My cat needs to lose weight!

My Stanley is huge and just keeps getting bigger. I feel bad for him because it's getting increasingly hard for him to clean himself because of all the blubber that prevents him from being flexible. On the other hand he cries so loud and so pitifully that I feel sorry for him that he's hungry and end up feeding him 3 times a day.

I don't even leave the food out all day for him to "free feed" like some people. I feed him one small wet food can in the morning and then like a half a cup of dry food twice a day when he starts wailing at me to feed him. I am confused as to what is the proper amount to feed to keep a cat at a healthy weight without restricting his food so much that it's cruel. I don't want him to feel like he's starving.

I was just wondering if anyone has had success in getting their cat to lose weight.

//edit// I added a pic of Stanley to my profile. 

lol, yes I know how you feel. Have you tried diet cat food? Also, you could try giving your veterenary office a call. They'll probably have the best advice. :) Good luck to you and Stanley!

I have a 23 pound cat, a 17 pound cat and an 8 pound cat.

The 17 pound one (Milo) was in at 21 pounds, we fill 3 small bowls full of diet (prescription) food every morning.  When it's gone, it's gone.

Try not feeding your cat wet food.  It is high in calories and unnecessary to any cat's diet.  

I am, however, having issues with the 23 pound cat (Duvessa).  I cannot, for the life of me, get her to lose weight.  She's an emotional eater (laugh all you want, but she is) and will go to the bowls even when she's not hungry.  

We give all the cats diet food and supplement the smaller cat's (Penelope) diet with chicken and turkey so she doesn't lose weight.  She doesn't eat that much as it is and never begs, so we make sure she gets enough for her metabolism (she's also the youngest).

The vet said no more than a 2 lb. per month weight loss otherwise it's unhealthy and we'll run into other issues.

So far...it's working.  We make sure we play with all three of them so they get in exercise.  Usually we use a laser light pen, they all seem to enjoy that...or, maybe we enjoy it and it just drives them nutty.  

Regardless, maybe talk to your vet, (s)he may have some options for you that our vet didn't suggest or that I might not be able to think of.

Good luck!  Heavy cats, while cute, don't necessitat a long life span.  Let me know if your vet comes up with any solution because I'm at a loss with my emotional eater.

before anyone asks, yes i do work at a vets. And i am a nurse though not quilfed (yet!)

Id advise HILLS R/D. A prescribtion food from all vets. Or Royal Canine weight control. An Obese cat is not funny, it brings on premature bone ageing, diabetes and also increases the risk of heart problems - its as bad for a cat as it is a human or any other animal. Please take it seriously and stop feeding him so much.

What food is he on? i realy recommend Hills R/D, please go to your local vets where they will help you with advice and can sell you the correct pet food.

If you cant affored the price tag of perscription food then i recommened this: Hills LIGHT adult cat food. The feeding guidelines are on the back but you MUST remember - you are in control of what he eats, if you dont stick to the recommened food grams he wont lose weight at all.


EDIT:
Hills prides its self on being extremly palatable and it is avalibe in wet and dry foods.

If you have worries of him not eating it, there are may ways to get a cat to eat. Although even if they wont eat it, do not let more tan 2 days go by without the cat eating.

I know how picky cats can be.  My mom used to feed her dog canned string beans - Im still surprised he would eat them.  Sleepy, napping cats - I dont know how they arent all fat and we ve three at our house.  Can you imagine the market for low fat pet snacks that they WOULD eat?

I have a suggestion. Buy weight loss food - dry kibble. I just bought some nutro weight management formula for my boys. Then you can put a tiny bit of canned food on top to get Stanley to eat it if he doesn't like it.

But - if he doesn't like it he will eat it eventually. Because it's either that, or starve. My dog had to go through that when I switched her food to trim her weight. That was a couple years ago. Now she is used to it.

Pet food has soooooooooooo much fat in it. It's really unbelievable.

I heard that wet food is better because it is closer to what they eat in the wild and it doesn't have carbs like dry food...they can't handle carbs. Is this not true?

depending on the brand and how good it is. Wet and Dry are both as good as each other (again, if the brand is good) We recommened dry most of the time, for the sake of cats teeth. But there is a whole list of pros and cons to both types of food, Its Owner prefrence more than anything else!

I've always heard that wet cat food is good mainly because of the water content. Maybe bunny can confirm?

I think that cats are bad with water. My lab drinks sooooo much water. My cats don't drink much water. So I thought that was the main benefit of canned food but I could be very wrong!

Amy_Blue might i recommened a cat fountine? they are fantastic for cats who dont like to drink, my cats have one and have started to drink each day they realy do work well! cats love running water hence why the fountines work so good for cats ^.^

My other cat Herman likes water out of my cup the best. I have to constantly monitor my cup!

I know what you are going thru.. I had a VERY big cat.. she decided one day to stop eating on her own.. and we ended up spending almost 2000 just to keep her alive, feeding tube and blood work and so much more.. the Vet told me that if she hadn't been so big in the first place she wouldn't have gotten Fatty liver... so my advice is call your vet and ask what they recommend to help the cat lose weight.. I now give her a 3 oz can of wet fancy feats seafood and 1/3 cup of Puriena One kitten chow twice a day.. the vet said kitten chow because of the high protein and the wet food because cats tend to avoid water and their kidneys are usually the first to go so the wet will give her the water she needs.. she is doing GREAT.. back to her old lovey self.. I would call the vet because if your cat loses too much weight too fast it can be an issue.. Best of luck..

Original Post by catherinerich:

My other cat Herman likes water out of my cup the best. I have to constantly monitor my cup!

My cats are like that too. My water cup or the faucet. I keep the faucet dripping in the morning when I am getting ready for work so they drink and play. They love it.

Bunny I will check out a pet fountain, never heard of that!

So I see that tozena's vet said the same thing about the wet food and water/kidneys. My mom's cat lived until 23 years old. The vet said it was because she drank a lot of water.

We have 7 cats, most of them are very fat (but adorable). Since we moved to Atlanta, they don't go out as often and they started gaining a lot of weight. I think exercise is important for kitties, too.

As soon as we move back to upstate NY this month, they'll be going outside and "hunting" again. With so many of them in the house, they are competitive and eat just to eat.

Yeah, I will go pick up some diet dry food today. I can't stand to see my cat get so obese. It's not nice of me to over feed him to the point of causing him health risks.

I will feel bad when he cries and looks at me like I am torturing him when I don't feed him but I guess I have to do what's best for him and hopefully he will get used to it.  

It's sooooo hard when pets are acting like they are starving. My dog whines and cries and lays down by her bowl and refuses to move for a while. She was really, really bad when I switched her food and it was difficult not to give in.

Also cats just look so cute when they are plump!!

But you're right; if we do give in, we are causing eventual health problems. And that's worse.

Good luck :)

Oh Man, I am not looking forward to this either, amy_blue. Stanley cries so loud and acts like he's starving to death. He'll even come into our bed at 4 am and try to rip the covers off of us and cry. He's a big framed cat anyway, very strong. I think a healthy weight for a cat his size would be about 14 lbs. That's how much he was when I found him on the street and he was very lean. Maybe I will shoot for 15.

I know how you feel... we have three cats - one is a skinnyminny at eight pounds and she hasn't gained an ounce in a year... so she's obviously doing something right! Alas the other two make up for her - they're sisters and they're both HUGE - 16 pounds each... Silver is still fairly thin from the top but she carries her excess weight under her belly and when she sits down she spreads out sideways :P Scouty is shaped like a barrel and she has trouble cleaning her back half so I have to groom her where she can't reach. :P

We had them on diet kibble and it didn't do anything to help them slim down... so then I read that it's actually bad for them and if you want to slim a cat it should be eating more protein and less carbs (and they make the 'diet' kibble by cutting the protein and fat, both of which carnivores need plenty of!) So now we're transitioning them to a higher-protein diet of special grain-free kibble that's 50% protein, and we give them canned food every night.  

PS. We WERE feeding them Science Diet Light and they didn't lose any weight free-feeding it... so we switched to portion control of SD Light and they STILL didn't lose any weight! So I've come to the conclusion that like me, they need a low-carb diet and we'll see what happens... it can't hurt them anyway!

I have a chunky cat too. But shes so cute and cuddly it's hard to tell her no when she wants food. I tried cutting back on her portions but that didn't seem to do much. She's just a lazy bum :)

Try the dry diet cat food, but ask your vet for suggestions on what they prefer. A lot of cat foods (and dog foods) are made with corn mill as the first ingredient. Try finding one with chicken protein or something of that nature. That way your cat will eat less but be fuller longer. But definitely ask the vet for suggestions.

If the kitty wont eat it, add warm water to it and mush it around. I had to do that with my dog :) 

Our kitties do quite well on Science Diet (dry) with wet food 1-2 times per week as a treat.  We use the Sensitive Stomach/Sensitive Skin blends (mixed together).  They even make a science diet Light, and one for adult cats over 7 years of age.

Some cats are just bigger than other cats -- and some are chubby! We have two 20-pounders (siblings) that are Maine Coon Mixes ... and just tall, long, big-framed and huge (not to mention fluffy AND chubby!)  And we have some smaller cats, too.

=^..^= MOLLY

Original Post by mollymouser:

Some cats are just bigger than other cats

Boy that is the truth!! Just like people, huh? Between me and my roommate we have 3 cats. Squirt is tiny and he is 8 lbs. And we think he eats more than my two cats. Miss Cleo is about 9.5 lbs and he is chubby. Not hugely overweight but he has a potbelly. He was the runt of his litter but he's pretty big now. But his brother, Chesster, is HUGE. Chesster is about 11 lbs of pure muscle. He looks smaller than Miss Cleo but he weighs much more and just looking at him, he has a much different body than his brother.

They're so cute. I didn't think I would ever hear myself saying this as a self-proclaimed "dog person" but I'm so happy I got cats!!!