Need help with Tiggers diet

[Tiggy's Mum]

How about 'very portly' then    He is most definitely gorgeous though, stunning markings  I think combining exercise with a slightly reduced portion size is the way to go but I wouldn't cut him down too quickly otherwise he will be very hungry if he's used to a certain amount of food.

[angelinajolly]

Portly is an under statement Tiggy's mum   But he's one beautiful kid, I just can't understand how the weight loss came to a stand still we were doing so well & he hasn't fallen off the wagon    Thanks for the info about photobucket i would never have worked that one out i was getting    Might try cutting him down to 2 and a half packet's for a week see if it might work, but all he thinks about is food it's like an addiction. for all your help xx

[Tiggy's Mum]

Don't mean to be rude (forgive me Tigger!) but he definitely looks portly to me! 

Have a look here for a flowchart condition guide and some useful pics on the second link

http://www.pet-slimmers.com/shapecat.htm

http://www.swaynevets.co.uk/downloads/catBodyConditionScoring.pdf

[angelinajolly]

He is big Gill very big it was affecting his breathing, he has to have large cat wormers, must be my photos not showing his size heres another(please do not judge my photos, i wont be winning rhe cat show with my photos!)

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

He doesnt look fat to me and his pouch number sounds fine.

[angelinajolly]

F  Hope this works Tiggys mum fingers crossed.  I use whiskas & felix good as it looks. Here goes let's see if we get pictures If this comes out anything like preview you'll see as he is & how he will be

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

3 pouches a day doesn't sound excessive to me.  That's what Jaffa has (plus dreamies twice a day) and he maintains his weight on that even though he's an older, indoor cat who doesn't take a whole lot of exercise.  Mosi has half that amount with the remainder made up with biscuits.  He is more active but also maintains his weight (I consider biscuits to be more "fattening" than meat so he probably takes in more calories than Jaffa).

What wet food are you feeding?  Does it contain cereals/veg deriviatives?  If it does, I would consider buying one without as cereals, soy etc. aren't ideal for a cat and make a food carbier which, imo, will not help with weight loss.  carbs tend to = weight gain for cats.

[Tiggy's Mum]

When you hover over a pic on photo bucket it offers you four links - IMG is the one you want (think its the fourth one down from memory). Just click on that and it should automatically copy it. Then just paste the long link into your post on Purrs and when you click post it will show as a photo

[angelinajolly]

I don't know his weight Gill if i had to guess i'd say around the stone mark.  I've spent 2 day's trying to get photo's from photobucket to give you an idea but can't get the photos from phtobucket to here

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I think you should try some good quality nip toys from the Purrs shop and a da bird, even if they sit arong not being used for long periods of time they will , I am sure, get played with.

Da bird has to be kept hidden till play time and once in a while you bring it out and guarentee they will love it.

Withouit any kind of stimulation they will just eat and sleep.

Mine dont play much but they go back to the same old nip toys they love and suck and roll and bunny kick.

Da bird comes out usually in the garden but worried about Lupin getting tangled up in his lead cos he is hypo for it.

What weight is Tigger????????

[Mymblesdaughter]

How about something like this http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_toys/miscellaneous/catit/232754 It will make him work for his food. My two are both indoor cats at the moment so I try to get them moving around as much as possible. They didn't like the laser pen but both love da bird. I don't think I've heard of a cat yet that didn't like it, it really gets them moving. 

[angelinajolly]

We had a laser pen once cat's got bored but hubby & son liked it too much i had to confiscate it, in other words i killed it 

[Liz]

I have 3 dogs - Adult Border Collies and remember in the dim and distant past of having only 7 cats mine now come in a very lot of multiples of 7

The laser pen is a great toy our Border Collies love the red dot as much as the cat and have had to ban them playing inside with it since OH and the cats and dogs broke me Latte Mug

We now play doggie laser pen after 11 pm most nights as the last plane is gone and they can run around and have a blast

[angelinajolly]

I'm ashamed to say my cat's don't have toy's  we only had 2 from kitties, Angel & Megs, they had toy's but did'nt bother as they got older.They all play tag a lot even Tiggs. When you've got 7 cat's(neighbours cat has packed suitcase & moved in) 1 dog & 2 humans in a tiny room i think we'd have chaos with the toy's!  Think the cat treat ball would work with Tiggs if he could smell food he wouldn't give up, have to hit the purrs shop He is still overweight needs to lose the same amount again, his probs started when we took him, he'd been an outdoor cat & he must of had a shock being neutered & then kept indoors for 3 weeks he hated being indoors & then that's when he started eating & eating.

[Liz]

I have several cat treat balls it makes them exercise and the amount of biscuits in them are negliable and it does make them chase their food, also have the laser pen and the Da bird

I play laser pen with the house cats well the standalone Purrs shop does

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

What is his weight?

Like some people some cats just are heavier than the guidelines.

I think to slash his food as the vet suggested is a very bad idea.

[angelinajolly]

No I really don't think he's getting food elsewhere my cat's don't like people unless they know them & I know where he is most of the time asleep, that's probably the probs! The only exercise he get's is running around looking for food.  I don't think this hot weather is helping he's asleep more than usual vet said i could cut him down to 1 pouch but i think that's too drastic.  I wonder if upping the food for a while might help i've had friends who were dieting & had the same probs & they upped their intake for a week or so & then cut back again, it worked for them but would it work on a cat? I'ts been hell for us because we have to feed all cat's on demand now & then put it away cause of Tiggs, whereas before we left the biccies out & they ate when they wanted.  Strange though Tiggs is the only over weight one.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Does he go out? If so do you think he may be either stealing food from a neighbours cat or being fed by a neighbour on purpose?

If not and you've cut his food right back with no biccies then exercise may be the way to go! Has he got a da bird (or da mouse) and a laser pen? Those two toys are great for getting lazy bones moving!

[angelinajolly]

Tigger has been on a diet for 5 months now we have seen some weight loss but not enough to make a difference We don't give him biscuits  but keep  him on 3 pouches of cat food a day, but he now seems to have stopped losing weight. Any thing else i can try?