Worried - tried everything but our middle age female cat refuses to exercise and eat less

[verna davies]

I live in the UK too and like you my previous vet used to push dry food, I suspect they get a commission. In your position I would only feed wet food, Royal Canin give a full refund even if food is open.
She looks a bit chunky but not obese to me. You will get her to the weight you are happy with but be patient, its better over a prolonged period.

 

[treeclimber]

She does look overweight to me - no “waist” when viewed from above. But she’s not morbidly obese.

I would strongly encourage you to do some reading of your own on wet food vs. dry food. I know that it’s hard to believe that strangers on the internet might know better than your vet on that - so instead of taking our word for it, look into it yourself and form your own opinion based on what you find. I suspect you’ll end up preferring wet food once you’ve read up on the pros and cons of wet and dry.

Wet food also offers another benefit for weight loss - you can easily mix stuff into it to keep the belly full with a smaller amount of calories.

The usual thing to mix in is canned pumpkin, but I’ve had better luck with unspiced refried beans. I know Mexican food ingredients aren’t always easily accessible in the UK, but if you can’t find a can of unspiced refried beans it’s very easy to make them - take a can of pinto beans and boil them until they’re so soft that when you strain them out of the water you can mash them into something with a texture similar to mashed potatoes. (There is no frying involved in refried beans, the name comes from the Spanish word “refritos”.) Last time I was trying to help a fat kitty lose weight he would actually eat a few mouthfuls of refried beans as a snack without me even mixing it with cat food - but your mileage may vary.

If you add too much fiber to your cat’s diet it may lead to loose stool - it’s kind of trial and error to figure it out how much you can give them (start with one spoonful then increase the amount every few days). But if she’s willing to eat food mixed with canned pumpkin or refried beans, weight loss will get easier. If you replace some of the normal food with fiber she will still feel like she’s eating the same amount when she’s actually eating less.

One final thought regarding the scooting - sometimes overweight cats find it difficult to clean their bottoms, so even if she isn’t leaving obvious skid marks on the carpet she may be doing it as a way to clean herself. If you buy some baby wipes and help her clean herself, the scooting may stop. (Be sure the wipes are the ones meant for babies, the other kind with rubbing alcohol would be painful for her on a sensitive area. If she’s scooting due to hygiene issues the place likely to be causing discomfort and in need of cleaning is the anus, not the butt fur.)

 

[Jangalian]

Hi, I made an account just to reply!

I know this is going to sound wild but hear me out. Your cat may be depressed. If she isn't willing to engage in play or other natural behavior, then she is wildly under stimulated! We had an elder dog that did the same behavior, ie food hoarding, sitting, staring, not playing. We ended up getting a pair of puppies and it was like our old lady was a new girl. Not overnight of course! It took time, but she was happy in the end.

I'm willing to bet your lady is lonely. If you adopted another cat, she might be willing to put more energy into running around and playing with them, which would tone her body naturally.

Ps, we feed our cat lads 3 times a day, 2 meals of 1/8 cup dry, and one meal spoon of wet and a few dry crunchies. They're in healthy shapes (gold star from the vet) so I would agree that a teaspoon of food would be disastrous. Cheers!

 

[MillsParents]

She does look overweight to me - no “waist” when viewed from above. But she’s not morbidly obese.

I would strongly encourage you to do some reading of your own on wet food vs. dry food. I know that it’s hard to believe that strangers on the internet might know better than your vet on that - so instead of taking our word for it, look into it yourself and form your own opinion based on what you find. I suspect you’ll end up preferring wet food once you’ve read up on the pros and cons of wet and dry.

Wet food also offers another benefit for weight loss - you can easily mix stuff into it to keep the belly full with a smaller amount of calories.

The usual thing to mix in is canned pumpkin, but I’ve had better luck with unspiced refried beans. I know Mexican food ingredients aren’t always easily accessible in the UK, but if you can’t find a can of unspiced refried beans it’s very easy to make them - take a can of pinto beans and boil them until they’re so soft that when you strain them out of the water you can mash them into something with a texture similar to mashed potatoes. (There is no frying involved in refried beans, the name comes from the Spanish word “refritos”.) Last time I was trying to help a fat kitty lose weight he would actually eat a few mouthfuls of refried beans as a snack without me even mixing it with cat food - but your mileage may vary.

If you add too much fiber to your cat’s diet it may lead to loose stool - it’s kind of trial and error to figure it out how much you can give them (start with one spoonful then increase the amount every few days). But if she’s willing to eat food mixed with canned pumpkin or refried beans, weight loss will get easier. If you replace some of the normal food with fiber she will still feel like she’s eating the same amount when she’s actually eating less.

One final thought regarding the scooting - sometimes overweight cats find it difficult to clean their bottoms, so even if she isn’t leaving obvious skid marks on the carpet she may be doing it as a way to clean herself. If you buy some baby wipes and help her clean herself, the scooting may stop. (Be sure the wipes are the ones meant for babies, the other kind with rubbing alcohol would be painful for her on a sensitive area. If she’s scooting due to hygiene issues the place likely to be causing discomfort and in need of cleaning is the anus, not the butt fur.)

Yep, we've already thought this, that she scoots because she can't clean herself as easily, so we check her bottom after she wees and poos and wipe it with a wet sheet of soft kitchen paper if it's dirty.

 

[MillsParents]

Hi, I made an account just to reply!

I know this is going to sound wild but hear me out. Your cat may be depressed. If she isn't willing to engage in play or other natural behavior, then she is wildly under stimulated! We had an elder dog that did the same behavior, ie food hoarding, sitting, staring, not playing. We ended up getting a pair of puppies and it was like our old lady was a new girl. Not overnight of course! It took time, but she was happy in the end.

I'm willing to bet your lady is lonely. If you adopted another cat, she might be willing to put more energy into running around and playing with them, which would tone her body naturally.

Ps, we feed our cat lads 3 times a day, 2 meals of 1/4 cup dry, and one meal spoon of wet and a few dry crunchies. They're in healthy shapes (gold star from the vet) so I would agree that a teaspoon of food would be disastrous. Cheers!

Wow thank you so much for creating an account to reply to our thread!

It breaks my heart when I think about it, but I often say to my wife that maybe our cat comfort eats because she is depressed.

Our previous two cats, both rescue cats, saw us much less because we both worked in the day. But Covid happened six months after we adopted our latest cat, and my wife has worked from home ever since, so she always has someone at home, as my wife sits right next to her. Sure, she's working, but every 2 hours she does try to play with our cat.

I spend a lot of time with her each evening, trying to encourage her to play or in the garden, but she just stays indoors and either wants food or sleeps. She is so affectionate and does sleep on our laps a lot. But she seems scared and bored of the garden.

She hates other cats but it has crossed my mind that she might like a kitten.

Maybe all older cats are like this?

Maybe my own depression is influencing her, even if we are close and often sit together?

It breaks my heart as I want her to be happy and healthy, and surely she knows we love her as we give her a lot of fuss each day.

Thanks again!

 

[verna davies]

If you are thinking of getting another cat, ask your rescue centres if you can foster/adopt. That way if they dont get on, the foster can be returned for rehoming. I wonder if a kitten would be too active but an older active cat would be better.

 

[MillsParents]

If you are thinking of getting another cat, ask your rescue centres if you can foster/adopt. That way if they dont get on, the foster can be returned for rehoming. I wonder if a kitten would be too active but an older active cat would be better.

That's good advice, thank you.

We just feel she seems a possessive, one-cat-family kind of cat, and the rescue place said she would be better as the only cat. It's so hard to know what to do.

 

[verna davies]

Dont rush into anything. She sounds as if she has plenty of human company, maybe thats enough for her so try cutting down her food and see if she has lost weight in one months time. It hard when they are cats that dont want to play. If only they could talk, our lives would be so much easier.

 

[MillsParents]

Dont rush into anything. She sounds as if she has plenty of human company, maybe thats enough for her so try cutting down her food and see if she has lost weight in one months time. It hard when they are cats that dont want to play. If only they could talk, our lives would be so much easier.

I agree - I would love to be able to talk to her!

What might make a cat depressed do you think, if they do have plenty of human interaction, a garden to enjoy, toys, cuddles, etc?

 

[verna davies]

Often its a change in routine, house move, loss of a person or another cat. She may not be depressed, its just how she is. Has she always been like this, was she more active? Only a thought but as she is 9 years old she may have a little arthritis which would explain why she isnt keen to play or wander outside. Next vet visit have her checked.

Have you considered using one of the slow feeders, I would imagine you could put wet and dry in them.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08CV2N5H8/?tag=

 

[MillsParents]

It's true about a change in routine or a life event, but these don't apply to our cat. We live in a quiet house, a quiet neighbourhood and don't have kids or many visitors.

She has never gone outside for very long, but has definitely shortened her garden time in the last year. She had a tooth extraction surgery last summer and has gone out a little less since then.

She is pampered and gets so much love from us, but I guess there's only so much we can do if she's bored despite our best efforts to play.

Because she scoots, we don't let her upstairs where we have carpets, so maybe she feels left out, but we are only upstairs ourselves when we go to bed or shower.

Good suggestion about arthritis, which could be because of her weight.

 

[Alldara]

I agree - I would love to be able to talk to her!

What might make a cat depressed do you think, if they do have plenty of human interaction, a garden to enjoy, toys, cuddles, etc?

Any mammal needs a certain amount of exercise or depression kicks in. But, as the above posters mentioned, she's also being underfed so rather than depression, I'd consider that she might not have the level of energy to WANT to play.

Some bodies do actually store weight when being underfed, so it can contribute. However, if you decide to add more food, I would have it be another wet packet so that she gets two wet packets per day.

I would not hold back any more food, and I think your vet is saying so because he thinks you're being dishonest about the amount of food being fed. When Nobel was overweight, no vet believed that I was already measuring food. He was 25 lbs and needed to be 17 lbs. I slowly lowered down his calories to the amount he would be eating if he was a 16 lb cat with no weight loss progress. His body was still storing everything because he wasn't moving enough.

What I would do is try to increase her movement. See if she is agreeable for a game of kibble toss for her dry food! At first, she may just walk 2 or 3 steps for a kibble. That's great!

Set a schedule and try to play at the same time every day without fail. She won't play at first, this is true. But keep at it. If she gets the big kitten eyes, or bats at the toy a bit, it's progress. Get her rolling and moving later. A carpeted area or atop a bed is great because she can get good traction and won't be worried to slip.

All dry food needs to be movement fed. So a treat ball or puzzle or just placing a few kibbles around a room in different spots.

Cats don't really play with toys often that are just laying about. They really need interaction to do something. Something like this as well is usually a hit. Don't leave it out all the time, but put it out for a portion of the day a couple days per week: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B06WP7F8YC/?tag=

 

[treeclimber]

We just feel she seems a possessive, one-cat-family kind of cat, and the rescue place said she would be better as the only cat.

If the rescue said “only cat” they probably had a good reason for saying that.

Many cats do enjoy the companionship of another cat, but not all of them. If other cats make her stressed out or aggressive, this may not be an option for her. With a lot of time and patience an intro might still work, but she may not feel any better afterward if she’s just tolerating and does not actually like the other cat.

What might make a cat depressed do you think, if they do have plenty of human interaction, a garden to enjoy, toys, cuddles, etc?

I would disagree about her being depressed. Cats can be depressed or life-disruptingly stressed after something like the death of a companion or other major change, but they usually lose their appetite.

Her lack of energy may have a more biological origin. Hypothyroid isn’t all that common in cats, but if other things don’t work just keep it in the back of your mind that hypothyroid is possible and might eventually be worth checking. She also might have some kind of pain going on that makes play/movement unappealing.

I think A Alldara also made a really good point that being underfed could also cause the lack of energy if it started the same time her food restrictions did.

Did she ever like to play, even when you first adopted her?

How much do you know about her history? Some cats that have experienced hunting real prey are not all that interested in fake bird/mouse toys, but may show more interest in toys that either don’t resemble prey (eg. more string-like toys) or toys that use a wire to make them bounce/weave like an insect in flight like The Cat Dancer (horribly overpriced on UK Amazon, try to find another source).

Also pay attention to anything non-toy that she shows an interest in playing with. Many cats go absolutely nuts for nylon classical guitar/ukulele strings, or the plastic strapping used on boxes (like this - ask at a store with lots of small boxes like an office supply store or an Argos, employees are constantly cutting that stuff off and throwing it away - narrow/lightweight ones tend to be the most fun for cats rather than heavy pallet strapping). NEVER let her play with a string toy unsupervised, and never encourage her to play with a string she might find on her own like dental floss she could fish out of the trash - if a cat swallows a string, it can cause an extremely dangerous condition called intussuception. But instrument strings and plastic strapping are OK toys for supervised play.

If she doesn’t want to chase a toy, see if she will roll on her side/back and swat at it if you keep it within reach. Sometimes that’s easier for cats that are low on energy, and it still gets their heart rate up and their muscles moving.

One of the best times for play can be when she’s pestering you for food.

And please, please stop with the tablespoon full of dry kibble per day. You cannot “tough love” a cat, and rapid weight loss can be dangerous for cats. And being that underfed will make her miserable and stressed. She will be much better off with a small reduction in her usual food or a weight-loss canned food, given as 2-4 small meals spaced throughout the day.

 

[treeclimber]

I don't know where there is this obsession here in the UK and Europe with vets recommending dry food only diets.

I think it comes down to a tendency to value dogs over cats (even if your individual vet does not, their vet school may have) and to make the mistake of assuming whatever is good for dogs must also be good for cats.

Dogs are omnivores and can handle more carbohydrates in their diets than cats (cats are obligate carnivores). As carnivores, cats are also more geared towards ripping/tearing food and will often swallow food without chewing. You may hear some crunching when they eat, but if you’ve ever seen a cat vomit after eating dry food you’ll notice that most of the kibbles are still full size/unchewed. So the ability of cats to get dental benefits from dry food is pretty questionable.

This website has a search tool that might help you find a cat-friendly clinic in the UK. The standards for the “cat friendly” accreditation are mostly about things like not making cats wait in a room with barking dogs than they are about knowledge of feline nutrition, but some of the clinics are cat-only clinics. Even for the ones that aren’t cat-only, a clinic willing to make the effort to get this accreditation is probably more likely than the average clinic to be knowledgeable about cats’ specific needs.

 

[Alldara]

PS. I wouldn't get another cat if the shelter said she was a solo cat

 

[Jangalian]

I'd ask the shelter for more info, see what her background really was and if shes cat aggressive. She might have more going on emotionally than you realized, like being half of a bonded pair.

 

[OopsyDaisy]

Thanks so much to you all for your new replies. We appreciate it.

I don't know where there is this obsession here in the UK and Europe with vets recommending dry food only diets.

And when it comes to wet food, companies like Animoda and Feringa, available on the website ZooPlus, say that Whiskas and Felix are the McDonald's equivalent. But I guess they would say that, to sell their pure meat wet foods for cats.

This morning, she struggled getting through her cat flap door, but it's raining hard so the plastic and her fur are wet, and she has to climb up two wet bricks and then kind of reach up and over to get her body into the door, so her struggle wasn't just because of her weight.

Our vet described her as obese, but O always fear in the back of my mind that her noticeable body curves are cancer. Our first cat was also called fat, but the fat turned out to be cancer. We get our current cat checked twice each year though.

Here are some photos.

Thanks again.View attachment 440691View attachment 440691View attachment 440692View attachment 440693View attachment 440694View attachment 440694View attachment 440691View attachment 440692View attachment 440693View attachment 440694

She looks really sweet and cuddly...but yes, a tad on the chunky side. My vet wants to see "a waist". Working on it!

 

[MillsParents]

If the rescue said “only cat” they probably had a good reason for saying that.

Many cats do enjoy the companionship of another cat, but not all of them. If other cats make her stressed out or aggressive, this may not be an option for her. With a lot of time and patience an intro might still work, but she may not feel any better afterward if she’s just tolerating and does not actually like the other cat.



I would disagree about her being depressed. Cats can be depressed or life-disruptingly stressed after something like the death of a companion or other major change, but they usually lose their appetite.

Her lack of energy may have a more biological origin. Hypothyroid isn’t all that common in cats, but if other things don’t work just keep it in the back of your mind that hypothyroid is possible and might eventually be worth checking. She also might have some kind of pain going on that makes play/movement unappealing.

I think A Alldara also made a really good point that being underfed could also cause the lack of energy if it started the same time her food restrictions did.

Did she ever like to play, even when you first adopted her?

How much do you know about her history? Some cats that have experienced hunting real prey are not all that interested in fake bird/mouse toys, but may show more interest in toys that either don’t resemble prey (eg. more string-like toys) or toys that use a wire to make them bounce/weave like an insect in flight like The Cat Dancer (horribly overpriced on UK Amazon, try to find another source).

Also pay attention to anything non-toy that she shows an interest in playing with. Many cats go absolutely nuts for nylon classical guitar/ukulele strings, or the plastic strapping used on boxes (like this - ask at a store with lots of small boxes like an office supply store or an Argos, employees are constantly cutting that stuff off and throwing it away - narrow/lightweight ones tend to be the most fun for cats rather than heavy pallet strapping). NEVER let her play with a string toy unsupervised, and never encourage her to play with a string she might find on her own like dental floss she could fish out of the trash - if a cat swallows a string, it can cause an extremely dangerous condition called intussuception. But instrument strings and plastic strapping are OK toys for supervised play.

If she doesn’t want to chase a toy, see if she will roll on her side/back and swat at it if you keep it within reach. Sometimes that’s easier for cats that are low on energy, and it still gets their heart rate up and their muscles moving.

One of the best times for play can be when she’s pestering you for food.

And please, please stop with the tablespoon full of dry kibble per day. You cannot “tough love” a cat, and rapid weight loss can be dangerous for cats. And being that underfed will make her miserable and stressed. She will be much better off with a small reduction in her usual food or a weight-loss canned food, given as 2-4 small meals spaced throughout the day.

Hi,

Yes that's very true - like with people, depression tends to lead to not eating as much, rather than eating too much, in most cases. And she doesn't seem depressed in general, with bright eyes, very alert, interested, curious and very affectionate. She just worships her food.

The shelter didn't know much about her background, which we find is typical.

Over the five years we've had the utter privilege of being her parents so far, she's not played a massive amount previously, no, but I would say she stayed outside for longer, like half an hour each time, whereas now she goes out for 5 or 6 sessions of just five minutes each.

Your suggestions about toys are helpful - thank you.

 

[MillsParents]

I think it comes down to a tendency to value dogs over cats (even if your individual vet does not, their vet school may have) and to make the mistake of assuming whatever is good for dogs must also be good for cats.

Dogs are omnivores and can handle more carbohydrates in their diets than cats (cats are obligate carnivores). As carnivores, cats are also more geared towards ripping/tearing food and will often swallow food without chewing. You may hear some crunching when they eat, but if you’ve ever seen a cat vomit after eating dry food you’ll notice that most of the kibbles are still full size/unchewed. So the ability of cats to get dental benefits from dry food is pretty questionable.

This website has a search tool that might help you find a cat-friendly clinic in the UK. The standards for the “cat friendly” accreditation are mostly about things like not making cats wait in a room with barking dogs than they are about knowledge of feline nutrition, but some of the clinics are cat-only clinics. Even for the ones that aren’t cat-only, a clinic willing to make the effort to get this accreditation is probably more likely than the average clinic to be knowledgeable about cats’ specific needs.

I completely agree with you - vets in the UK do, in my experience, seem to value dogs more than cats.

 

[MillsParents]

I'd ask the shelter for more info, see what her background really was and if shes cat aggressive. She might have more going on emotionally than you realized, like being half of a bonded pair.

You might be right!

And we will also ask the vet to check again for thyroid or other pain issues. They begrudgingly check each time we take her, and say she's fine.

She HATES going int he cat to our vet which is only 1 mile away, but maybe finding a cat-friendly vet would help make future trips easier, given time.