Fat cat on diet/How do I cut back?

[Fatcattoast]

My mom has a cat, Toast. She weighs exactly 20.2 pounds at 9 years old. By my estimate her ideal weight should be closer to 12-13. Judging from her frame perhaps even 10.
Come the fall, when I can register her with a vet, I will be bringing her in for evaluation - thanks covid.
In the meantime I’m trying to get her to lose no more than 0.5lbs a month, and introduce some no-jumping playtime.
She has been free-fed her entire life. I will be switching her over to an automatic feeder for 3 meals a day (my mom is lax on scheduled feeding).
I’ve been tracking her calories. She seems to eat just over 1/4 cup of food a day. Or close to 130-140 cal/per day.
Which seems ridiculous, based off all the information I’ve researched online, which estimate she eats around 380-400 a day for her to maintain her current weight. Her level of activity is probably 0.05 or just 0.
Anybody have obese cats that somehow eat tiny amounts of calories? I’ll be tracking the food for another week. And slowly transitioning to scheduled feeding, but she nibbles about 4 times a day already.
Should I be worried about any underlying diseases? Thyroid issues? I’m suspecting arthritis already, which makes vet/weight loss all the more paramount.
Cutting back from 130-140 cal seems terrifying to me, based off the research.
Will update if calorie consumption is more at end of week. She puked some grass a couple days ago (she sits outside the door occasionally)

[fjm]

That does seem very little food to be building and maintaining so much cat! Is she eating anything else? Human food, other animals' food, treats? I assume, given her weight and indoor status, that she is not hunting. Is anyone else feeding her? I had a neighbour with an overweight dog who carefully controlled the dog food but almost unconsciously slipped the dog at least half of her own meals... I would look very closely at what she is eating and the calories per gram/ounce - more accurate than working by volume.

[Mollycat]

I went through this problem with my Molly, I was desperate for her to lose weight but because of her psychological traumas restricting her food was impossible, and I mean impossible if I didn't want her to fall out with my other cat and send her into complete meltdown.

Eventually I found one low calorie diet food, Hills. There is Metabolic, and there is r/d. They work in different ways and should not be mixed (as I did, the dry of one and the pouches of the other) but she did achieve good weight loss and then maintained a good weight. What Hills did not make clear is that one is a short term use, 8 weeks at a time. Molly was on this mix for 18 months. Then she suddenly became ill and was found to be hyperthyroid. I don't know if the food caused or aggravated a problem, or if it was coincidence. But she was still overweight and hyperthyroid, which makes no sense. After she was treated for hyperthyroidism I was terrified of what her weight would do but the vet made me give her normal food and guess what, she is holding a nice weight now for over a year. So I would recommend it as the bulk is there but the calories are not, but just be very careful to follow the manufacturer's guidelines if you do use it.

[Fatcattoast]

That does seem very little food to be building and maintaining so much cat! Is she eating anything else? Human food, other animals' food, treats? I assume, given her weight and indoor status, that she is not hunting. Is anyone else feeding her? I had a neighbour with an overweight dog who carefully controlled the dog food but almost unconsciously slipped the dog at least half of her own meals... I would look very closely at what she is eating and the calories per gram/ounce - more accurate than working by volume.

She’s not eating any other food. Maybe a couple treats on occasion. About 10cal total for amount of treats per day. Mom might give her a tiny piece of food here and there, like couple flakes of tuna. No more than once a week, so not enough to make an impact I’d think.

I’ve been continuing with the monitoring. It seems to fluctuate between 160-200 now. Closer to 200 being average. I’ve been whittling done how much food she starts the day with, starting at the 1 cup. I’m now at 1/2 cup and 2tbsp, or 250 cal. I’m not sure an old cat will accept scheduled feeding and she may be holding back. My dog always left food, as she went hungry a lot as a pup and liked to have a snack leftover. Not sure if Toast is the same, coming as adopted barn kitty.

[Fatcattoast]

I went through this problem with my Molly, I was desperate for her to lose weight but because of her psychological traumas restricting her food was impossible, and I mean impossible if I didn't want her to fall out with my other cat and send her into complete meltdown.

Eventually I found one low calorie diet food, Hills. There is Metabolic, and there is r/d. They work in different ways and should not be mixed (as I did, the dry of one and the pouches of the other) but she did achieve good weight loss and then maintained a good weight. What Hills did not make clear is that one is a short term use, 8 weeks at a time. Molly was on this mix for 18 months. Then she suddenly became ill and was found to be hyperthyroid. I don't know if the food caused or aggravated a problem, or if it was coincidence. But she was still overweight and hyperthyroid, which makes no sense. After she was treated for hyperthyroidism I was terrified of what her weight would do but the vet made me give her normal food and guess what, she is holding a nice weight now for over a year. So I would recommend it as the bulk is there but the calories are not, but just be very careful to follow the manufacturer's guidelines if you do use it.

Unfortunately Toast is VERY picky with food. Put canned tuna in water on the ground, she eats barely a mouthful and leaves. Wet food is no go either. Best I can hope for is same brand Performatrin. She’s on adult at 464cal/cup. At her age perhaps the senior at around 430cal/cup might be good. My guess is starting with Performatrin Healthy Weight at 363cal/cup.

Just like your kitty I’m also worried about having her develop issues. With her weight and age, I’m worried about switching the food, her losing dramatically and having problems. Not sure if cutting back her current food or buying the Healthy Weight option is the best bet. Come fall I’ll register her with a vet (covid and living far away is a problem), and get a full assessment. Till then she has to lose some, she’s starting to click in her rear legs and her quality of life isn’t what it could be.

[Mollycat]

Unfortunately Toast is VERY picky with food. Put canned tuna in water on the ground, she eats barely a mouthful and leaves. Wet food is no go either. Best I can hope for is same brand Performatrin. She’s on adult at 464cal/cup. At her age perhaps the senior at around 430cal/cup might be good. My guess is starting with Performatrin Healthy Weight at 363cal/cup.

Just like your kitty I’m also worried about having her develop issues. With her weight and age, I’m worried about switching the food, her losing dramatically and having problems. Not sure if cutting back her current food or buying the Healthy Weight option is the best bet. Come fall I’ll register her with a vet (covid and living far away is a problem), and get a full assessment. Till then she has to lose some, she’s starting to click in her rear legs and her quality of life isn’t what it could be.

Ok so she is eating around half the calories that she should need to maintain her current weight? It's rare for cats to be hypOthyroid (hypER is common) but can happen, a full health check sounds like a good idea.

A very sharp drop in calories runs the risk of hepatic lipidosis so no you don't want sudden dramatic weight loss.

[Fatcattoast]

Unfortunately Toast is VERY picky with food. Put canned tuna in water on the ground, she eats barely a mouthful and leaves. Wet food is no go either. Best I can hope for is same brand Performatrin. She’s on adult at 464cal/cup. At her age perhaps the senior at around 430cal/cup might be good. My guess is starting with Performatrin Healthy Weight at 363cal/cup.

Just like your kitty I’m also worried about having her develop issues. With her weight and age, I’m worried about switching the food, her losing dramatically and having problems. Not sure if cutting back her current food or buying the Healthy Weight option is the best bet. Come fall I’ll register her with a vet (covid and living far away is a problem), and get a full assessment. Till then she has to lose some, she’s starting to click in her rear legs and her quality of life isn’t what it could be.

Ok so she is eating around half the calories that she should need to maintain her current weight? It's rare for cats to be hypOthyroid (hypER is common) but can happen, a full health check sounds like a good idea.

A very sharp drop in calories runs the risk of hepatic lipidosis so no you don't want sudden dramatic weight loss.

Yes, around half. She ate 210 cal yesterday, almost a full half cup. I’ve got numbers ranging from 145 - 210. I’m also trying to factor in activity during the day, as the larger amounts of food seem to get eaten when she’s more playful. Once I get a more concentrated number I’d cut back by 1/2 tbsp (15cal) at a time. That’ll be the May goal.

I’m trying to take into account her possible breed too. She’s adopted from a barn, and runt of the litter. But looks to be calico mixed with small portion of Maine Coon. But not enough to warrant 20lbs. Just enough for crazy hair and long body (oddly short legs tho).

She’s at 20.2 pounds. So I’ll start with the .2 and see what it takes to get that off over the course of a June. No more than .5 per month over all. Baby steps first tho!!

[Fatcattoast]

Fat Toast Pic

848F74E1-582B-4453-8F0F-DDB383020D0E.jpeg (23.05 KiB) Viewed 910 times

Pictures of Toast.

Fat Toast sitting pic

8630B9CC-07E5-4F3C-AD98-E40779303995.jpeg (26.39 KiB) Viewed 910 times

Fat Toast Pic

848F74E1-582B-4453-8F0F-DDB383020D0E.jpeg (23.05 KiB) Viewed 910 times

[Ugliegirlie]

I have a cat that was fat his whole life and I've tried diet foods and none really worked. He's now diabetic and so I've spent a lot of time researching food. He has to have very low carb food so I've looked up carbohydrate percentages of all the cat foods out there. Some of these low calorie weight control foods are like 45% carbs. That's crazy. In the wild they get something like 2%. I'm feeding him Instinct original right now and he's doing well on it. It's 12% carbs which is pretty good for a dry food.