Overweight Kitty

[sibohan2005]

I recently moves to a new apartment and brought my beautiful green eyed Calico Sibohan to live with me, she had been staying at my parents for a few months while I was in Limbo. My parents Cat Duke a 25lb Orange and White apparently fell in love with Sibohan and now is compleetly depressed. I have agreed to add Duke to my family but am concerned about the needs of such an overweight individual, I mean he barely fits into the cat carrier.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to slim down the dear little boy? I live in a 1 bedroom apartment, I already feed them seperately and Duke Will not walk on a leash.

 

[sandie]

Try getting him to play with a feather teaser or laser toy. Get him to run and jump around at least once a day if not twice. I have found it's the best way to get them to exercise.

 

[mrod1]

Reduce his Dry food intake, and replace it with wet food. Dry food has a higher calorie intake, and is loaded with carbs. Wet food is better for weight loss than even the diet dry food, IMHO. There is also weight managment wet foods. I would also talk to your Vet and ask for his opinion. Also I like the idea from above regarding getting a laser. Also try a wand toy, and a Cat Dancer, they go wild over those. The best thing is to help him exercise and encourage him to move. It will be a slow process, but it will be healthier for him in the long run.

 

[sharky]

Talk to a vet ... find out if duke truly is fat or just a huge cat... If he is overwt depending how much he may need rx food for a while

 

[seppolina]

Just wanted to second MRod's opinion re: dry food. I adopted an overweight cat (I believe "grossly obese" was what the vet called her) & even though she went on a special prescription diet for A YEAR she did not lose the weight. Someone finally suggested switching her over to all canned food and she FINALLY began to lose the weight. We also got her a cat tree & a laser pointer toy...it was great fun getting her to rush up the tree & back down again in pursuit of the laser.

 

[sibohan2005]

Duke was tried of Feline rd prescription diet and actually became so lathargic that he wouldn't stand up any more. The laser pointer is a good idea, we have one and he is interested in it for a period of time but becomed dis-enfranchised with it when he realizes it's a pointless excercise. I havn't tried limiting his dry food intake yet... does anyone have a good dry food idea for him... right now both he and Sibohan are on ProPlan indoor cat formula

 

[lilycurly]

Wow! That's amazing! My own kitten is beggining to be a little fat too...I never would have thought that canned food was less caloric...everyone always told me the contrary! Well, Timine will be happy, he loves wet food.

 

[icklemiss21]

I also adopted a 'grossly obese' cat last year the Rx food the vet gave us he hated and even not eating it he didn't lose weight. We swapped and had a lot more luck with the new one.

Firstly with a cat that big I would say involve your vet, my vet does a 'fat cat' workshop which was really cheap as he spends the whole afternoon just weighing cats and giving out this weeks advice.

Feeding wet will help alot, if you can't for whatever reason, look for a high quality dry with as little carbs as possible.

Don't feed light/diet foods, they are filled with fillers that have no nutritious value and cats tend to store them rather than stop eating because they feel full so gain weight anyway.

Measure food and give them only enough for that feeding - my vet recommends 20-30 cals per lb of weight for maintenance - he recommended 15cals per lb when Scully first started dieting. Don't just fill the bowl up - cats will eat what you give them!

Play with your cat in short bursts so you don't over work them to begin with - 20 mins play time 3 times a day rather than one hour at a time.

Try and make eating play time so the cat has to exercise, our vet recommended that we try putting a shelf on a wall with their food so they had to stand on their hind legs and stretch (like a squirrel) to get food (so about 1.5 feet off the floor I guess - depending on how tall the cat is. That way as they lose weight they don't get flabby.

Cats should not lose too much weight at a time, recommendations say 4lbs a year, Scully lost closer to 15 in 18 months, but it was an extreme case and he was under vet supervision the whole time.

Also you have to be careful that you don't make your cat sick while dieting - fatty liver disease and diabetes are major things to look out for while dieting - so another reason you should include your vet.


Thats all I can think of for now

 

[sharky]

Talk to the vet... explain the Rd attempt and get the vets opnion..