Newly Adopted Cat, I have some questions!

CatDadNY 86

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Hello all. Today, my wife and I added a new baby to the family. Her name is Molly. She is a 10 year old DSH and was surrendered by a family who brought her to a veterinarian to euthanize her without ethical need to do so. The Veterinarian has been a trusted vet of ours across a few generations now and she has put molly on a prescription diet due to her obesity. She also suggested something called "the catkins" diet and I was curious to gather a bit of feedback and information from other cat owners before deciding to give it a go.

My questions would be : What is the brand you feel is best for her that is low calorie (no grain free brands, please). Should I avoid cat trees until she loses a bit of weight?

That's really all I can think of at this time. I'm hoping to get to know her better and see what forms of play she likes to get her more active (laser pointers, cat trees with good height for her to run up and jump down, etc.)

Thanks, everyone!
 

HPeters

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Hi! Props for saving a life!
For the food question I would recommend any high quality brand, my top 2 preferences are Royal Canin and Iams in whichever weight loss/ management formula that they offer. (Hills and Purina are the other two top brands I would recommend).
As for the "catkins" diet, that is entirely personal preference it is essentially a strict wet food diet and I think you would be better off feeding a high quality dry food to a lower quality wet food. The wet vs dry has been a long ongoing discussion that I think is better off being based on individual cats.

As for the cat tree, definitely get one!! Especially for a heavier cat, I would recommend something like this, Walnut Cat Tower they are very sturdy and the many levels offer more work for the cat to climb up and resting spots if they get tired, plus easy to clean! Clearly a $200 tree may be out of some peoples budget so I would say that it boils down to being sturdy and lots of levels for her to explore.
 
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CatDadNY 86

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Hi! Props for saving a life!
For the food question I would recommend any high quality brand, my top 2 preferences are Royal Canin and Iams in whichever weight loss/ management formula that they offer. (Hills and Purina are the other two top brands I would recommend).
As for the "catkins" diet, that is entirely personal preference it is essentially a strict wet food diet and I think you would be better off feeding a high quality dry food to a lower quality wet food. The wet vs dry has been a long ongoing discussion that I think is better off being based on individual cats.

As for the cat tree, definitely get one!! Especially for a heavier cat, I would recommend something like this, Walnut Cat Tower they are very sturdy and the many levels offer more work for the cat to climb up and resting spots if they get tired, plus easy to clean! Clearly a $200 tree may be out of some peoples budget so I would say that it boils down to being sturdy and lots of levels for her to explore.
This tree looks great to start with. I could easily add some vines to it and comfy bedding. Thanks much! I do have a script for satiety formula from royal canin but it's dry. I will have to ask my vet if she could change that to the pate. :)
 

lokhismom

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Thank you for saving Molly. So sweet

For low calorie, high protein foods I'd recommend Weruva, Whole Hearted (Petco brand) Feline Natural
 

lisahe

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Thank you for taking in Molly, CatDadNY 86 CatDadNY 86 , she's very lucky!

The cats we have now eat a very low-carb diet that's almost all wet food. Some is raw, some is home-cooked (with proper supplements), some is canned. They also get a very small snack of dry food: Dr. Elsey's, which doesn't have any carby ingredients. It's very calorie-dense but it's a great night-time snack that prevents one cat from vomiting bile. It's the only dried food I'd feed.

Good luck on Molly's diet!
 
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Kieka

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Cats do need carbs but we are talking in the 5-15% (6% being around what a prey eating cat would consume and 15% being what a cat on an well picked all wet diet would get) not 35% and more that most commercial diets provide.
Cat owners shouldn't be trying to get their cats carbs down to 0 and most will only be able to get in the 20-30% range even with careful food selection but avoiding the high carbs foods is a good idea. Checking ingredients and nutrition is more important then the labeling.










Feline Obesity: An Epidemic of Fat Cats
 
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pearl99

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I currently feed Nulo Freestyle Cat and Kitten and they do well on it- a not too bad protein/carb ratio in what I can afford. Mooshoo had trimmed down some slowly with a regulated amount of that plus wet food. I had Mooshoo on WholeHearted weight control and she loved it, but I wanted all cats on the same thing.
Ziggy (who I adopted after her owner died) had been on Iams, was overweight and had very flaky skin. I wouldn't recommend Iams. After a switch to a higher quality food (Nulo) her flakes have all but disappeared and she's a better weight (I also regulated her food amount.)
I also feed Merrick wet food.
They are doing well on these. There are a lot of better quality foods out there, I did calculations on dry matter basis and % of calories of protein/fat/carbs using formulas on catinfo.org- it was a chore but it's paid off!
 

Kieka

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I currently feed Nulo Freestyle Cat and Kitten and they do well on it- a not too bad protein/carb ratio in what I can afford. Mooshoo had trimmed down some slowly with a regulated amount of that plus wet food. I had Mooshoo on WholeHearted weight control and she loved it, but I wanted all cats on the same thing.
Ziggy (who I adopted after her owner died) had been on Iams, was overweight and had very flaky skin. I wouldn't recommend Iams. After a switch to a higher quality food (Nulo) her flakes have all but disappeared and she's a better weight (I also regulated her food amount.)
I also feed Merrick wet food.
They are doing well on these. There are a lot of better quality foods out there, I did calculations on dry matter basis and % of calories of protein/fat/carbs using formulas on catinfo.org- it was a chore but it's paid off!
I have to avoid poultry with my crew, one gets projectile vomiting and the other diarrhea. Merrick and Nulo are both in my rotation because they have poultry and fish free options. I try to get non fish just so I dont have a fish only rotation. I agree that all of their coats and their body condition is really nice with those in the rotation. I rotate so no one locks on a a flavor but they are so used to it they also won't eat the same one two meals in a row anymore.
 

pearl99

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I have to avoid poultry with my crew, one gets projectile vomiting and the other diarrhea. Merrick and Nulo are both in my rotation because they have poultry and fish free options. I try to get non fish just so I dont have a fish only rotation. I agree that all of their coats and their body condition is really nice with those in the rotation. I rotate so no one locks on a a flavor but they are so used to it they also won't eat the same one two meals in a row anymore.
Mine just did not like the Merrick dry, so I tried Nulo. They love the Merrick Cowboy Cookout wet food! I was surprised, since it is beef. I didn't think cats liked beef. Mine also like Merrick duck, but that's poultry.
 

mani

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Mod Note:
This thread has been heavily edited.
The grain-free issue can cause quite a debate, but there are ways of getting your point across without turning the thread into a heated argument, or inundating our new member with strongly held beliefs.

We can all make our points nicely and succinctly. :)
 
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