Overweight Cat

[JesSky03]

Hey all, I am looking for some tips on helping my cats lose weight. We have 3 total- Kira 9, Mufasa 6, Apollo 4. Kira and Apollo are only about a pound or two overweight, but Mufasa...well he's a big kitty. We took him to the vet recently and he weighed much more than we expected- he's all of 20 lbs! We knew he was big, but wow that number was an eye opener. He is part Maine Coon so he is naturally a little bigger built, but he definitely has too much weight in his belly. We have never free fed them so I do measure out their food and am buying "diet" dry cat food. We are switching one meal a day to quality canned food (can't afford to do strictly canned food). 

So I guess I'm wondering if there are any toys or special feeders that any of you have tried with good success? Or perhaps a certain brand of cat food? They like to play with just a regular string and laser pointer (but so does the dog so he has to be outside, makes it hard in winter), but it can be hard to keep Mufasa's interest for more than a few minutes, plus Apollo LOVES the string and doesn't really give the other two a chance to play.

Any and all tips appreciated

*Here's a pic of my big guy, sorry it's sideways!

[Shadoewolf]

Ahh this got me in hot water with the vet I worked for. I have standards with food and had a hard time pushing the crap they wanted me to upsell. Anything labeled diet, weight management or indoor cat is usually no different from regular food when you get to the ingredients. My kitties are grazers but I only put a measured amount in their bowls twice a day.

Which leads me to...Check your ingredients. First ingredient should be meat. Deboned chicken, turkey or salmon. Not that chicken by-product meal stuff which is ground up beaks, feet, etc mixed with fillers ala pink slime then dyed and cut into kibbles. If it has corn in ANY form, whey, or soy, those are unnecessary fillers. As is brewer's rice and brewers yeast (its used because it expands in the stomach, if you get a piece wet and it blows up to 3x the normal size, imagine your cat eating that). If it has a rice component, brown rice is the lesser evil. 

Better food also means less poop because they're absorbing it better, and less stinky litter boxes. We use Taste of the Wild most often, or grain-free 4Health when money is a little tight. I DO NOT recommend Blue Buffalo, we were seeing elevated kidney and liver enzymes in patients who had it as their main staple. Mine get half a can of deboned salmon in oil once a week and if I'm cooking I make the kitties a bit of meat too.  No butter, oil, seasonings, etc. Too much fish of any kind can cause painful crystals in the urine so unless your furries have an allergy, mix it up every now and then.

If you can find a local pet store (not a big box chainstore) they often have samples to give away.

Hope that helps a bit!

[JesSky03]

Thanks! I knew a good portion of what you wrote but the info about the brewer's rice and yeast is new. Right now I have them on Nutrisource Senior Management. We've kind of been all over the board the last few years trying to find a good brand that we can afford to feed all 3 on, and that they don't puke up (often grain free but not always, but always no corn, usually that means no soy either).

Thanks for the tip about Blue Buffalo, we had tried that last month but then found the Nutrisource this month which is more affordable. They get one can of BFF canned food a day split between the 3. It's tricky trying to figure out how much to measure out each a day. I am feeding them twice a day but they always seemed starved by 6 am. I'm thinking of trying one of those treat balls so they can work on getting the food out during the night and then won't be so ravenous in the morning. 

[memmy]

Thanks guys!!! this is exactly what I am dealing with... actually this has been on my mind for several weeks now. My boy kittie is like 2 and his mama is 4. Both are overweight. Mama never lost her babyfat ... and junior, he blew up after being neutered. I will have to research more feeding options and better quality food

[ALM7]

On 8/10/2016 at 2:19 AM, Shadoewolf said:

I DO NOT recommend Blue Buffalo, we were seeing elevated kidney and liver enzymes in patients who had it as their main staple.

[my bold above]

Oh my, that's what I feed my kitties, and my Lab. I will definitely investigate further.   Thank you so much for the info.

eta... I did a quick check on Taste of the Wild, made by Diamond.  Have you heard about issues through recalls, related to health/vet visits?  I know Diamond seems to have a lot of recalls, just curious.

eta more after researching... Dang, Blue Buffalo has a lot of recall issues as well!  I routinely check recall lists, but I didn't realize the serious recall issues with BB. 

Thanks again @Shadoewolf for the info.

[Lizzybet]

On 8/8/2016 at 0:52 PM, JesSky03 said:

Hey all, I am looking for some tips on helping my cats lose weight. We have 3 total- Kira 9, Mufasa 6, Apollo 4. Kira and Apollo are only about a pound or two overweight, but Mufasa...well he's a big kitty. We took him to the vet recently and he weighed much more than we expected- he's all of 20 lbs! We knew he was big, but wow that number was an eye opener. He is part Maine Coon so he is naturally a little bigger built, but he definitely has too much weight in his belly. We have never free fed them so I do measure out their food and am buying "diet" dry cat food. We are switching one meal a day to quality canned food (can't afford to do strictly canned food). 

So I guess I'm wondering if there are any toys or special feeders that any of you have tried with good success? Or perhaps a certain brand of cat food? They like to play with just a regular string and laser pointer (but so does the dog so he has to be outside, makes it hard in winter), but it can be hard to keep Mufasa's interest for more than a few minutes, plus Apollo LOVES the string and doesn't really give the other two a chance to play.

Any and all tips appreciated

*Here's a pic of my big guy, sorry it's sideways!

I'm finally looking around some FJ forums I've never checked before.

I hope your big guy is doing well, and maybe has even lost a bit of weight by now........

I'm neither a vet nor a vet tech, but I have a lot of experience in rescue and with my own family of cats, dogs, and one parrot. So, please take this with a grain or two of salt and in the spirit in which it's intended.

First thing I would advise is to get your cat completely off dry food if it all possible. Aside from the fact that there is evidence showing that even 'high quality' is probably not good for cats, in general, it also tends to pack weight onto some/many cats.

Would you be able to see your way clear to feeding exclusively wet food – if not homemade at least canned? Even a lower quality canned food might be better for most cats then a better quality dry food. Please notice I'm using the words 'most, usually, often, may, might' etc.

If you're still here on FJ, and you have a mind to, please check out Dr. Lisa Pierson's very informative site on feeding cats a species appropriate diet.

Significant overweight/obesity is bad for us and our pets.

All the best!

 

 

 

[Antimony]

My kitty eats dry, which I know she shouldn't, but she is very finnicky about wet and tends to puke it up (and...that's like so extra level disgusting and hard on her because the warning-meows on that sound so painful). The shelter told me they didn't recommend dry food either but she was fairly picky about the wets as well so they just let her eat dry. 

She seems to have lost a bit since I started putting her food in a upsidedown muffin tin. She has to hunt through the muffin forms to get at the kibble so she can't gorge as much.  Jackson Galaxy also has a few fancier slow feeder bowls but the concept is the same. BF's mom puts dog kibble in egg cartons to slow them down too. 

I've also done some puzzles -- rollers with holes, or old tupperware with holes. Empty cardboard boxes with holes. Sometimes this works, sometimes she doesn't get it (or doesn't want to put up with I guess) and wins me over with meows at all hours of the night.