My cat will not stop eating, and is getting fatter and fatter... any ideas?

[sheilarose]

Aha! That Aldi food is like PIE, you just can't get enough but it's sooo bad for you.

I tried my lot on one box of the dried food, it sent Sammy mental (he has intolerance to grain anyway but this was like Speed) and severely affected the behaviour of the others. The rest of the box went to the dustcart, I'm pleased to say.

I still give them Vitacat stick treats, one each, once a day, and they take your hand off for them. So cheap but for training purposes, so valuable. 

[thekittensmittens]

well i asked this question about my seemingly super greedy cat Miyagi, it turns out in his case he was addicted to the aldi wet food, since changing to a good quality dry with a wet sachet (not aldi ) he has now cracked his food addiction

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

They are lovely 

I think you are right to be concerned about Daisy's weight.   It's hard to get cats to lose weight so best to try and nip it in the bud before it becomes more of a problem and she starts having health issues as a results.  Cats need to be fed a low carb diet as they are obligate carnivores so dry food is not good for them, esp dry food with lots of cereal and a low meat content.  Wet food is much better for most cats.  Fingers crossed switching her food to wet will do the trick.   I feed Jaffa wet food only and Mosi about 2/3 wet and 1/3 grain free dry.  Neither have ever been overweight.  Supervised set meals are also good as it stops greedy cats eating other cats food!  I have to feed set meals as my cats eat different foods, one being 14 and the other being 5.

[Kirst]

I am having the same problem with Gizmo - although he actually doesn't eat that much he seems to be getting fatter and fatter - they are off to the vets for their boosters on Thursday so I will get him checked out - and if he is otherwise healthy then he is joiningg his Meowmy on a strict diet!

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Miss Hoola Hips is very lovely and she is quite a short cat a bit like Leonie but with longer fur 

[Rosella moggy]

Oh my indeed.  What beauties they are 

This is our jelly belly ...on arrival in May 2008 compared to more recently  . 

"Hoola hoola hips" and yes I know very beautiful too.  That's what puddietats are tho eh? 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

They are both gorgeous 

[souffle]

I just wondered if she has had a full vet screen? Certain illnesses can cause excess hunger and urine infections and hunger are a symptom of diabetes and although most cases show weight loss there are some hormonal and other things that can cause weight gain. It may be worth having her blood checked out if you havn't had this done already?
I hope she is just a bit of a glutton and would definitely have a bright 'don't feed me as I am on a special diet' collar attached to see if that helps.
Many the plump puss has several dinner stops every day 

[Tiggy's Mum]

What a gorgeous pair 

She is definitely on the *ahem* portly side from that pic of her on her back  As you say she is definitely fat rather than fluffy or 'heavier than the normal range but not fat' then I would be inclined to make a concerted effort, as you're doing now, to stop her scavenging and cut back the treats as it's only going to get worse the older she gets.

Switching from wet food to dry food will definitely help keep her fuller so might stop her gorging when she gets the opportunity. As a human who loves eating I think there is something in us - whether we're human or animal - that predisposes us to overeating! My sister was raised the same as me as there's not that big a gap between us but she doesn't get the same pleasure out of eating that I do and definitely isn't as food focused as me!

[laurendo]

You most definitely have the best smileys! 

If anyone is interested these are my lovely ladies...

We have Daisy having a sunbathe first... lol.  Then they snuggle up together occasionally!

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Tummy rolls/bags are just normal with many cats and no diet or exercise will help I am afraid 

[sheilarose]

You have found, without exception, the best cat community there is. In my experience of around one whole year, there are experts here in just about every aspect of cat life all of whom can't help themselves but to help you cos thats the kind of people they are, Purrs People.

Please do feel free to add your own experiences as we all, without exception, accept that there is always more to learn.

And we have the best Smileys 

[laurendo]

Thanks everyone for your replies.  Very surprised at the level of response!

I feel very reassured that maybe I can leave Daisy to it.  I have moved her to wet food as suggested - due to her UTIs but if it will help her weight then all the better! 

For those who said maybe she is just heavy - she is definitely fat.  She has rolls and her tummy hangs down as though she has had kittens (which she hasn't!).  I have had maine coon mixes before who were very heavy boys but undeniably sleek and fit.    She is not a very tall cat, just regular sized.  She is also not long haired.  Lily is, which does make it harder to tell, I agree.  Lily looks enormous but you feel her and she feels just right.  Plus she self regulates quite happily, which is also why I can't believe Daisy isn't being fed enough.

I feel like maybe I can leave her to be.  She is very cuddly as she is...     I just feel bad when I see people in the street look at her and laugh... but then I've only ever had slim, fit cats before.  I have tried to encourage exercise with various toys, but unfortunately Daisy isn't particularly energetic - she just rolls onto her back so her stomach is on show and waits for the toy to come past... 
Da Bird and Da Mouse look good, so I think I will give them a try.  I would like to encourage her to keep fitter as I would hate her health to suffer as she gets older.

Anyway, thanks again everybody.  I seem to have stumbled onto a lovely community!

 

[sheilarose]

I always gain 10% in winter and lose it again when the weather picks up. Blame it on hunkering down in front of the fire/telly instead of playing out.

I suggest it's the same for Daisy, plus she's had that yoyo diet thing going on with her aneamia earlier in the year. The anaemia may have also triggered her appetite control.

She's gained about 10% over her lowest body weight  - when she was ill. But she's only 5% heavier than she was when she came to you and was healthy. I think you've got less to worry about than you think. We can't all be supermodels. My Pursley is 4.2 kilos, the perfect weight for her size but has never had a waistline and has always looked like she's pregnant (she's 15). Her weight goes up and down by about 5% depending on the season and whether she can be bothered to dash about the house.

I would measure Daisy's tummy with a tape measure so you can assess what's happening in between vet weigh-ins. 

Now you mentioned UTIs - in female cats the usual treatment involves anti-biotics to kill off the fungal infection and a swap to wet food to increase urine flow. Has your vet mentioned this? Switching to a lower calorie wet food would fill her up and increase her fluid intake, so worth a shot, I think.

Try the purely Tuna in cans from Pets at Home, my lot love it.

[Liz]

We have a tad more than the average cat home but ours range in weight from 8 Kgs Caspurr Ragdoll and Star our foster NFC down to Miss Storm who at 10 years old weighs 2.2kgs wet through

Having been advised by our vet that a couple of the ladies were a tad on the cuddley side we up the exercise regieime and it made no difference they have maintained their weights for over 4 years now so we live and let live

I would say that ours are free fed, they get tea at 5pm, top up of bowls at 11pm and topped again in the morning I find this stops the pigout ones from being food obsessed

I also have the big laser freestanding toy from the shop and my inside crew play 4 hours a day my ferals do love that big red dot, I also have things hanging from the door frames, mice, pingpong balls, feather sticks and other things the kids nick to play woth currently the puppies nylon bone is a favourite for taking upstairs and then throwing back down not much fun at 3am but thats my night time ferals favourite thing currently

[JackSpratt]

*coughs* Don't worry, Noni. I've got your back. In all fairness, she is indeed a bit of a hog.....I put it down to being a former stray.

Does Daisy get a lot of interactive play? It can help burn off excess curves. I think although it's something that seems common in former strays, some cats just have the instinct to eat "just in case."

[Rosella moggy]

  to Purrs

The fact that you weigh out her food suggests it is dry food?  If that's right, I agree with Helen that changing to mainly wet food would be good.  Decent quality stuff with a high meat content.  Da Bird toy and Da Mousey also good suggestions.

I have been (and am sorry to say still am) in the same boat  I gotta be careful how I put this as her other mummy is bound to pop by     

whispers we have 7 cats but only one is a complete and utter gorb (AKA HRH Princess Noni Baroni who is 5 years old this month).     

You will doubtless get members telling you that 4.7kgs is nothing at all but I assume Daisy, like Noni, is quite short?  If she is normal size, I don't think 4.7kgs is bad.  Don't worry about fat clogging up her arteries as cats natural diet is meat and fat.  I would however be upset to think of Noni eating out of bin bags and would ask neighbours not to leave them out  . 

I have sort of given up on Noni's eating probs as she seems to have calmed down a wee bit although she is about 5kgs and should really be about 3.5kgs  .  After a couple of years of "being starved", she seems to have given up the constant begging.  I completely cut down on her treats and reduced her dry food to a little sprinkle on her wet food for supper.  Have you thought of getting Daisy a "Don't feed me" collar in case she is being fed elsewhere?

ETA  Just a thought... is she fluffy coz fluffy cats can look fatter than they are.  Just saw Gill's post and can confirm that we also have a tall, lithe, black beauty called Millie who weighs more than Noni but doesn't have an ounce of fat on her.  You can definitely feel jelly bellies; shouldn't go by weight alone.

I assume Daisy's 1/2 sister is the same size as Daisy, eats the same amount and it satisfies her appetite?

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

How much do you feed her?

She sounds like she is starving and that maybe she is not being fed enough.

Unless she is a very small cat her weight does not sound excessive and vets do tend to think most cats fat LOL

I have a 14 month kitten, a birman who will be growing for another two years and he already weighs in excess of 4.5kgs and no fat on him at all, he is going to be a very big boy.

He came to me at 10 months and would eat anything and still steals food but his tummy became upset after he was neutered and its taken 3 months with special food to get it stable. I suspect he lost most of what he ate with his upset tummy.

My two moggies are big and have too much weight I think but at 6 to 6.5 kgs and large bones they will never be svelt  They dont eat that much either.

The other thing to remember is all moggies have various breeds in them so the simple weight classification done by the vets is often way out. If your cat had a maine coon or norwegian forest cat in their history they could grow very big and heavy.

[Tiggy's Mum]

  to Purrs

I'm not too hot on the nutrition side of things (although others are so hopefully they will be along soon) but have you tried increasing her exercise at all? There is a magical toy called a Da Bird which gets even the sedatest of cats leaping around so if food is a problem for her then maybe you could try and take the edge off with exercise?

Is she on dry food or wet food? I believe dry food contributes to weight gain moreso than wet food but again, others are more clued up on nutrition than me!

[laurendo]

I have had my cat Daisy and her (half) sister Lily for just over a year.  They are 5 years old.  When they came to me, Daisy was a little overweight, weighing in at 4.5kg... she is quite big anyway and the vet said that the weight classified her as overweight but not obese.

Anyway, we moved her onto set meals, weighed out throughout the day (no free feeding) and supervised so that she did not eat Lily's food.  When she next went back, she had gained 100g...!

She then developed anemia due to fleas (they were being treated, but the vet thinks that one of the fleas had some bacteria that causes anemia... I didn't just leave them to suck all her blood!) but it caused her to slim down and she was about 4.3kg.  She looked a lot better, had some shape in her waist and hips.
But the last few months she has shot up to 4.7kg, and is starting to look really fat.

She has had repeated urinary tract infections, which have been treated with antibiotics.  I don't know if it is linked.  However her problem is that she cannot stop eating.  Literally, she will eat anything - muffins cooling on a rack on top of the fridge, crisps, bread, tomato sauce, sweetcorn, cheese, mayonnaise, cakes, scones, chicken and fish... anything.  And she will literally strike like a snake to steal food from our plates.  We rinse out plates and pans now to try and avoid her licking them, but she will fish out food that is floating in a pan that is soaking.  This morning I caught her licking the OIL out of a pan my partner left out this morning... and it had had a fair bit in.  I can't bear to think of that fat clogging her up her little catty arteries.  On two occasions in the last two days neighbours have caught her ripping open left out bin bags and eating whatever she finds inside, and she cries at neighbours back doors for food.

I don't know what to do with her.  She is permanently hungry, despite having been wormed.  She has never been a stray, so she has never developed the "this could be my last meal ever" mentality.  Lily does not seem bothered by food at all, and the various rescues my family have had over the years never have either.  I don't know what to do and she is just continually gaining weight.  Any food makes her like this  regardless of how much she has eaten.

Sorry to ramble... has anyone else had a problem like this?