Yes, fast weight loss on an overweight cat is bad news. The last thing they and their owners need is a fatty liver case! It's probably like weight loss in humans. As tempting as it might be to go on a crash diet and lose 50 pounds in 15 minutes, it's going to mess with your entire body in a bad way, and you'll just regain it (and more) the minute the crash diet is over.
tyleete
I also have a dry food addict who has attempted starvation. I was able to move him from fully dry to mostly wet. Any bit helps (I didn't read all, so maybe you've done this).
I would try this.
After having lost my part Maine Coon Chamouti at the age of 18 due to kidney failure I adopted an altered 8 year old part Maine Coon from a sanctuary, not a shelter, where they only take 3rd chance animals from no kill shelters or one that has been there before, including horses and burros that have been rescued from unsavory conditions. No animal will be taken from a private party.They will take any animal back for the rest of their lives if necessary, strictly no kill so I don't have to worry about him if I pass before he does.
Maybe he does hunt and so gets plenty to eat. With you feeding him on top of that it would mean packing on the pounds. Try not to feed him and see what happens within a few days. You said yourself that he is feral so I doubt that he would starve to death.
segelkatt
canned only could really help him out. It's less calories for sure.
segelkatt
how long have you had your new cat? The scenario of overeating at a sanctuary is not uncommon.
I picked him up on Tuesday afternoon, put down some kibble which he finally finished by this morning. Put down 1/3 of a large can this morning, he slurped up the juice and left but by noon he had eaten about 1/3 of what was left which is now covered in the fridge next to the covered can. The food had sat on a cold ceramic tile floor in a stainless steel dish.
He got up at 4 pm and looked at the spot where the dish had been and then at me like "what happened to it?" That boy learned fast where the feeding spot is. I brought out the refrigerated food, he looked at it, walked away but came right back to eat a little more but there is still food left over so it went back into the fridge. I'll bring it out again around 7 and see if he finishes. If he does then I know that one can per day is just right and I can divvy it up like that, maybe into 4 parts:breakfast, lunch, dinner, nighttime snack.
We brought in one once who was borderline food aggressive, but he was very skinny. We opted to free feed him on his own and let himself eat to his fill for awhile, and once he would eat and leave some behind (we fed much more than he needed), we fed less and less until he was eating his normal portions and wasn't frantically inhaling it. It took awhile but it worked and really seemed to drive the point home that he'd never be hungry again, and there was no need to flip out whenever food was involved.
He does not like shreds or anything that has chunks, just slurps up the juice. So I got pate, big can, gave him half for breakfast and he ate up almost all of that, a little later came back and ate what was left. Now he is hanging around the empty dish claiming that he is at death's door. He will have to wait for the other half of the can until dinner which is 5 hrs away, I am sure he will survive. With all this whining he is also walking around which means he is getting some exercise instead of sleeping 20 hrs out of 24. A little later we will have another play session which really wears him out but I stop when he starts flopping down and just moving his ears and not reaching for the toy again, would not want that fat cat to have a heart attack.
