Overweight pets
 

Ok, so I aquired a new cat in April. She will be a year old tomorrow. She is HUGE for a one year old (Im sure its got to do with whatever breed her parents were, which is unknown, except that somewhere in there she has def got some Siamese)

She is very active, though not allowed outside, I dont believe in outdoor cats as pets. She runs, jumps...we spend hours a day actively playing with her...

now to my question...good lord she has gotten fat. Her weight does not seem to affect her activity level at all. We do not feed her table food, up until this week she was on Purina kitten forumla...this week we changed her to adult cat weight control.

I've never ever had this problem with a cat and Im not sure what else I should be doing.

How do you get a cat to lose weight?

atkins? :D

Make it run on the treadmill? :D

I think you get a cat to lose weight the same way a human does... exercise more, eat less... Portion control on it's kitty chow... (measuring out her portions) Watch between meal kitty treats...

When she goes to the vet next, ask the doctor if her weight is normal? my parents had a cat that was huge... cat wasn't fat at all - he was lean and mean.. he was just big... if you feel around her tummy is she pudgey or do you feel muscle there?

I have 2 cats and they are both plumpers. Thanks for helping us out Mal. Atkins...............it's obvious.

:cool:

so I just ditch the catfood and feed her lots of bacon?

she gets no between meal treats and I only fill up her bowl once every 2 1/2 days so she's not eating THAT much...and like I said...she plays hard every single day..but yes she's got a gut on her lol

Hiya Shani :)

My take would be take her to the vet. When people are bigger than they wanna be and have problems losing the weight, they go to the doctor to see how to expidite the process- do the same with the cat. Could be the cat just got adolescent fat like us humans do, or perhaps it's got a thyroid condition or something. It's nice that you care- I see so many people with pets that are obviously unhealthy and their owners are oblivious to that fact!

Let us know if the Atkins Kitty Diet works!

When I got her in april, I got her from a vet that had had her since she was 2 months only (she was dumped in a box in front of the vets) She'd actually lived her whole life AT the vets, she had the run of the place lol

She was a little pudgy when we got her and the vet told me that they had run every test on her they could before they agreed to give her too me. Thats why Im confused....Im going to see if changing her food helps any...if not I will def take her back (she is due for shots soon anyway and I will prob wait to talk to her then as she is not showing any signs of anything being "wrong")

I just wondered if anyone had ever experienced something like this

I would guess that Purina kitten formula has a lot more fat and calories than adult weight control. As you have already suggested, I think that giving the weight control food time to work is a good idea.

My cat was not fat until one day I brought home a kitten. Simba decided to eat the kitten food instead of his own. Within months we noticed Simba got quite large. The vet kept telling me to get Science Diet cat food. Instead I feed him the indoor cat, weight control, tartar control Iams. He has lost a few pounds and seems more active now. The vet did mention that I need to watch his water intake. If he drinks too much, he might have diabetes. So far, he seems fine. Since your vet already did all the tests, I'd give the weight control food a chance. It might take a while to notice the difference. and I don't think it would hurt to mention it to the vet next time you go.

Who rules the house? You or your pet?
 

duh i posted something in the wrong place

Oh God, Sportswidow - I have my screen sized so that I read this:

"My cat was not fat until one day I brought home a kitten. Simba decided to eat the kitten"

And I was just thinking... What?

Shani I don't know what pet stores and brands you have available to you in your area, but I feed my boys a food called Performatrin, which is an all natural food. Even the so called "high-end" foods at most pet stores aren't that good...like feeding your cat McDonalds' every day.

Just to give you an idea, compare the following ingredients. These next ones are from Hill's Science Diet (the Adult Cat food), widely considered to be a high-end food:

Next is Performatrin:

My point is, there's actual food in the second one! It's a little bit more, but not quite as much more as you might think. It might be worth a try.

Shani, no bacon. Our vet told us that all pork is bad for cats (this came after we confessed to feeding them bacon). However, since our cats grew up eating bacon, they're not stupid when we suddenly have to cook some bacon for ourselves and they can smell it.

Therefore, Grancey feeds them little pieces of cheese when we cook bacon and tells them it's "yellow bacon." What the hell, they seem to believe her.

My dog is extremely overweight and hubby has finally agreed to knock off the people food. We are currently feeding him the Costco brand for older, inactive dogs. Does anyone have experience with another brand that they would recommend.

This can't be healthy for my Rottie. :(

It sounds like the problem is probably the kitten food. When our two recent adopted babies were on kitten food, our two older cats refused to eat their food and would sneak the kitten food. This caused several problems, including weight gain for the older cats. We expressed our concern to the vet of how we were going to keep our older cats out of the younger cats kitten food for six more months when they would reach a year old. The vet said, no problem, they can eat adult food at six months. This seemed to help. We have also used the Science Diet light with some success. Our two youngest are now almost two, and one of them weighs twice as much as the other one. They get the same everything, but one of them likes to eat more. Red says he'll outgrow it. I'm not sure about that. If you have just one cat, you can succeed with limiting food intake. Put food down twice a day, and pick it up with the cat is done. Don't feed again until the evening, so the cat doesn't get to snack. That's my "from experience" suggestion. Good luck. When you say "huge", how much are you talking about? Our cats range from 5 to 13 pounds. To weigh your cat, weigh yourself first then step on the scales with the cat. And again, good luck.

I honestly dont know how much she weighs lol I dont own a scale (evil things) my guess is (and its very difficult as she doesnt really allow us to pick her up ) about 15 pounds maybe a little less.

here are a few pics of her I just snapped

http://messageboard.techsavy.net/upl...pmorgana01.jpg

http://messageboard.techsavy.net/upl...pmorgana02.jpg

http://messageboard.techsavy.net/upl...pmorgana03.jpg

Wow Shani she has really grown!!! You were not kidding...

I agree with taking her off the kitten food (high fat, protein, calories) and switching to weight control formula. Now is the best time to do this as fat cats are notorious for developing diabetes. I have fed my cats Science Diet for seven years with no supplemental food of any kind and they have done wonderful. I recommend the R/D (reducing diet) or the W/D (weight diet) both are excellent foods that allow your cat to consume the same amount or more but have half the calories. Another tip for overweight pets is not to free feed them. This means pouring only the directed amount for her weight (as specified by the food bag) once daily. This will definately help with the weight loss. Good luck!!

OMG ShaniFaye! That is our cat's long-lost fat twin. One of our two youngest cats looks EXACTLY like that (even the cute little belly poking up).

Grancey says they've GOT to be siblings. She'll post a pic once she can narrow it down from 6,000.....

Be on the lookout for a picture of Baxter coming soon.

lol does yours have what I call the "siamese" voice? I always swore I would never have a siamese because I cant stand their meow and their talk....we she may not look like it, but Morg has def got the siames voicebox lol

now that sounds like good advice. sometimes they really aren't overweight and sometimes there is something else going on. i'm also a firm believer in dry food for all pets, which sometimes works better on weight issues.

see...thats another thing...Morganna is the first cat I've had to be on dry food. Every other cat I've had was on wet. And I am wondering if I should go back to using wet food lol (Just to clarify her thyroid WAS tested in april and it was fine, but it will of course be a question I ask when we go back...in case thats changed)

This is Baxter: the King of the Cats in this house and also the spitting image of Morganna

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...achtrip044.jpg

hmm ... I'm not sure if I ever heard any successful fatcat treatment.

It seems cruel to withold food.

My dog was getting a little heavy ... but we restricted him to one meal a day with up to one snack. It was sad because he kept moping around like he was starving. But, y'know, he later adapted and slimmed out to a more healthy shape.

But it somehow seems more creul to do that to a cat.

For what it's worth I've seen fatter cats ...

Oh, my. Twins separated at birth! :)

I heard from a friend today that her cat has been diagnosed with diabetes and she is overwhelmed with the vet bills, etc.

Shani, this is such a worthwhile thread if a fat cat or dog gets it's weight trimmed down to good health. Thank you sweetheart.:icare:

oh god they even lay the same hehehehe

thats a very pretty kitty you have there!!! ;)

We, of course were out of town for my grandfathers funeral so I couldnt see what she really thought of the new food, now that I have been home...I notice she is eating, but not NEAR as much as she did with the kitten food. Hopefully this will do the trick and I'll notice a difference in a few weeks.

Whenever we cook baked potatoes in the oven, I insert 4 toothpicks into them so that the potatoes stand on the 4 little "legs" and cook evenly all around.

So what do I call these fat little potato bodies standing on 4 tiny toothpick legs? "Baxters" of course!

Uhhh, don't look now ...


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../princess1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ncess2copy.jpg

oh no!!!!!! our cats are taking over the world hehehe

I wonder if whatever this breed is, is prone to to being larger

wow! i hope my cat doesn't reach that size! wow.
like i said in the "declawing" thread, it could be something very simple like declawing your cat. my friend had 2 cats. one was older, thin and still had his claws. and the new one was about a year old, no claws but so fat!! but both cat ate the same food.

ummm Morgana isnt declawed

Oh, I love it. These three are the cutest. Baxter is also the friendliest cat I've ever had to live with me. He loves visitors and brooms, and he never expresses fear except towards some shoes. Perhaps there is something genetic in the weight of cats that look like this. hmmmm

Magictoy, what is the name of your baby?

Baxter is also a champion moth hunter.

I noticed that all three of these chunks have short, stubby tails.

By the way, this afternoon after I got home from work I spent half an hour explaining to Grancey about some new teaching technology that we have at work now. Part of it is a video camera that acts like an overhead projector, and just as I was about to explain to her what types of things could be placed on the pad for filming/projection, Grancey burst out with, "CATS! You could put a cat up there for the class to watch!"

Ah, priorities.

Additionally, as I was trying to type this, another of our cats climbed up on the keyboard and had this to say. The following is exactly as he typed it:

gfvvvvvvty6uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
"""""""""""""""""""""/';.............

I havent metioned this...but Morgana is 1 year old today!!!!!!!!!

Shani (and all others with heavy kitties), I have a cat that was pretty big, too. I did some research on the net and this site seems the best info-wise http://www.pet-grub.com/preface.pets

Since I have been feeding them raw food, Kuma has lost about 3 kilos and Tabi is about the same as always. No dry food or canned. Their coats are wonderfully healthy and their eyes are very clear. They are energetic, they shit less and it doesn't stink as bad. I would recommend everyone give this a try.

:thumbsup: happy b-day then!
did you bake him a tuna cake? ehehe

A great find, Ratman. Thanks :thumbsup:

I can tell you EXACTLY why she is so fat.

You are feeding her cat food.

If you wanna kill your cat, feed it cat food. Any kind of cat food. Doesn't matter whether it's high end or low end, it's all garbage.

If you want your cat to lose weight and be healthy, feed it meat and some veggies mixed together that you would eat yourself.

Cats can not digest carbs. Cat food is loaded with carbs. Not to mention fillers, preservatives, ash, garbage, bottom of the barrel from the rendering plant that is completely unregulated. Again, all cat food regardless of what your vet or anyone else tells you is going to kill your cat.

Here's my story:

I inherited Spook from my ex. She was about 11 at the time and very overweight. She had been fed "diet" cat food for years by my ex and had not lost an ounce.

I took her to see a vet who is a big believer in naturalpathic vetranary service after my local vet wanted $1,100 to clean her teeth.

This vet told me that all processed animal food is poison and garbage. She told me that often vets are in the business of selling cat and dog food cause there is good money to be made. (She refuses to sell any of it ever.) (Vets also love to prescribe drugs, because again, there is big money in it. My vet abhores prescriptions unless it's a last resort.)

Instead, she gave me a recipe.

Roasted chicken, or turkey or oily fish - sardines, tuna, salmon, etc.

Take some raw Beans, peas, carrots, brocolli, cauliflower, carrots. Put the veggies in a food processor and mix to a pulp.

Mix veggies and meat in the ratio of 80% meat to 20% veggies.

Add some parsley for chlorphil, or brewer's yeast, or wheat grass.

Mix it all up.

Feed the cat this.

My cat is down from 16 pounds to 9 in about a year and holding at 9.

Keep in mind, she had never lost an ounce on Eukanuba Crap Diet Cat food.

You will see.

Cat's can not digest carbs or rice. It all turns to fat. Cats are almost pure carnivores.

I have a great deal of respect for this vet. She's been right on the money. Oh, and she cleaned my cat's teeth of tarter for $48.00 (vs. my vet who wanted $1,100.)

that puts me in mind of something I was gonna ask

Have any of ya'll had a cat that couldnt eat fish? I havent tired with morgana, but my other baby that I lost in the divorce, Sarah...could NOT eat anything "fishy" it didnt matter if it was fishy catfood or REAL salmon, tuna, flounder etc

she threw it up every single time

My one cat (Spook) sings for Tuna. You just open a can and she's dancing around you and purring and singing.

The other one, meh, she'll eat it, if she feels like it. But only sometimes.

Neither has barfing problems though.

James, do you have a similar recommendation for dog food?

James - your post here is an excellent resource. I will share the info with cat-loving friends.