Weight Loss on Raw -- What Can I Expect?

[twylasage]

Hello,

My male, Timothy, is about 50% transitioned to raw. He is a big cat, currently weighing 13.6 lbs. My vet thinks he ought to lose a pound or two and I tend to agree. (In fact the middle-age weight creep I observed in him is one of the reasons I switched to raw.) But I'm confused about what is an appropriate portion size for him on raw. Do I need to reduce it to help him lose weight or will that happen on its own once he's eating 100% raw?

His little sis is different. Eliza took to raw immediately and I am so overjoyed to see my formerly super fastidious girl eating with such gusto that I feel I might be in danger of over feeding her on this new diet. I currently am trying to keep each of them on about 3/4 cup a day, fed in 3 meals. Can a cat get fat on raw? They're so different in size, should I be giving them different size portions?

If it makes any difference, they're about 4 1/2 yrs. old and entirely indoor.

Thank you in advance for your advice!

 

[ldg]

Yes, it can be a little difficult to figure out portion size. :nod: And YES, cats can definitely gain weight on raw if you overfeed! It's a species-appropriate food, but if you feed too many calories - well - even on raw, too many calories is too many calories.

When you say half a cup.... we have no reference points. :dk:

Firstly, when feeding raw, the usual method for calculating how much to feed is based on the weight of the cat and the weight of the food.

Well - weight, level of activity, and age of the cat. :nod:

You might want to invest in a kitchen food scale. The raw feeding guideline is huge: the recommendation is to feed between 2% and 4% of your cat's body weight. For MOST 10 - 14 pound cats, the feeding amount seems to be clustered in the 4 ounces - 6 ounces of food a day range. There are several of us on here with cats ranging from two years to 10 years, and they're a little overweight. My 12 pound cats I JUST reduced from 1.5 ounces per meal, three meals a day (4.5 ounces total per day) to 1.3 ounces per meal (about 4 ounces per day total). I've been feeding raw since January, and they seemed stable at 4.5 ounces a day, but I can see for several of them that their weight is SLOWLY creeping up.

If you have a kitty that needs to lose weight, it'll be a good idea to weigh him twice a week for the first month or two, until you're sure you've got him either at a stable weight, or losing no more than 4 ounces per week. :nod:

If he's not overly active, at 13.6 pounds, that's about 218 ounces; 2% of that is 4.35 ounces of food daily. I'd probably start there, and see how he does on that. If he's anything like my kitties that need to lose weight, or Carolina's Bugsy, you'll have to take him down to 2% of his ideal weight. If that's 12 pounds, his target amount of food will be 3.8 ounces. If he's more active, those numbers will be higher, I just provide these as examples.

But even if I were feeding ground food, the amount of food I feed wouldn't even be close to 3/4 of a cup, and most likely it's less than half a cup, but I really have no idea. When I was feeding canned, they all ate about a can a day (5.5 ounces). I have no idea what that is volume-wise. But raw is more nutrition dense: so much more of it is bioavailable - and it's protein and fat without the carbs. So it's packed with energy. They need (often) much less raw than canned or kibble.

Yeah... 3/4 of a cup sounds like a LOT. :nod: When feeding a protein-packed kibble, like EVO, people only need to feed like 1/4 cup a day. And that actually, is probably closer to what my cats eat raw, if I were to measure it by volume. But weight is a much more precise way of providing the right amount of food, over time. And when you start, because their lean body mass WILL change (your cat may stay the same weight, but develop a waist, for instance: muscle weighs more than fat), it's a really good idea to keep track of their weight until you know you're feeding the right amount.

Hope this wasn't too confusing! :anon:

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Yes, a cat can definitely get fat on raw.  I didn't think so, but I was wrong.  What are you feedng them?  For raw, normally you feed by the oz, not by the cup.  Anywhere from 2% - 4% of their body weight, based on how active they are.  However, I have a 15 lb cat who is currently only eating 1.5% of his body weight (3.6 oz per day), and he is still gaining!  LDG and Carolina also had issued when feeding 2% so had to cut down below that level.

If you are feeding a commercial raw product like Primal or Natures Variety or something similar, it should say on the package (or on their website) approx.  how much to feed based on their weight and your intention (the maintain, lose, gain, etc.)

Let us know if you need more information

 

[twylasage]

Thank you both for the info! Obviously, I still have a lot to learn about this. The BARF I'm feeding them I make myself based upon Dr. Pierson's recipe and the suggested 6 oz. (or 3/4 cup) a day per cat. That's what I've been going by. I do have a scale which I use when making the food but not when I serve them. I guess I better start doing that.

I think part of the problem with Tim is that he's accustomed to a wet/dry diet, meaning more bulk. Has eating that up to this point sort of stretched his stomach and now it needs to shrink down to a proportional size? All he knows is that his tummy doesn't feel as full. He looks so forlorn when he finds his bowl empty faster than normal!

 

[ldg]

I think he'll adjust pretty quickly. I was feeding wet/dry for years, then all wet.... except for the two boys who refused to give up the kibble, so I kept feeding them a "little bit" here and there... and probably more frequently than I like to remember. :lol3: I FINALLY got rid of the kibble when I started raw. They complained a little bit here and there as we transitioned from canned to raw. But the first full day of raw was the first night I slept all the way through the night without someone waking me up begging for treats. The raw was so much more satisfying for them. :nod:

If you don't give in to those sad looks, I think he'll adjust pretty quickly. I remember when I first started measuring out those raw-only meals... the amount looked so pitifully small in their bowls! (And I use small dishes to feed them!)

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Since your boy is getting pure protein now, I would think he would feel very full, even with much less in how bowl

.   As Laurie says, the amount looks pitiful, but your won't believe how much energy it gives them