Update

Mickey weighted in at 16:9 (lbsz) this past weekend. A month ago he was at 16:12 so that's a loss of 3 oz in the last month. Charlie and Susan are satisfied with a much slower rate of loss than I was. As long as he keeps going down it's OK but man 3 oz in a month isn't much. I probably just need to adjust my expectations and not compare with how much he was losing when he was with me.

I plan on posting updates about once a month from now on. Hopefully next month he will have lost more than 3 oz! C&S have been having some work done on their house during the last few weeks and Mickey has gotten into their other cats food at least a couple of times so there is a change he'll lose more this month. 

Thank you! Yes, Charlie and Susan just love him to death and he loves them. 

Congratulations! Were you free feeding him dry food before? Have you stopped feeding him dry food entirely now or are you just giving him less now? Sometimes just switching from free feeding dry to feeding a measured amount of food (wet or dry) is all it takes.

Oh, thank you. Yes, we had been feeding dry food since day 1 and free-feeding (against my better judgement) for the first few years as we both worked out of the home. I knew it was wrong but we just weren't set up for anything else at the time. When Max started packing on the weight, I decided it was time for a change, plus I thought we could do better in general as far as their diet. My husband wasn't convinced or totally committed to discontinuing the free-feeding (and would continue to sneak food into the bowls from time to time), so I really had to put my foot down at one point. 

Last October was the beginning of no more free feedings, just 1/4 cup of dry food 3x day. In December I started replacing some of the dry for grain-free wet for the morning feedings, and also switched the corn-based (prescription - another story) dry food for a low fiber dry food with better protein source. This has been going well as the cats seem satisfied and don't seem to miss having food out all day. All cats currently still get 2x wet (5 hours apart) in the morning and 1x dry (1/4 cup) in the afternoon, and that's it. The next step is to transition completely away from the dry food to an all wet diet. This last bit will prove a lot more challenging I think. We shall see. 

Glad to read that the weight loss continues for Mickey. That is just so wonderful. I will check here again and look forward to more updates!

 

[alisa brown]

Wow that is amazing how large that poor kitty is. I hope he doesn't get too many issues with his hip joints down the line.

 

[di and bob]

I can't believe that is the same cat! Wonderful job!!!! I'll bet he feels so much better. I've got a 13 pounder, so your cat has got to be NORMAL now! Keep up the wonderful work!

 

[otto]

mschauer How about an update on Mickey?

 

[mschauer]

And here is one where you can see how handsome he still is:

P1010441.JPG

• mschauer
• Jul 30, 2014

 

[oneandahalfcats]

Fantastic update mshauer. Mickey looks AMAZING, and sooo beautiful

Thanks for asking Otto. I had been wondering too. Looking at the overhead shot, he looks like he is built very much like my Max. Big rib-cage and then tapering inward from there to the tail.

 

[AbbysMom]

Isn't that amazing? He looks like a normal cat now. :nod: What a wonderful update.

 

[AbbysMom]

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:

P1010076.jpg

• mschauer
• Jun 13, 2012

P1010074.jpg

• mschauer
• Jun 13, 2012

I had to go back and look. Look at the difference! This is just so amazing.

 

[bonepicker]

How sad that someone allowed that poor boy to get like that, some people are so dumb!

 

[oneandahalfcats]

I had to go back and look. Look at the difference! This is just so amazing.

Yes, it really is .. So glad that this cat and mshauer found each other and that Mickey has such a supportive, loving home! ... 

 

[ldg]

mschauer THANK YOU SO MUCH for the update. And WHAT an update it is! . :bigthumb: . (And otto, thank you for asking! I think about Mickey all the time!)

Just LOOK at him! He's ... a CAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just ONE cat now!

 

[mschauer]

 

[otto]

Thank you so much for the update mschauer . I do think about Mickey often. I think about him a lot because of how much he loves to play and how happy I am for him that now he CAN play. I remember that first video of him, and how he could barely bat a paw for 10 seconds before getting tired, and then later the videos you post of him playing, really playing.

I'm thrilled that he is still slowly dropping down to his target weight. He is such a special special boy. They are all special, but some just really capture your heart, you know? :heart3:

 

[2cats4me]

I am just seeing this thread and I have to stay this story is amazing .  Mickey looks fabulous .. I am so happy that he is now a much happier healthier boy .. 

 

[AbbysMom]

Hi mschauer!

I'm wondering if there are any Mickey updates?

 

[mschauer]

Hi 

P1010465.JPG

• mschauer
• Jan 18, 2015

When he gets to 14 lbs even I'll post another side by side. He'll have lost 3 lbs since I've done that.

He is still very happy in his new home and Charlie and Susan just love him to death. Susan says he has become quite the lap cat.

I'm happy that when I visit he still remembers me. If I sit on the floor he comes over and lays down beside me so I can pet him. C & S say he doesn't do that with strangers so I know he remembers me. 

 

[tjcarst]

Wonderful update!  Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[ldg]

Oh your update makes me SO HAPPY FOR MICKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look at the life you gave him, mschauer!

 

[catwoman707]

Wow.....................he looks amazing! Healthy, what a transformation!! Huge props!!

 

[AbbysMom]

Oh I missed the update somehow! He looks fantastic!