Tangent - Raw Food Weight Loss Program

[orange&white]

After his breakfast this morning, Tangent weighed 215.0 ounces (13.375 lbs), for a 1.5 ounce weight loss.

Still checking his body condition, I think he would be good down to 13 pounds but I don't think I want him below that. I'm a little concerned that he is dropping too quickly now too. He does seem to have stubborn fat pads over his ribs, but no where else.

He's eaten 136 calories per day the last 2 weeks which was a slight increase from the previous 2 weeks (134 and 131 kcals).

I'm planning to increase a tiny bit to 140 kcals the next 2 weeks and see what that does to his weight.

Looks like we're in "maintenance mode".....finally! Right now I'm defining "maintenance" as any weight over 13 and under 13.5. Hopefully I've added a few years to his life, and avoided or delayed medical problems associated with excess weight.

 

[orange&white]

Last week I increased Tangent's food to average 4.2 ounces (from 4 oz) and his calories from 135/day to 140/day.

On the scale this morning after his breakfast, he weighed 215 ounces. No gain; no loss. Zero is the perfect number for "maintenance mode". We'll continue on at 4.2oz and 140kcals this week.

It's hard to believe he's lost essentially a little over "12 sticks of butter" in fat over the last 14 months. Aside from the saggy droopy extra skin, he looks so much better.

 

[Merlin77]

Congratulations on getting Tangent to lose so much weight! I'm sure the saggy skin will be back to normal in no time.

 

[orange&white]

Tangent didn't get the memo that he can stop losing weight now and just hold steady. He ate 140 kcals/day, and lost 3 ounces since last Sunday. He's at 13.25 pounds, so still within the 13 to 13.5 maintenance range.

I have quite a few tubs of diet mixes still which are between 130 to 138 calorie, 4 ounce daily "packets". Today I made him a top round and chicken breast mix which will give him 150 calories a day with 4.2 ounces. I'm going to alternate the lower-calorie in with the new batch to strike an average calories a little higher than 140.

 

[orange&white]

Sunday update for the Tan Man: He lost a little more weight last week, down to 209.5 ounces (13.09 pounds). That's a 2.5 ounce weight loss. I increased his calories to 143 avg/day and his volume to 4.25 oz. His muscle tone on the back of his head and down his top-line feels fine, so I don't think he's losing any muscle mass (which has been a huge concern of mine throughout this diet process). I can count his ribs now feeling down his sides, and he still has a nice layer of muscle/fat over them. His ribcage was the last place where his body seemed to be storing excess fat.

I don't think he needs to be the 12.5 pound muscular cat he was at 3 years old, now that he's a senior 13 year old, so I'm going to try to keep him at or slightly above 13 pounds. I'm gong to pick his calories up to 150/day this week. I looked back at his chart and he was gaining weight at 160/kcals when he was "stuck" at 15 pounds (seemingly forever) and I was having a hard time figuring out the next move to get him back to losing weight.

He's doing great. I just need to figure out what the right maintenance mix is for him.

 

[Merlin77]

Do you have any pictures of Tangent from before the weight loss and after? It would be awesome to see them!

 

[orange&white]

Do you have any pictures of Tangent from before the weight loss and after? It would be awesome to see them!

Sorry for the delay...I didn't get the notification anyone answered. I wish I did have some of my old photos to share. I'm awful with technology and I had a hard drive crash without backup that had all my photos on it. Since then, I haven't found a battery to work in my old Nikon camera. I'm afraid that replacing/upgrading computers and cameras is out of the budget unless I get an additional job (or stop adopting feral cats ). Think I'll keep the cats...and the flip phone and hope for a better job.

 

[orange&white]

Sunday update on Tangent: He is still losing weight at 207.5 (just under 13 pounds), he lost 2 ounces. I fed him more calories, 146 kcals/day and the same 4.25 ounces/day. I've been cautiously increasing the way I slowly decreased his food, but I need to figure out the right maintenance level fairly quickly. I don't want him losing any more.

This week, I'll give him 4.5 ounces and 150-160 kcals and see if that stabilizes his weight.

 

[Merlin77]

Sorry for the delay...I didn't get the notification anyone answered. I wish I did have some of my old photos to share. I'm awful with technology and I had a hard drive crash without backup that had all my photos on it. Since then, I haven't found a battery to work in my old Nikon camera. I'm afraid that replacing/upgrading computers and cameras is out of the budget unless I get an additional job (or stop adopting feral cats ). Think I'll keep the cats...and the flip phone and hope for a better job.

That's totally fine!

 

[orange&white]

Tangent lost another 2 ounces this week. He's at 205 ounces (12.8 lbs). I increased him to 4.5 ounces and increased calories to 160 last week.

I did weigh him before dinner instead of right after breakfast, so he had 10 hours to empty his bladder and poop versus normal weigh-in right after a meal. I think I'll keep him at 160 calories for another week. I don't want his weight to start see-sawing up and down, but sure don't need him to keep losing now. I'll do a mid-week check on his weight and add more calories if he has lost any more.

 

[orange&white]

I kept Tangent at 160 kcals last week, but increased his food a bit to 4.6 ounces/day to make the calorie count work.

On the scale this morning, he weighed 205.5, up 1/2 ounce. So that's good. He can go up to 208 ounces now and be "perfect". I'll continue to focus on calories, rather than ounces of food, and keep him at 160 kcals for another week.

I still have a little of his low-fat "diet" food packaged in 4 ounce Saran wrap flats, so I've been adding a bit of the girls' higher calorie mixes to increase his calories and intake. Ideally some day, I can make one mix for all 3 cats.

 

[orange&white]

I haven't updated in a while. Tangent finally stopped losing weight, and is holding steady right at 12.5 pounds. He's getting 5.5 ounces of food and 180-200 calories per day. I'm watching carefully to make sure that doesn't make him start gaining again, but it's been working for 2 weeks.

This morning I managed to get my camera to hold a battery charge long enough to take a photo of all 3 cats and the dog before it pooped out on me again.

This is Tangent at a svelte 12.5 pounds. His primordial pouch is keeping his back paws warm. Sorry for the bad photos. The camera did not live long enough for me to get a better ones.

 

[lalagimp]

I can see where 15 lbs probably looked huge on him. Yay on the hard work.

 

[orange&white]

I can see where 15 lbs probably looked huge on him. Yay on the hard work.

Thank you. I feel awful I let him get to 16.5 pounds before starting the diet. He still has a lot of loose skin that hangs down an inch or two when he walks and "puddles" around him when he sits or lies down. His primordial pouch is the saggiest thing that flaps wildly side-to-side when he runs. At least he runs now sometimes. I'm not sure at his age if he'll ever regain the elasticity in his skin, but it sure is a daily reminder to me to never allow him or any other cat to get overweight again.

 

[Ardina]

Congrats on getting him down and now keeping him stable at 12.5! I'm sure he's so much happier and healthier for all your hard work!

 

[orange&white]

Thought I'd pop in to Tangent's thread and update since it's been a couple of months.

Tangent's weight has been varying between 12.5 and 12.87 pounds since the last update, which is good.

I got all three cats on the same mix instead of making a special low-cal mix for Tangent. The young kitties are getting less fat per ounce and Tangent is getting a little more fat than he did during his diet year. I've been balancing the mixes to come out between 40-42 kcals/ounce with at least 50% of calories from protein. Seems to be working to maintain all three cats.

Tangent is averaging 5 ounces a day on his maintenance diet. If he has gained two weigh-ins in a row, he gets slightly less for the next two weeks, and if he's lost for two weeks he gets slightly more. He's looking pretty good for an old guy.

 

[Ardina]

That's awesome! He's so much healthier for your persistence and hard work!

 

[pushylady]

That's great that you've got him at a consistent healthy weight! Much easier for you to have them all on the same food now too.