Fat cat needs to lose weight

[jano432]

Hi. I adopted a cat in May. He is way too heavy at around 7 kilos. Hw is 11 yrs old.He is always hungry. I am feeding him 4 x 100 g pouches a day and he is not loosing any weight. Should i replace one pouch with complete protein, like chicken. Would this help? Advice please.

[booktigger]

I'm not surprised he isn't losing weight with 4 pouches a day, despite manufacturers recommendations, it is too high, I'd cut him down to 3 and see if it helps

[alanc]

You could try some of the "light" type of cat food if he will eat them which have fewer calories. I agree with Booktigger, don't believe what some manufacturers put on the tin, they can be a bit on the high side. My 6.4kg Maine Coon gets by with the equivalent of 3 85g pouches a day.

[Kay]

I'd try dividing the pouches into halves, so 3 pouches can be 6 meals for him - that might stop him bothering you with piteous cries while you're trying to cut down

[jano432]

Thanks all....the instructions say to feed 4 pouches fir a cat much smaller than him and i am feeding him according to the weight i want him to be. I thought that by providing more protein it would fill him for longer. If he gets to hungry, when he does eat, he throws it back.

[Ruth B]

I tend to feed mine 2 to 3 pouches a day (85 or 100g) and they have dried food down for when they want to graze.

If he is very food orientated and likes dried food, you might want to see if he will interact with a food ball, they can be very good at stopping a cat bolting their food and they get some exercise knocking the food ball around to get the food pieces to come out the holes, just be warned if you have laminate or wood flooring they do rattle around. you can also get bowls that have odd shaped in them that are meant to mean a cat can't bolt the food as quickly, they might be worth looking into to see if they help.

Cats gain virtually all their energy from protein and fat, they don't digest carbs well at all. If you were to replace a pouch with meat then you would need to make sure it was only 40 - 50g of meat I would have thought (I'm no expert on this), most cat food manufacturers bulk the food out with other ingredients like cereal or veg, which are of no benefit to the cat.

I would also suggest that you look for a 'light' cat food as this would be lower in calories, but would still make him feel he is being fed well.

[jano432]

Ruth. That's why i thought I would feed pure protein replacing one pouch. I am aware that pouches also offer vitamins etc needed that chicken cannot provide but by replacing just one pouch he will still be getting that other stuff. The cereal added is carb so not really good for him.

I started buying the senior pouches thinking there was probably less fat and more protein but when i look at the ingredients in that compared to the "normal" food, there is practically no difference.

I do often give him 1/2 pouch instead of a whole one and by splitting it up, it does help. I don't want to cut him down too drastically as I have read it is bad for cats to lose weight quickly but at the moment he is down one week and up the next. We always weigh him on a sunday. The only dry food I give is the oral kibbles to help with teeth.

Don;t really want to get special food at this stage.

[Janey]

A couple of thoughts - I would split the food up, as you say you already are, so he’s getting little and often.

Another thing is to encourage him to exercise more, so e.g. get one of those sticks with something attached, so you can get him running round.

My cat loves ribbon or string, and will follow me running around the garden, or house with a piece of string, that uses energy and tires her out, which is what I used to do when she was younger and got bored easily! Ping pong balls are another good thing to get them running round.

[jano432]

I have tried to get him to exercise, he is just too fat. He would just lie down and move his paws :-0. I have just contacted purina who tell me that his pouches are approx 70 calories. I have worked out that to lose weight he needs 270 cals per day so I am going to take him back to 3 pouches per day and see how I get on. I might swap an occasional pouch with minced turkey, an amount equal to the calories in one pouch and see how we go. I am on holiday next week and so he will be fed per my instructions and no more. I need him to fit
through the cat flap before winter

[Janey]

It’s good that you’re doing this for him. If you cut down his food say by even 1/4 to 1/2 a pouch a day over a week say, i.e. gradually - slowly does it, and persevere, he’ll not even notice it and feel so much better. Best of luck!