My 10 month y/o kitten is OBESE

[Brendanlc7995]

I have 2 cats. 1 is a 2 1/2 year old female without a weight problem. The other is a 10 month old male who is seriously overweight... I just weighed him today and he is 15.3 pounds.
I’ve tried to control how much he eats by feeding them small meals twice a day, but the problem is that my female likes to nibble throughout the day, whereas my male eats everything in sight.
He’s really active and is constantly running around the house, but he just keeps getting bigger...
HELP ME! I DONT WANT TO HAVE TO BUY HIM INSULIN!

 

[Willowy]

Does he look fat? You can't go by weight; some cats are just big.

Scheduled feedings are the way to go, usually. But if your female can't manage to adjust to that, you can get her a feeder that only opens for her microchip or collar tag.

 

[Kieka]

Can you share a photo of your cat? Cats can vary greatly in size so weight alone isn't a great indicator. I have a 14 pound male and 7 pound female with both having good body condition. You should be able to feel ribs but not see them and if you look at your cat from above you should see a slight pinch between ribs and hips. It can be harder to judge with a long hair cat.

Here are some photos of my two to help with scale and what you are looking for.

 

[Lfehr]

I adopted two obese cats - one who was 17.5+ lbs (Charm) and the other who was 15.5+ lbs (Molly). Charm has a large frame and Molly was sized (her length & height) more like a very petite Siamese. My vet gave me some very helpful advice for helping them to lose the weight. She said to mix 1/2 tsp of psyllium fiber into their daily food supply (be sure it has not artificial sweeteners, just plain psyllium). Also be sure to add additional water to assure preventing constipation or a bowel blockage. I purposely adopted 2 fat cats, 1st because fat cats usually aren't adopted, and 2nd because I figured it would be easier to have them both on the same diet at the same time.

From your photos, I don't believe your male appears to be overweight. He looks as though he is just a larger framed cat - longer body length and taller than your female. Also, often male cats are larger than females. I'd consult your vet 1st and if he or she agrees that your male needs to lose some weight, you may want to try mixing his daily food with the psyllium and water. I used to mix it up once a day and feed approximately 1/3 of them three times a day.

Which brings me to my next point: Feeding smaller more frequent meals aids in weight loss. Though your female doesn't need to lose weight, she could also be fed on the same schedule. She may be able to finish a smaller meal, rather than graze. If she can't, I'd pick up her bowl anyway. She'll be more hungry for the next meal and more likely to finish her feeding.

Above all, keep a close eye on how much your boy's losing. Losing too rapidly can cause harm to the liver. My cats lost weight at a slow steady pace over a period of 3 years. I recently lost my Molly, but before she developed cancer she'd dropped to and maintained 8 lbs - a perfect weight for her size. Charm is now down to 12.5 lbs or 13.1 lbs, depending on which scale the vet uses. She looks great and I'm taking her off of her diet as soon as she finishes up the most recent batch of food I mixed for her.

If your vet agrees with putting your boy on this sort of diet, just a final bit of advice: Decrease the psyllium very gradually. I tried cutting Charm's psyllium back to 1/4 tsp and she became constipated, so I had to go back up to the 1/2 tsp. As a guide, I added 200 mL of water to a 5.5 oz can of food. I'm planning to try and reduce it again soon and this time will decrease it to 3/8 tsp before eventually taking her off of it. Regardless of how much psyllium she's taking, I'll continue to add extra water to her food and will probably keep her on the 3 times a day feeding schedule. Cats tend not to be big drinkers and the extra water in her food will help to maintain her urinary tract health. This would be especially true for your boy, as I believe male cats tend to be more predisposed to UTIs than females. But please, do check with your vet first.

 

[pipperoo]

Kittens eat a lot. More than adult cats. They need to because they are growing at such an incredible rate. Plus they are bundles of energy. We wouldn't think of underfeeding a really active young child. We would take into consideration the size of his parents, his activity level, whether or not he's pudgy etc. In your case, you probably don't know about your cats parentage, but you know the other stuff. Its very possible your kitten has large cat genetics!

I would not consider limiting his food until and unless a vet told me he was obese. If your kitten's body shape is normal, then you've just got a big guy on your hands. I think you can relax.

FYI - Wet/canned food can help fill your youngster up (esp if you mix with a little warm water) without as many calories or carbs as dry. Avoid canned foods in "gravy" (high carbs) and look for pates. Fancy Feast pates are inexpensive and low carb.

 

[lucky luc]

Feed him raw food and he will loose weight and never get it back, plus a bonus it's crap will not smell anymore

 

[Kieka]

From your photos, I don't believe your male appears to be overweight. He looks as though he is just a larger framed cat - longer body length and taller than your female. Also, often male cats are larger than females

Those are my cats not the OP. I posted them of examples of two different weight but both healthy weight cats. And he is very much a heavy dense cat most people in person think he is heavier.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Weight is not always the only factor. You can use this chart for a gauge as to whether or not your cat is obese. But, it would be helpful to share pics with us as well!! If you do, the best pics would be like those below - from the side and from overhead.

 

[jen]

They are probably just large cats. At 10 months I highly doubt they are obese. I would look into canned only to feed meals. A food with high protein to keep him full longer. No kibble. Or raw if you want to venture into that.

 

[GoldyCat]

Feed him raw food and he will loose weight and never get it back, plus a bonus it's crap will not smell anymore

Raw may be the best diet for some cats, but it is not always an option for everyone. First of all, you need to do a fair amount of research to make sure you're feeding a fully balanced diet. Just pulling raw chicken out of the refrigerator and feeding it to your cat is not going to do it.

In addition, scheduling the meals can be problematic. I, for one, have a very irregular work schedule. Some days I'm away from home for 18 hours at a time. The days/nights I work shorter shifts the hours can differ from day to day. Poor kittiess would never know when they were going to be fed.

 

[danteshuman]

What does the vet say?

First my mom had a giant cat that was healthy/maybe needed to loose a pound at 18 pounds!

Next my mom currently has s rag doll mix. She is more barrel chested but not quite fat yet. She is 16 months old.

I think you should free feed them wet food (and look for a good high protein, low carb dry if you want him to loose weight.) cats can keep growing up to 2 years, so my advice is to just chill out for another 6-18 months. Then when he is 2-3 years old & the vet says he is over weight, you can talk to your vet about putting him on a diet. If you think he is fat, bring his food in with him for his exam.

Lastly long ago I accepted that my cat’s could be slightly chubby but not fat/obese. Now my old man is a way to skinny cat with some kidney failure. I wish the old man could gain weight!

Here are the 3 siblings. Jackie (white/grey) lives off mainly wet and is genetically more slender.


Nick (black/half tail) is more stocky. He has a wider chest from his rag doll mix, mom. Nick & Cami live with my mom where they eat 1/2 dry & 1/2 wet.

Cami (grey/peach fluff ball) is defiantly part rag doll. She is sticky and her belly feels a bit big but there is no belly fat hanging.


They are all healthy & I would not worry about putting them on a diet unless they get bigger. So if your cat is “fat” like they are, I would just say they are normal. (I included lots of pictures, trying to show you the 3 cats in the same pose so you could compare them.

 

[danteshuman]

Here is a size chart, to help you figure out if your kitten is obese. I thought he was 15 months old not 10. Please just let him eat all he wants until he is 2 years old. However you can try slow feeders are have the vet do blood work on him (to check for diabetes or thyroid disease.)

 

[milktea]

I have three kittens and two of them will eat and eat, especially when I fed dry food. My third is very skinny and he doesn’t eat as much. I bought them the microchip feeders so only they can eat the food and portions I put in their bowl. Yes they’re expensive but it’s worth it.

They only eat wet food now, but they have different portion amounts and nobody starves with another cat eating his/her share.

The SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder from Sure Petcare

A cat feeder that will only open for the right cat’s microchip to stop other pets stealing their food. Stop pets overeating and keep prescription food separate.

www.surepetcare.com