Help - Cat on a diet - Any tips

[Disney Doodle]

My rather large cat has been on a diet from our Vets for about three weeks. So far if anything, she has actually gained weight. We are being very careful weighing out her daily allowance of dry diet food and to be fair to her she doesn't usually manage to eat the whole allowance. I am concerned that if she doesn't eat a proper amount of food she could develop a condition called Hepatic Lipidosis, which is a risk for overweight cats when dieting. She is not due to go back to the vets for another week or so.

She doesn't really go out far, so we are quite certain that no one else is giving her any extra food and no one else in the house is giving her extra treats. She really does need to lose the weight as she is a very big girl and I am afraid that if we do nothing her weight could cause her health problems which will be life limiting.

[TheDuckRocks]

My Frank The Cat is also on a diet per the vets request. He never comes close to eating the entire daily amount that is allowed for him. He never goes outside so he's not getting food elsewhere. It's just my husband and I in the house and we have a strict "no human food for cats" policy. And Frank will not, by choice, eat any kind of commercial cat treat. His cat food is one of the types for fat cats. We spend time each day in active cat play with him. All that said, it has now been a year and a half and he still weighs in at 16 pounds.
We go to a vet that is a large practice comprised of mainly family members. The father and the oldest son, who have the most experiance, have both told us that some cats are just big. After this much time of carefully watching his diet, which I will continue to do, I do think Frank maybe in that category.
Good luck, I hope you have better results than we have.

[T-Belle]

A couple of months ago I was watching a "cat special" on tv. One woman had a very large Kitty. After special diets didn't work to get the weight off she got a treadmill for the kitty! No kidding! It looked like a giant hampster wheel! Her husband set up a camera so they could see how much time her cats we're spending in there and the chubby one got in the most and sometimes would spend hours on it!! Needless to say the weight came off! My kitties (I have 4) are not over weight but I would love to get one of these wheels($$$) just to watch them!!!

[laprana]

Has your vet checked your cat's thyroid? If not, this might be worth looking into. If your cat has an under-performing thyroid gland, it can lead to serious weight gain. You might ask about this at your next vet appointment if it hasn't been looked into before. Good luck!

[TheDuckRocks]

Frank The Cat recently had his teeth cleaned and while they had him out they did a very complete physical and a battery of blood tests. Results are he is super healthy and younger than his age physically. Still considered fat though and should be monitored.

[DVC2004]

We have a fat cat, too. She has nothing medically wrong with her, has been tested, also stays indoors and never goes outside. She is 22 pounds. She also does not eat all her food and will not eat people food or treats. I think some are just big. LOL. Lots more to love, she is so sweet.

[Renfairwedding]

I have two cats. Stinky loves dry food and is a Pooh size kitty.

My Vet told me to only feed her wet food and she droped the pounds. Then came Jakey. He is slim and loves wet food and likes to snack on dry.

When I leave the dry stuff out for Jakey Stinky gains when don't leave dry out Jakey drops weight and he is skinny as it is.

They both don't eat it all in one sitting so unless I want to spend the day watching the food bowl it hard to find the balance.

Having Stinky on a diet is not fun. She will steal dry food from Broady my black lab. Pathetically eating any cast offs that he drops.

[MNNHFLTX]

I speak from experience--hepatic lipidosis is primarily a concern in cats (of any size) that pretty much stop eating all-together, or who vomit frequently after eating. As long as your cat is eating regularly and doesn't have any other health issues it is unlikely that you have to worry about hepatic lipidosis. An overweight cat's metabolism tends to slow down. Aside from watching their intake, they need a marked increase in activity to counteract it.

We have a beautiful white Manx cat that used to weigh 14 pounds. About one year ago we adopted two kittens and then 4 months later took in another kitten as a stray (we're big softies for animals). Last month at his yearly check-up we were surprised to find out that he had lost nearly two pounds . We it attribute it to all the running around and playing he does with his younger "siblings". He seems healthier than ever now.

[NJGIRL]

Has your cat been checked to see if she is a diabetic? Also, cat food should not be left down all day, no matter what the measurment is. I leave mine down 1/2 an hour two times a day (once in the morning and once at night).

[kakn7294]

I have 2 cats - sisters from the same litter. Maya is skinny as a rail and Annie is a bit chubby. Both eat the same food, both are healthy with recent bloodwork, and both are active. When compared with the neighbors' cat (I'm guilty because he does eat at my house, my bad. ) though, they seem huge because he's just so much smaller in height and overall body size.

[Disney Doodle]

Ok, so we have been very careful with Lucy's food for a month now. Weighing out her daily allowances. We have tried to get her to go out around the garden a little bit more and play with her with pieces of string to chase. We have tried to encourage her generally to be more active, however the sad sight of her lying down by her bowl to eat food was almost too much.

So tomorrow is the moment of truth her first official weighing at the vets. Fingers crossed that she has lost something.

It did occur to me that she may have an underactive thyroid gland, but the nurse thought that it would be unlikely, as cats generally get overactive thyroid glands. However if no weight comes off I will certainly get a blood test done.

Will update you tomorrow on her weight.

Angie

[MNNHFLTX]

Good luck at the vet's tomorrow!

Oh, and I almost forgot--have you tried one of the laser cat toys? Most cats love to chase the laser light around.

[Disney Doodle]

Well she has just come back from the vets and has managed to lose 200 grams, which is about 1/2 pound. So something is working.

Any kind of toys have to be introduced very carefully to Lucy, as she is a very anxious cat. Part of the cause of her weight gain I believe. When she stresses she comfort eats.

Anyway hopefully this will be the start of a new lease of life for her, as her weight drops off and she becomes more active. She actually caught a mouse the other day, however we're not sure whether the mouse ran into Lucy as we cannot believe she actually chased it.

[DVC2004]

Well that's good news! And she caught a mouse- good for Lucy! here's to more weight loss success for her!