Fatty Fatty 4x4!

[bobbys girl]

Well Gracie is back from the vets. She was showing every sign that she had had a whack again - subdued and with a big, tender lump on her bum.

But it is NOT an abcess this time. Yes there are signs she has had a whack, but the lump was matted fur. She is SO fat she can't get around to grooming her bum. She is 6.1kg!! She can't even she she's 'big boned', she's not - just fat! We are relieved but very embarrassed.

The vet gave her a good look over and cleaned out her ears while she was sedated (she hates that, so one less job for us). He said she is in excellent health otherwise - so that's good.

Right then Gracie, MAJOR diet time. It is not going to be easy, she is a hoover. We do try to watch her and have stopped the habit of leaving a bowl of dry food out at all times. But she hovers around the others and finishes off what they leave. That's sometimes the whole bowl.

Any tips on putting a cat on a diet, in a multicat household, will be much appreciated.

Hey ho, the fun never stops!

[Walesgang]

Hi Sue

We have the same problem with Henry and Mr G.

Henry is generally a large cat, but at 7kg he is fat too!

Mr G's weight is creeping up. Dread next check up!

We don't leave any food down. It's made a bit more complicated by the fact that Tios is a grazer!

We feed Mr G in the garage. We only let him out when all other food removed/hidden out of reach! We feed Tips upstairs. We put her food into the showe cubicle and get it out when she wants a bit more! It's a right faff to be honest, but it's hard work stopping the boys from getting the girls' food.

[Crewella]

Poor Gracie. I suspect, in the long run, she might have preferred abcesses, given the choice!

I've had to deal with Daz's diet by being 'dinner monitor' and never leaving food down, and all cats are used to the rule that they don't eat from each other's bowls whilst I'm on duty. I feed them each in the same spot, in the same bowl, fed in the same order every meal so it's clear what's theirs.

Daz gets fed first, and I do find that giving him extra water in his food helps to slow him down, as well as fill him up to a degree. Cutting down on the dry food in general helps too, as the dry is more calorific, and when he was on some urinary dry food I got him the low calorie version.

Pugwash, though vastly improved, is still food obsessed (he sank his teeth into my sleeve last night as I tried to fend him off my dinner!) and I don't stand a snowflake in hell's chance of getting him to live by the rules, so at the moment he's still getting shut out in the hallway to eat his meals until everyone else has finished.

Lastly, it was noticeable that all my gang lost some weight after we moved here and they'd all been out exploring more, showing just what a difference excercise does make.

Good luck, Daz send his sympathies to Gracie. xx

[bobbys girl]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Poor Gracie is still very subdued. It seems it took a lot of sedative to knock her out and she has stored it in the fat. She is sitting in the window, nodding.

She has been very much the house cat over the winter and very lazy with it. Earlier last week she was out in the sun, climbing trees. Mind you it took some effort. Perhaps with the warmer weather she will want to be out playing more.

It is going to be a long haul.

[greenkitty]

Like Helen I had to monitor meal times and there's no free feeding in our house. I had one on a diet, one on a prescription diet and one with medication in his food at one point so monitoring was the only way to ensure each furry ate only their own food. It's a long process, it took me the best part of a year to get 500g off Pip so don't expect quick results!

[Catfan5]

We have a fatty too, a really greedy ex-stray! I was picking up all the food during the day and overnight but I've got lazy about it recently! Our other five cats are grazers and one needs to put on weight (lost it due to health issues). Our old Ginger was fat and he developed diabetes so I really need to start being strict again with this boy!
Hope Gracie is feeling better soon after her bump and the sedation.