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Diet time for a fat cat...

EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles.Portland, ORRegistered User regular
edited May 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
So, my roommate just adopted this giant cat. She has to weigh probably close to 20lbs. The cat, not my roommate.
4633519057_b6153b2d16_o.jpg

What we're wondering is how much food should we give her a day to get her to slim down a little? I was thinking half a cup in the morning and half a cup at night supplemented with a little wet food? Maybe a quarter of a can a day? Once my roommate gets some cash, she's going to take her to the vet, but in the meantime, what's a good idea?

Thanks!

Esh on
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Posts

  • dispatch.odispatch.o Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Do you leave a bowl out for her to eat from all day?

    I'd take a measurement of how much she actually consumes now, then cut it by 15-20% and see how it goes.


    edit:

    What type/brand of food and how old is the cat by the way?

    Wet food is a terrible idea in general.

    dispatch.o on
  • phoxphyrephoxphyre Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    If you can, buy a diet/indoors cat food.

    Then, work out the weight she *should be*. (4-5kg is an average size. You should be able to see a waist, and there shouldn't be a pad of fat at the base of her tail.) Feed according to directions on packet. Do not deviate. She should receive less than 10% extra as treats. And only occasionally.

    Our little girl was 5.6kg. It's taken us 1.5 years (with monthly weight checks at the vets) to get her to 4.9kg. For a very long time, that was on Hills Prescription Diet. 1/2 cup of food daily. We're now up to 3/4 cup. If she's not gained any weight, then we move onto maintenance.

    It could take a very long time. And moving off will take longer. You're dealing with a very efficient metabolism :)

    Good luck, and don't give in. They're cute, and starving, but don't give in.

    phoxphyre on
    Remember the Slug; They have all the disadvantages of Snails, but without the benefit of home-ownership...
  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    edited May 2010
    dispatch.o wrote: »
    Do you leave a bowl out for her to eat from all day?

    I'd take a measurement of how much she actually consumes now, then cut it by 15-20% and see how it goes.


    edit:

    What type/brand of food and how old is the cat by the way?

    Wet food is a terrible idea in general.

    We just got her today. I know her old owner just left whatever out for her.

    And I'm pretty sure wet food is not a bad idea. My last roommates diabetic cat was put on a partly wet food based diet by her vet.

    Esh on
  • soxboxsoxbox Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    What brand of catfood do you use? The nutritional content of the food is the important thing for determining the amount.

    If you go something decent like Science Diet (http://www.hillspet.com/products/science-diet.html), you can feed the cat just on the dry food. There's recommended feeding amounts on their packaging depending on the cat's weight. If you want the cat to lose weight, either skimp slightly on those figures or they also have a variety designed for weight-loss (which I'm assuming leaves your cat less hungry while still depriving calories).

    There's a feeding amount guide here: http://www.hillspet.com/products/science-diet/sd-feline-adult-optimal-care-original-dry.html

    I feel my ~4kg cat about 1/2 cup a day, though I stray a bit more than that during good weather where the cat gets a lot of outdoor active time.

    soxbox on
  • CrashmoCrashmo Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    We've been using a special dry cat food for the past few months, and we also use a special feeder ($20 at petco) that looks vaguely like a ufo that forces her to work for the food. You place the food in a compartment in the center of the feeder, and the cat has to reach inside and pull the food out bit by bit. It also slides around and keeps her moving.

    I don't know if you can do this in your area, but I also toss some of the food about the garage, so she has to walk around and get it.

    Other than that, try to keep her active with playing and such. We've almost got our cat down to regular size!

    Crashmo on
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  • PerpetualPerpetual Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    The cat is not fat because it is eating a lot. It is eating a lot because it is fat. Its pancreas is working full-time to pump out insulin, which is pushing all the blood sugar into the fat tissues. This makes the cat more hungry and more sedentary, and it eats more and lies around all day as a result.

    Cutting calories is not going to accomplish much, because that will make it even more sedentary. This has been demonstrated in lab rats plenty of times. As long as the rats were given a diet rich in carbs, most of them continued to store fat even in semi-starvation diets. They made up for the lack of calories by limiting their movements and sexual activities. Only when the scientists limited the carbohydrates on the diets did the rats lose weight.

    Put another way, your cat is obese because of hyperinsulinemia. It's a pre-diabetes stage. Eating lots of food is only one symptom. Sedentary behavior is another. To fix the problem, you can't treat the symptoms (by giving it less food or forcing it to exercise). You need to treat the root cause, which is too much insulin. To limit insulin, you need to limit carbs, and substitute them with fats and protein.

    Do this, and the cat will lose weight rapidly.

    Perpetual on
  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    We give our cat 3 oz cans of Science Diet for breakfast and dinner. While he was slimming down we went out of our way to find weight loss and/or indoor formulas. We'd also give him about the same amount in dry food to give him something to graze on throughout the day/evening. There's been a noticeable difference after a few months.

    Also a lot more whining but that's going to be a given when they don't have all the food they could possibly want at a moment's notice.

    Quid on
  • soxboxsoxbox Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Oh yes, the whining. Expect the whining. Be strong. Get a spray-bottle of water to keep near your bed at all times so that you can send the cat the clear message that you are not to be disturbed.

    Every once in a while I still need to get up and chase and spray the cat, but normally if my cat decides that 4am is a reasonable feeding time all it takes is for me to shake that bottle to send him running to the other end of the house. (actually these days he's learned that bed time is my time in regards to food, but he'd much rather be let out than use his litter tray, but I'd rather clean that out than trudge downstairs for his whims).

    soxbox on
  • AurinAurin Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Just find foods with more natural, MEAT ingredients as the first thing on the list. Look for chicken, not chicken meal, for example.

    Our biggest cat used to be a porker, but just by switching his diet he's more active and has lost all the weight he put on when we didn't know any better and fed him crappy foods.

    Aurin on
  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Her old owner bought her a big bag of Science Diet for older cats before my roommate took her. I think we're going to try a little over a half cup in the morning and then the same in the evening until my roommate can take her to the vet and get a better idea. I think that sounds ok...

    Esh on
  • RobmanRobman Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Can you exercise fatty? Weight loss is mostly diet, but exercise sure helps. The fatty mccatty probably sloths around all day like jabba, maybe spend some quality time with a laser pointer with him?

    Robman on
  • cabsycabsy the fattest rainbow unicorn Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Aurin wrote: »
    Just find foods with more natural, MEAT ingredients as the first thing on the list. Look for chicken, not chicken meal, for example.

    Our biggest cat used to be a porker, but just by switching his diet he's more active and has lost all the weight he put on when we didn't know any better and fed him crappy foods.

    Meat as the first four ingredients, not meat meal or meat byproduct. Corn and corn products should not be at or even near the top of the list. Read ingredient labels for your pet food. Better cat food will let you feed less while still keeping your fattycat relatively happy.

    eta: For instance if you are feeding her this, notice the first two ingredients are byproduct meal and corn; you could switch to this which still isn't super amazing, but starts off with real meat and has no corn.

    cabsy on
  • DeusfauxDeusfaux Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    dry food has all the calories, as wet is mostly water.

    we slimmed down a fat cat by doing your first suggestion, though the half a can of wet was the dinner special. half cup dry for breakfast and midday lunch

    worked like a charm.

    hardest part is the cat will bitch and moan to high hell for a good while as it adjusts. and then bitches and moans whenever it's close to feeding time as it expects regular meals :P

    Deusfaux on
  • DarksierDarksier Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    For dry food I use
    http://www.tasteofthewildpetfood.com/products/cats/rocky_mountain_feline_formula/
    It's pretty affordable -i can't shell out the dollars for the Wellness brand- and doesn't use grain as filler. Its high protein so it can take awhile for a cat to adjust if they've been fed standard fare for most their days.
    I also feed them a bit of wet food using Fancy Feast's Turkey and Giblets. Out of all the flavors they sell, the turkey one has meat as its primary ingredients.

    Darksier on
  • soxboxsoxbox Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    When I look at that photo, I just think "You should rub his belly until he's thin". Maybe that's just me.

    soxbox on
  • mtsmts Dr. Robot King Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    not knowing the calorie content of her food. we feed our two cats 2/3 a cup twice a day of c/d and weight management indoor cat. you can probably cut down teh amount you feed it.


    but definitely switch to an indoor weight management food. the nutro one is pretty good price:quality ratio

    mts on
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  • TrillianTrillian Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    dispatch.o wrote: »
    Do you leave a bowl out for her to eat from all day?

    I'd take a measurement of how much she actually consumes now, then cut it by 15-20% and see how it goes.


    edit:

    What type/brand of food and how old is the cat by the way?

    Wet food is a terrible idea in general.


    Nope.

    Wet food is actually better.

    Cats need the extra water they get from wet food. All cats die of kidney failure nowadays, unless diabetes takes them first, and the hypothesis is that this is all due to people's obsession with feeding dry food.

    Trillian on

    They cast a shadow like a sundial in the morning light. It was half past 10.
  • OnTheLastCastleOnTheLastCastle let's keep it haimish for the peripatetic Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    dispatch.o wrote: »
    Do you leave a bowl out for her to eat from all day?

    I'd take a measurement of how much she actually consumes now, then cut it by 15-20% and see how it goes.


    edit:

    What type/brand of food and how old is the cat by the way?

    Wet food is a terrible idea in general.

    THIS IS THE WORST ADVICE IN THE THREAD. DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS PERSON.

    Jesus, if you don't know anything about cats, maybe you shouldn't post in the advice thread. Wet food is immeasurably better and important for a cat. It is less convenient for HUMANS. God, I'm sorry if I sound really angry but I am at that advice being right up top of the thread. People do not know how to care for their animals and it's like feeding your kid McDonalds for every meal.

    First up, cats are obligate carnivores. Obligate. It means they have to eat meat. You know what's cheap? Corn. You know what is more expensive? Meat. Cheap cat foods are primarily things that your cat can't process, they are NOT like dogs. They cannot eat everything. They eat meat.

    Do not go to a regular grocery store and buy your cat a giant bag of kitty kibble. Look at the ingredients on some of those, see how corn and barley are the first ingredients? That is horrible. It leads to obesity and a lot of other ailments that will kill your cat. Go to a real pet store and look at EVO, Wellness, Innova (has some grain), I forget the others. I use EVO 'cause my cats like it and I find the health info on it acceptable.

    You can even see the calorie counts on the side of good cat foods. You'll notice that dry food is 4x as many calories! That is a lot of why cats get fat. They are left to free feed and the dry food has many more calories per serving. Also they can't process the carbs and it's turned into fat. Woo, fuck the cheap cat food industry and all the lazy cat owners of the world.

    One other interesting thing about cats is that it is not natural for them to drink water. They primarily get their moisture through their food, when they hunted (as they always did in the wild) they got that from their kills. Now they kind of drink but it is still not natural and so dry food can lead to dehydration.

    Here is what I feed my 1 year old cat daily: In the morning, 1/4 cup of dry EVO turkey & chicken or Salmon (currently on salmon). At night, two scoops of wet EVO Turkey & Chicken. My cat is the healthiest, sleek with the shiniest fur and entirely toooooooo energetic (like a cat should be).

    Go visit a vet and ask them how much to feed your cat. If they prescribe a weight loss food though check the ingredients, 'cause a lot of vets get sponsored by food companies and try to foist off food that's still not healthy on your cat. Yeah, I've seen it happen. No, I don't know more about animals than a vet... but I know they are obligate carnivores and this is a documented problem with SOME veterinarians.

    Links to back up everything I just said: [URL="http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood
    /a/tipsforchoosing.htm"]http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/tipsforchoosing.htm[/URL]

    Obesity in cats: http://www.thecatsite.com/Health/218/Obesity-in-Cats.html

    OnTheLastCastle on
  • DeathwingDeathwing Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Wet food is a terrible idea in general.

    This is very, very wrong.

    An excess of dry food leads to dehydration, urinary problems, diabetes, kidney problems, etc. etc. Cats have a very low thirst drive, and will not drink enough water to make up for the low moisture content of the dry kibble. The whole idea that dry food cleans teeth is ridiculous - if they chew it at all (mine usually didn't), it just shatters and at the most might get something off the very tips of their teeth.

    My male cat had to stay in the local veterinary hospital last summer ($4000, thank god for pet insurance) for a urinary blockage that was almost certainly helped along if not caused entirely by too much dry food. Ever since then, he and his sister has been exclusively on a complete wet-food diet (Wellness CORE) with no medical problems whatsoever.

    At the risk of being a bit over-dramatic, I had to spend the better part of a week feeling awful and wondering if I was going to be forced to put him to sleep before things smoothed out....I still get choked up thinking how close I came to accidentally killing him by letting him eat badly.

    While she tends to get a bit fanatical-sounding sometimes, there is a fair amount of decent discussion on this subject written by a vet at http://catinfo.org/ also. Cats are not designed to eat anything even close to dry kibble.

    Deathwing on
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  • oncelingonceling Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    It is extremely important not to starve a cat, and that the cat loses weight very slowly. You will kill the cat through liver failure or numerous other problems if you don't do this slowly. You want to aim for something like a pound every 2 months at most.

    A high quality meat based food (pref a mix of wet/dry or just wet) will get the results that you want. Change the diet by mixing the new food in with the old over 2 weeks increasing new food. Once you have established a better source of food, then gradually reduce the amount by a quarter cup for a week, assess if the cat lost weight and go from there.

    You should feed 2 or more times a day, and there should be lots of play time. Use vertical climbing surfaces like cat trees and whatever the cat will play with on the floor as well, laser pointers, balls of paper, plastic springs, there's lots of things and the cat may have no interest in some but lots in others.

    onceling on
  • OnTheLastCastleOnTheLastCastle let's keep it haimish for the peripatetic Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Don't even get me started on how people don't brush their cats teeth and that leads to kidney failure and other things around age 4.

    Deathwing, we had a pretty similar experience with a cat that was living with some people who just weren't taking good care of it. Cheap food, all the food it wanted and no dental care is a death sentence. I got the fat butt and put his ass on a diet with wet food. I think he's still fat (doesn't live with me anymore) but he's healthy.

    The vet prescribed food for his 'weight loss' was all corn and other grains though. What fucking bullshit.

    OnTheLastCastle on
  • DeathwingDeathwing Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    The vet prescribed food for his 'weight loss' was all corn and other grains though. What fucking bullshit.

    Yeah, after they let him come home, they insisted on us keeping him on one of the prescription foods for the rest of his life - except even the wet version was full of corn/wheat/rice/etc., and neither of them would touch it after the first day.
    Use vertical climbing surfaces like cat trees and whatever the cat will play with on the floor as well, laser pointers, balls of paper, plastic springs, there's lots of things and the cat may have no interest in some but lots in others.

    Yeah, anything that gets them moving will help - we have one of the large cat trees with several sissal rope scratching posts, and they love it to death, it's held up for 3 years now. The wands with with little furry/feather toys that you can flip around are also great, although they tend to chew through the strings eventually :)

    Deathwing on
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  • DjeetDjeet Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    No need to overcomplicate this. Doesn't the food you have for the cat have a table on the back for how much to feed a cat of a given size in a day? Pick a weight a couple lbs less then what she weighs and go with that for a few months. When you get weight feedback from vet during her regular wellness check you can adjust her diet again accordingly.


    Personally I don't think Hill's regular kibble is that great. It's better then grocery store kibble, but I think their standard kibble has grains for 4 out of the first 5 ingredients. Cats are obligate carnivores and are built to eat meat not plants; you can find food that has more animal meat content either at dedicated pet stores or online. If you do decide to transition her food, transition by mixing old with new as she might not like an abrupt change.

    Djeet on
  • Cedar BrownCedar Brown Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    I think you should get rid of it and buy a shiny, new, skinny cat.

    Obviously I've never had a pet before but that's my advice.

    Cedar Brown on
  • ransimransim Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Reading this actually made me take a moment to realize that when my vet prescribed a diet for my cat it was the first time I'd never actually sat down to read the ingredients. I was so worried about him at the time that I spaced on it.

    Yeah that food is going to be changed... yikes. I feel like a bad kitty mom right now.

    But like someone else said, food alone and restricting food won't help a kitty loose weight, you need to get them active. I have a big kitty, he's 21 lbs, albeit he's about 3-4 lbs overweight, he's on a small end of the scale for his breed (Norwegian forest cat).

    We've been trying to make sure he gets plenty of exercise, he gained weight in the old place we lived in, two other cats who had constant access to food. So he gets fed twice a day now, dry food and wet food on occasion. We also got him a cat tree, that he loves to climb into.

    I also came across this toy:

    Which i think I'm going to snag one for him, the use a tutorial I found where someone modded it to use a timer and d batteries. We like to play with him but this might help keep his lazy butt active when we're not home at work.

    ransim on
  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    edited May 2010
    I think you should get rid of it and buy a shiny, new, skinny cat.

    Obviously I've never had a pet before but that's my advice.

    My cat is a purebred Champion Wedgehead Siamese. The epitome of shiny and skinny.

    Esh on
  • VistiVisti Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Awwww. You should pet her slim.

    I don't have anything constructive, my cats seem to have trouble putting on the weight, if anything.

    Visti on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • CiriraCirira IowaRegistered User regular
    edited May 2010
    I'd try to stay from any grain based foods, but that has been said here a few times already. I've seen two cats almost die because of grain based allergies in their foods. It's not a natural part of their diet. Look for Grain Free food if at all possible.

    Also wet food is essential for male cats, not quite as much so for females, but still needed. The rest of this thread covered the exercise portion of slimming the cat down, so I can't add much there.

    Cirira on
  • EshEsh Tending bar. FFXIV. Motorcycles. Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Can anyone recommend a good brand of wet food that can preferably be bought at a normal grocery store? I don't have wheels and getting to a pet store is a pain in the ass. I can if it's completely necessary, but I would think there must be something of worth at my local Safeway. Oh, and how for a normal sized cat per day? 1/4 of a can plus his dry food?

    Esh on
  • OrogogusOrogogus San DiegoRegistered User regular
    edited May 2010
    From what I've seen, none of the supermarket brands are in the top tier. On the other hand, as noted there are vets who recommend any canned food, even Fancy Feast, over any dry food.

    How much do the canned food-only people feed their cats? My landlord and I have an 18, 11 and 7 pound cat at home, and if I go by "one 5.5 can / 6-8 lbs. of cat", this comes out to about 4-6 cans every day, which seems like a lot.

    Orogogus on
  • EntriechEntriech ? ? ? ? ? Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited May 2010
    As someone who feeds their cat Wellness grain free wet food only, I'll chime in that you want to feed your cat a good quality wet food, with no grains. What's been written earlier in the thread is completely accurate in that regard.

    Regarding amount, your average 10 lb cat needs around 200 calories a day to maintain. It just so happens the Wellness brand 5.5 oz cans vary between 170 and 210 calories a day, so my normal 10 lb cat gets one of those, broken up into two meals morning and night. The other missing calories he generally gets with the odd treat or bit of meat while I'm cooking.

    For more good info on feeding your cat, check out Feeding your Cat. This site contains nutritional information (as best able to be determined, pet food companies aren't terribly forthcoming), regarding calorie content, fat/protein/carbs breakdown, etc.

    It's extremely important that the cat keeps eating. Some cats have issues transitioning to wet food from dry. The McDonald's analogy is accurate, the sprayed on chemicals on the dry food smell extremely good to a cat, so it can be difficult to move them to 'real' food. That Cat Info site I linked earlier contains some good pointers on how to transition them, etc.

    And regarding securing the wet food, just hit the pet store once and make the investment into getting a full case. A full case is 24 cans, which will last you most of a month. More if you're still weaning them off of or are continuing to feed them dry food. Once they're comfortable with a food type, you can stock up more on future trips.

    Entriech on
  • DeathwingDeathwing Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Can anyone recommend a good brand of wet food that can preferably be bought at a normal grocery store? I don't have wheels and getting to a pet store is a pain in the ass. I can if it's completely necessary, but I would think there must be something of worth at my local Safeway.

    Not really, unfortunately.

    A lot of the premium brand foods can be ordered online as well, i've had decent luck with petfooddirect.com and thehungrypuppy.com (despite the name, they sell cat food also), although for the moment we have a standing order in at a specialty pet food store nearby.

    Sure, the premium stuff is quite a bit more expensive then what you'll find at Safeway, but I tend to think it saves elsewhere by keeping them in better health - aside from the blockage I mentioned earlier, neither of our cats have ever had to go to the vet for anything besides normal checkups and being spayed/neutered :)
    Oh, and how for a normal sized cat per day? 1/4 of a can plus his dry food?

    I do pretty much the same as Entriech, each of our cats gets one 5.5 oz can of the Wellness Core per day, split into two feedings 12 hours apart. They're both at fairly healthy weights for their breed (Siberian), our boy is about 14 pounds and the girl is 10.

    Deathwing on
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  • OnTheLastCastleOnTheLastCastle let's keep it haimish for the peripatetic Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Deathwing wrote: »
    Oh, and how for a normal sized cat per day? 1/4 of a can plus his dry food?

    I do pretty much the same as Entriech, each of our cats gets one 5.5 oz can of the Wellness Core per day, split into two feedings 12 hours apart. They're both at fairly healthy weights for their breed (Siberian), our boy is about 14 pounds and the girl is 10.

    Yeah, remember that wet food is sooooooo much less caloric than dry food because it is a lot of water (which is great) and fills their stomachs. Dry food is all tiny and then expands in the stomach after they've already overeaten.

    You could basically free feed you cat wet food IMO (that is basically what I do for the 2nd meal, she takes a long time to eat it all). Just make sure you clean it up before the next feeding.

    Dry food is where the calories, dehydration and obesity comes in.

    OnTheLastCastle on
  • ransimransim Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Esh wrote: »
    Can anyone recommend a good brand of wet food that can preferably be bought at a normal grocery store? I don't have wheels and getting to a pet store is a pain in the ass. I can if it's completely necessary, but I would think there must be something of worth at my local Safeway. Oh, and how for a normal sized cat per day? 1/4 of a can plus his dry food?

    You can get most pet food on Amazon for cheap. You can also order from Petco online, they carry some of the better brands as well. There are also stores that specialize in food for cats as well online. Just do a search.

    I've personally had good luck with Nutro in the past though they use grain, and Evo. I'm moving my cat back to Evo actually.

    ransim on
  • rizriz Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    I think we're going to need more photos of that adorable fat cat to accurately provide further advice.

    riz on
  • OnTheLastCastleOnTheLastCastle let's keep it haimish for the peripatetic Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Here was my fat boy:
    7030_524841642218_123700369_31077611_7254579_n.jpg

    Fat cat and my kitten, she's not a year old (was like 2.5 months in this picture):
    7030_524841647208_123700369_31077612_4779549_n.jpg

    OnTheLastCastle on
  • jhunter46jhunter46 Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    We adopted one our cats, Guinness, about five or six years ago from owners who over fed her and didn't take care of her coat. She was 9 when we got her and she weighed in at around 30 lbs. We let her coat grow back in and got her weight down to about 18 lbs thanks to some stuff called Hills RD. It is a dry food you can get straight from the vet. I think it ran about 20 bucks a bag and it lasted us for a quite a while. The only catch is you really have to monitor how much they get. We had Guinness on 3/8ths of a cup twice a day for about a year. She got what she needed nutrition wise but she was still pretty hungry and would get pushy around feeding time.

    You really need to be careful though when your cat is carrying weight and starts to get older. Even though we got Guinness back into shape she developed diabetes a few years ago. After about seven months of daily blood glucose checks and insulin shots we have managed to get her into remission with just strict diet control. She's actually down to about 12 pounds now and seems to be aging in reverse. She now plays more and can do more as a 14 year old cat than she could when we first got her.

    jhunter46 on
  • LadyMLadyM Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Esh wrote: »
    Can anyone recommend a good brand of wet food that can preferably be bought at a normal grocery store? I don't have wheels and getting to a pet store is a pain in the ass. I can if it's completely necessary, but I would think there must be something of worth at my local Safeway. Oh, and how for a normal sized cat per day? 1/4 of a can plus his dry food?

    I was going to recommend Sheba canned cat food, but a google search reveals it's been discontinued. Too bad, it was impressive. Real strips of chicken, etc.

    LadyM on
  • tehmarkentehmarken BrooklynRegistered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Buy a $1.00 can of sardines in water (if they're in oil, drain the oil).

    Put one in the cat's bowl in the morning. (there's usually two sardines in a can).

    In the evening, put the second one in their bowl.

    BAM. Instant diet.

    Seriously, cats are carnivores. Leave a cat in the wild and they eat rodents, fish, and birds. Why change that?

    Alternatively, just research cat foods and find the one that is mostly proteins/fats and the lowest in carbs/sugars.

    tehmarken on
  • DeathwingDeathwing Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Buy a $1.00 can of sardines in water (if they're in oil, drain the oil).

    Put one in the cat's bowl in the morning. (there's usually two sardines in a can).

    In the evening, put the second one in their bowl.

    BAM. Instant diet.

    I really hope you were just joking, because this is a ridiculously bad idea - feeding an all-fish diet will likely cause the cat to develop vitamin/mineral deficiencies, some of those being potentially fatal.

    Deathwing on
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