Topic: Overweight cat - advice needed! (Read 10025 times)

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #51 on:** November 17, 2009, 09:56:55 AM »

I'd emphasise tuna as a treat only. I'm pretty sure our Tom and Gandolf developed fatty lumps as a result of too much tuna over the years and they can be quite uncomfortable.

Millys Mum · « **Reply #50 on:** November 15, 2009, 19:32:17 PM »

3 out of those 4 are complementary so i would still be wary. Tuna can be addictive to some cats so would keep that as a treat for her

Fire Fox · « **Reply #49 on:** November 15, 2009, 16:41:50 PM »

Asda sell the large tins of Feline Fayre, including the tuna variety for 60p which is absolutely packed with fish! Still not a complete food but perhaps more balanced (and cheaper) than tuna in water?

Janeyk · « **Reply #48 on:** November 15, 2009, 12:45:55 PM »

Quote from: viking_snail on November 15, 2009, 12:38:05 PM

We were wondering whether little cans of tuna (in springwater) would be ok for a meal for her?

they should be fine occasionally

viking_snail · « **Reply #47 on:** November 15, 2009, 12:38:05 PM »

She doesn't just eat Encore - well, we have a multi pack of it at the moment so she's getting quite a bit - but usually she'll get Applaws, Almo Nature and Royal Canin. She probably gets the other stuff more often - it's just that Encore is on sale at the moment!

We were wondering whether little cans of tuna (in springwater) would be ok for a meal for her?

Millys Mum · « **Reply #46 on:** November 14, 2009, 19:38:01 PM »

If she eats encore and very limted dry she wont have enough complete food in her diet, is there another brand she can eat that is complete to balance that out?
Hopefully when her exercise is increased you will see results

viking_snail · « **Reply #45 on:** November 14, 2009, 12:09:43 PM »

Well, unfortunately the losing weight isn't going very well

We've been feeding her the same stuff (Encore etc) - she has been getting 3 70g cans a day and while I tried to not give her any dry food, my mum had other ideas! Admittedly the exercise hasn't gone to plan as we've been ill recently, but I'm picking that up again now.

In the past couple of weeks she has gained weight and is now roughly 6.9kg

We're thinking about giving her 2 cans a day - and I will be strictly monitoring my mum and the dry food!

We've been told to feed her for a 5kg cat - just how much should a 5kg cat be eating?

viking_snail · « **Reply #44 on:** October 27, 2009, 16:48:15 PM »

Ok, thanks! I'll give it a go and see if it helps

Dawn F · « **Reply #43 on:** October 27, 2009, 16:44:14 PM »

I think with those you have to give them something like a toy mouse or something that they can kill at the end of the game

viking_snail · « **Reply #42 on:** October 27, 2009, 16:42:11 PM »

Hmm, well I always try to let her have a good go at whatever it is we're playing with before starting again, but that's a bit tricky with a laser pen!

Dawn F · « **Reply #41 on:** October 27, 2009, 16:25:57 PM »

I remember reading somewhere that they should be allowed to kill something at the end otherwise they get frustrated

viking_snail · « **Reply #40 on:** October 27, 2009, 16:17:37 PM »

Well, we're persevering with the diet and exercise - we haven't cut out the dry food completely, but she now only gets it in her treat ball (and only when she's done lots of exercise!) and occaisionally one of her meals will be dry food when money is tight. Hopefully it is helping

The exercise is getting tricky though! She can get quite angry when we get her to run about (I don't know if she just really gets into wanting to kill that string/ball/laser etc, or if she just doesn't like it!) and will growl a fair bit, occaisionally taking it out on our other cats

Any advice on that one?

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #39 on:** October 25, 2009, 11:43:20 AM »

Just found this on a US Forum, might be of interest

The Winn Feline Foundation blogs about a study done on the impact protein and carbs have on kitty weight loss.

http://winnfelinehealth.blogspot.com...t-in-cats.html

Basically, it boils down to....a higher protein, lower carbohydrate diet (wet food or, even better, raw food) means the cats will/can lose weight even if they eat more than a cat on a higher carb, lower protein diet (any kind of kibble, including prescription).
__________________

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #38 on:** October 24, 2009, 10:13:23 AM »

Congrats on all the cats who have lost weight. Depending on the age of the cat, senior food can help, and I always feed senior/light dry to the cats who are a bit overweight.

fluffybunny · « **Reply #37 on:** October 23, 2009, 20:01:08 PM »

*waves*

My Geoffrey has lost 1kg in the past 8 months. Contrary to some other suggestions, I was feeding nature's menu/bozita and swapped to the Royal Canin Ultra light pouches and light biscuits. To start with, I gave him one pouch each, morning and evening and half a pouch at lunchtime and a small pinch of biscuits at bedtime. As he lost weight and I wanted to stabilise him I started swapping the lunchtime half pouch into a small pinch of biscuits, and he is now nicely stable at 6.3kg - which still sounds a lot but my vet says he is a big cat and it's about the right weight. I was already playing with him a lot, but the other thing I started doing was removing Milly's food when she walked away from it - previously he was just hoovering up her leftovers so I was quite strict to stop him doing that.

So I guess although RC may not 'technically' be the best food, having tried lots of options over the past couple of years, it's the thing that's worked best for me! Good luck with yours...it does seem painstakingly slow, but I'm sure you'll get there in the end.

Smudgey · « **Reply #36 on:** October 22, 2009, 16:54:07 PM »

onwards and upwards then Viking snail or should that be downwards lol
Good luck and keep us informed

viking_snail · « **Reply #35 on:** October 22, 2009, 11:51:42 AM »

Congrats on Abby losing that weight!

Barry went to the vets yesterday and the vet doesn't think she has any kind of underlying health problems so that's good

She weighed her at 6.6kg and said we should aim to get her to 5kg, and we've got another appointment in a month to see how she's doing. She was a really nice vet - didn't give us a lecture about it and didn't try to force their dry food onto us! She said the most important thing is to take it slowly and even if Barry is only at 6.5kg next time then it's a step in the right direction. She reckons what we're feeding her is the right stuff and to keep up the exercise.

Barry won't eat anything other than cat food it seems - she's never been one to hassle us for our food, and isn't interested in fresh meat atall. We thought about getting her some fresh fish but all that would achieve is our other cats trying to steal it!

Kay and Penny · « **Reply #34 on:** October 21, 2009, 23:25:28 PM »

Tiffany won't eat any fresh meat or fish, cooked or raw, and only a few mouthfuls of wet food

but at least she is starting to run around more with Tosker, mostly away from him

I suppose cats are like people really - if the diet can't be modified much more exercise might do the trick - and that has other health benefits too, of course

Fire Fox · « **Reply #33 on:** October 21, 2009, 23:21:42 PM »

You might try a raw skinless chicken wing? They are low fat, low carb, high protein and not at all expensive. My Noah was going at his first ever (with me anyway!) for well over half an hour, absolutely loved it and really slowed his eating!

Kay and Penny · « **Reply #32 on:** October 21, 2009, 22:34:29 PM »

I was listening from bed to Tiffany raiding the JWB I put down in the bedroom for Trigger, who won't eat if Tosker is around (and he usually is

)

it was quite alarming listening to the rhymatic crunching, which went on and on and on, and which reminded me so much of kids in the cinema with big bags of popcorn

no wonder she's fat, but it just reinforces my belief that this is a behavioural thing rather than a physical one

Janeyk · « **Reply #31 on:** October 21, 2009, 22:29:01 PM »

Quote from: Smudgey on October 21, 2009, 22:28:06 PM

Update on Abby she weighs 4.83kg today her lowest weight yet way to go Abby

well done Abby! and you x

Smudgey · « **Reply #30 on:** October 21, 2009, 22:28:06 PM »

Update on Abby she weighs 4.83kg today her lowest weight yet way to go Abby

Millys Mum · « **Reply #29 on:** October 21, 2009, 11:33:19 AM »

A strict amount of diet dry will work but i dont think its nice for the cat to be hungry, they will raid outside food sources if they get the chance.
If Lola was presented with 60g bix for the day she would be mortified

thats why i think using wet is better, they can eat that much more for the same calories

viking_snail · « **Reply #28 on:** October 20, 2009, 20:31:53 PM »

CarolM: That's really kind of you! Unfortunately I live in Northampton so not very close! But thanks!

Mervyn7451: I'm sorry to hear that

The treat ball is a good idea - whenever Barry is hassling us for food, we put a tiny amount of biscuits in there which keeps her amused for a while and stops the begging! Sometimes we can even get her to run for it!

She's done good with exercising today, managed to spark some more interest in the laser pen and had her running up and down the stairs!

CarolM (Wendolene) · « **Reply #27 on:** October 20, 2009, 19:04:02 PM »

Quote from: Fire Fox on October 20, 2009, 18:25:32 PM

May I ask you both if the type of food was the only thing you changed? What I mean is did you also start exercising portion control and/ or change from wet to dry or dry to wet and/ or more wet or dry and/ or more physical activity? Hope that makes sense.

Korky was always already overweight on 'normal' wet food but he really piled it on when he was diagnosed with kidney problems and the vet put him on DRY renal food, so I suppose you could say that when he went on the O/M wet pouches he was changing from dry to wet. The O/M was considered to be the best option for him because it was lower in phosphate content than a lot of 'normal' foods so better for his kidneys. We followed the recommended portion sizes which in fact were the same as the portion sizes he had been used to when he ate 'normal' wet food (just lower in calories) which I think was a huge advantage because he didn't feel deprived. Did we increase physical exercise? We tried but Korky's idea of physical exercise was to chew more vigorously

Any attempts to get him to work harder left us exhausted and Korky bemused but defiant.

Smudgey · « **Reply #26 on:** October 20, 2009, 18:54:07 PM »

Abby has been more active we have been more helpful with things like Da bird and a laser but she runs and scales the doors here anyway but she def seems more agile now lol
all best at the vets we have a weigh in tomorrow once every 4 weeks

mervyn7451 · « **Reply #25 on:** October 20, 2009, 18:37:35 PM »

Quote from: viking_snail on October 20, 2009, 14:32:41 PM

Thanks for everyone's replies - you've been so helpful! I'll be sure to avoid any foods with high carbs from now on. I just have to work on my mum now - she's terrible at being firm and not giving any extra food so I shall be monitoring her as well as Barry!

@mervyn7451 - that's terrible! Was Orbit ok in the end? We're off to the vets tomorrow, fingers crossed she's ok!

He was for a few months but sadly passed away in September.

Janeyk · « **Reply #24 on:** October 20, 2009, 18:27:42 PM »

I know of someone who still fed dry but weighed out portions and they managed to get their cat to the correct weight eventually.

Fire Fox · « **Reply #23 on:** October 20, 2009, 18:25:32 PM »

That's interesting we have two people who the diet foods have been successful for, as of course it's human nature for us to be more vocal when something isn't successful! May I ask you both if the type of food was the only thing you changed? What I mean is did you also start exercising portion control and/ or change from wet to dry or dry to wet and/ or more wet or dry and/ or more physical activity? Hope that makes sense.

CarolM (Wendolene) · « **Reply #22 on:** October 20, 2009, 17:27:37 PM »

Quote from: viking_snail on October 20, 2009, 14:32:41 PM

I just have to work on my mum now - she's terrible at being firm and not giving any extra food so I shall be monitoring her as well as Barry!

My mum was the same. Korky knew it and would pester her until she gave him something. If she had nothing else she would give him butter

Not everyone agrees with 'diet' foods but we had some success with the Royal Canin Obesity Management pouches which the vet recommended. If you live anywhere near Bolton or the M62 between Bolton and Leeds I have some going spare (no charge) if you choose to go down that route.

viking_snail · « **Reply #21 on:** October 20, 2009, 14:32:41 PM »

Thanks for everyone's replies - you've been so helpful! I'll be sure to avoid any foods with high carbs from now on. I just have to work on my mum now - she's terrible at being firm and not giving any extra food so I shall be monitoring her as well as Barry!

@mervyn7451 - that's terrible!

Was Orbit ok in the end? We're off to the vets tomorrow, fingers crossed she's ok!

Smudgey · « **Reply #20 on:** October 20, 2009, 13:49:31 PM »

Abby our lovely girl (Inside only cat) has been on hills r/d wet and dry food diet from the vet for nearly a year she has gone from 6.6 kilos to 4.9 with a few blips along the way
The key i have found is YOU have to be firm don't give in to please can i have some more
Measure out a set amount of food per day and spread the meals out accross the day
we also have a treat ball into which i put some of her daily allowance of dried food, so she has to work for it
Abby always tries to finish Zak's dinner so when he leaves it it gets put away for later
She has turned into a bin raider will steal packets of meat and make holes in if i don't put them away
But then she does realise that she is not goona get anymore eventually lol
Everytime i go to the kitchen she is there to see if i will give her anything lol
good luck and persevere

Fire Fox · « **Reply #19 on:** October 20, 2009, 13:07:52 PM »

Quote from: viking_snail on October 20, 2009, 12:10:20 PM

She will generally have a pouch/can of wet food twice a day - either Applaws, Encore, Almo Nature, Royal Canin light or Hills Science Plan light. She also has Hills Science plan light biscuits - although we've just started reducing the biscuits and replacing them with more wet food.
Most of her food seems to have a high meat/low carb content - haven't got any of the Hills pouches in to check the ingredients at the moment. Should we be avoiding these ones then?

Hills Science wet contains meat derivatives and cereals, as does Royal Canin (ingredients on Pets at Home website) so I'd just use up what you have. The Science Plan Light biscuits are primarily rice, again a carbohydrate/ cereal. Applaws, Almo and Encore are all great if memory serves me correctly - alternatives include Bozita wet, Pets at Home Purely and Feline Fayre, all high meat and no cereals.

mervyn7451 · « **Reply #18 on:** October 20, 2009, 12:47:15 PM »

viking snail,
Get her to the vets! I thought Orbit was putting on weight but later found out it was actually fluid accumulating around his heart due to early life liver(?) failiure.I'm sure the firt vet I took him to misdiagnosed him because it was'nt until I took him to a closer vet than the one I originly used,they found out what was really wrong.

viking_snail · « **Reply #17 on:** October 20, 2009, 12:10:20 PM »

She will generally have a pouch/can of wet food twice a day - either Applaws, Encore, Almo Nature, Royal Canin light or Hills Science Plan light. She also has Hills Science plan light biscuits - although we've just started reducing the biscuits and replacing them with more wet food.
Most of her food seems to have a high meat/low carb content - haven't got any of the Hills pouches in to check the ingredients at the moment. Should we be avoiding these ones then?

Fire Fox · « **Reply #16 on:** October 19, 2009, 22:42:15 PM »

My understanding is that cats need much more protein and more fat than we do in our diets. In humans it's actually the combination of excess fats and excess carbs than lead to weight gain, not fats alone - if you think about Atkins Diet you lose weight eating high fat foods (tho in a very unhealthy way for a human). In cats it seems to be all about the carbs, their bodies are just not set up to use them for energy as we are.

When you say you were feeding Light, do you mean the Hills Light? Looking at the ingredients that seems to be higher in carbs and lower in meat than the standard Hills, lots of maize and rice. These are high glycaemic index carbs in humans, causing a lot of insulin to be produced which can cause weight gain around the waist. Can't say for sure it's the same in cats, as I'm just a beginner on feline nutrition, it's Gillian (Ambercats) who knows her stuff.

viking_snail · « **Reply #15 on:** October 19, 2009, 21:22:06 PM »

How important is it to watch the amount of fat in her food? We've just been going for the lower ones as you'd assume they're the best - the highest she gets is 2.2%, the lowest 0.3%. Some of the Hi Life ones are a fair bit more - are they still ok or should we stick to the lightest available?

Gillian Harvey · « **Reply #14 on:** October 19, 2009, 20:31:20 PM »

Definitely agree with MM - dry food is the problem, too many carbs which are not needed - even prescription and so called 'light' diets.

I'd also stick to wet food, like the ones you are already giving her - others which are high meat and no carb are Hi Life real meat pouches and Natures Menu. There are a couple of low carb dry if you still wanted her to have a few biscuits (although I'd still limit those and go for 2-3 wet food meals a day) - such as Applaws dry and Orijen dry.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #13 on:** October 19, 2009, 20:27:26 PM »

Misa has to sample every dish he walks past!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michelle (furbabystar) · « **Reply #12 on:** October 19, 2009, 20:09:25 PM »

I was told that the best dry food is RC obesity but you have to be firm about not feeding too much

Author Topic: Overweight cat - advice needed! (Read 10025 times)