OVERWEIGHT CATS

[alli]

Hi - I have 2 cats since '09. Got them from the DSPCA. They were already named - Oscar and Felix - very aptly!!
They'll be about 7 yrs now. Have been trying to get them to lose weight for at least 2 yrs. Initially very little loss. Now one has actually started to increase weight. Both very tall cats (vets word) yet she says they should be perfectly ok on 1 pouch morning and evening with half eggcup of dry between them.

To start them off gently I'm trying to give them the pouches as instructed but with half eggcup each morn and evening as well. They are both constantly CRYING for more ... am I being manipulated here ?? It's driving me to distraction, especially at the weekends... Have 'given in' there with no dry but half pouches whenever I've really "had it" with them.... PLEASE HELP
They're both between 6/7 kgs...

[Kay]

getting weight off cats is notoriously difficult - I myself have a girl who has weighed over 6kg for most of her 14 years, and I have never got her below that, mainly because she doesn't overeat - she was overfed cheap dry biscuits before I got my hands on her, and I think it must have ruined her metabolism

feeding wet food half a pouch at a time sounds a good strategy, and I would try to stick to set times rather than on-demand feeding - including some of the high protein tinned food might help too - check out food such as Animonda, Feringa and Grau on Zooplus - if they will eat such foods you may well find it works out cheaper as they should find them more filling

also no treats and more exercise if they don't get much at the moment - wand type toys like Da Bird and Da Mouse get most cats moving

you will need to be patient though - don't expect miracles overnight, and don't expect much co-operation from the cats!

[alli]

Kay - I've been feeling so bad thinking it's all my own fault but you've given me hope yet

Will see if I can find those toys you mention AND the food - never heard of it here (Dublin) but will Google

Thanks so much - will keep you posted

[Crewella]

I agree with Kay, and I've had a chubster that desperately needed to lose weight because he kept getting urinary blockages that are more likely with overweight cats. Because the stakes were so high (the blockages were life-threatening) I was very, very strict and he did lose a kilo over about 8 months, thankfully. However, it was really, really tough and please don't think that I'm suggesting that anything I'm about to say is easy!!

Firstly, no feeding on demand. Ever. Set up a feeding routine and stick to it. I've had several ex-strays that were hard to convince that there would always be another meal at the next feeding time and would cry for food as though starving if they thought there was the slightest chance of it getting them anywhere. When they realised it didn't achieve anything, they stopped. I think cats sometimes cry for food just because they're bored or want the attention. Sometimes they're just a bit peckish!

I cut down on his dry food, as the dry is much more calorific than the wet. I don't have a huge amount of faith in it, but I also put him on the reduced calorie version of his urinary prescription dry food - I figured it had to be worth a try. And excercise, I tried to make sure he was more active with play and encouraging him to go out, though that backfired a bit when he started stealing sausages from neighbours' barbeques!

As Kay says, don't expect much in the way of cooperation! Good luck!

[Lallum]

I have a chubster. He gets a reduced calorie sachet of wet food breakfast and supper time and 4 grams of dried food for lunch and tea. He has gradually lost half a kilo over two years. I have to watch him though because I discovered he was waiting until I left the kitchen before pushing one of his sisters from her food bowl and scoffing her food. I now supervise him and make sure he just gets his rations. He gets nothing else even though he begs for food. After his sisters finish eating, he goes and checks their bowls then licks them clean just in case there's hidden food. The other problem is that he was going into a nearby house via their cat flap and stealing another cats food. Happily they gave moved and the new residents have a dog . It's tough keeping him on the straight and narrow but, having bladder problems which may be weight related, there's a strong imperative to get him slim!

[booktigger]

I have a chubster. He gets a reduced calorie sachet of wet food breakfast and supper time and 4 grams of dried food for lunch and tea. He has gradually lost half a kilo over two years. I have to watch him though because I discovered he was waiting until I left the kitchen before pushing one of his sisters from her food bowl and scoffing her food. I now supervise him and make sure he just gets his rations. He gets nothing else even though he begs for food. After his sisters finish eating, he goes and checks their bowls then licks them clean just in case there's hidden food. The other problem is that he was going into a nearby house via their cat flap and stealing another cats food. Happily they gave moved and the new residents have a dog . It's tough keeping him on the straight and narrow but, having bladder problems which may be weight related, there's a strong imperative to get him slim!

4g? Wonder if that is similar to Lucys 20 biscuits

[Lallum]

I weigh out 4 grams of dried cat food (Hills CD prescription dried food). Midnight has diet cd food.

As an aside, my two girls get different food.(Lola:Felix as good as it gets plus 8 grams of Wainrights dried cat food. Magic: Wainrights Mature cat food and 8 grams of Wainwrights mature dried cat food). Lola doesnt like Wainrights wet sachets. Everything is measured because I don't want them too heavy. My friend has two very overweight cats but he fills their bowls to overflowing every day and gives them treats. When I cat sit (2 weeks each year), they go onto measured portions!

[Crewella]

*sympathetic head-butt from Daz to fellow sufferer Midnight, and indeed to Lucy, Oscar and Felix!*

It IS really hard, especially with some cats. I feed all my gang of oldies pretty much the same, and supervise as half of them are on medication, yet some are rangy and skinny and others are much .... erm ...... 'cuddlier'!

[suelily]

My boy Dexy is 9kg. He has recently been having problems getting up on window ledge and sofa. He has not been up on his cat tree for couple of days as he is struggling. Is this weight related or something more I wonder? I have cut him down to small amount of biscuits 4 times a day. He does not like wet food or anything else. As I write this he is sitting at his bowl. He hardly plays with toys. Too much like hard work for him.

[Kay]

how old is Dexy? all cats get stiffer with increasing age, and there is inevitably some muscle loss around the back quarters which makes jumping up difficult for them, but being heavy certainly doesn't help - if he is under 12 though there could be something else going on

my 6kg+ girl can still get up on to the bed, but is reluctant to jump down, and that is I am sure a weight related thing, as coming down puts all her weight on her legs - I have a low coffee table now by the bed to give her a step down, and I have had the bottom bed of the cat tree replaced with a platform too

[suelily]

Hi Kay, Dexy has just turned 9. Never was an active cat. Never goes out. The fastest I have seen him move is when I open the door and he thinks I am letting him out. He runs into the living room behind the couch. When I got him at a year old he was 8.5 kg' she. Vet said he is part wildcat as his head,paws and just his whole skeleton are big.