I'm fat!

Megan Nelson

Mom has been battling with my weight for as long as she can remember... as a kitten I was free fed and got fat, so mom started feeding me twice a day... Well, I'm still fat. I eat 1/4 Nutro Natural Choice mixed with Innova HealthWise twice a day. Lately mom has been giving me less than 1/4 at each meal and putting some Merrick canned doggie food in there because it is filling, good for me, and then I whine less... She has been playing with me more too but no weight seems to be coming off! I didn't eat great foods when I was younger... Science Diet/Iams/Purina... So they made me fat but now I eat good food and need to loose some weight in a healthy way! Rascal who wants some more ideas

Unknown

You sound like me. I got fat eating the Science Diet junk that the vet recommended. Then the vet tried to make Mom feel guilty that I was fat. So unfair. I gained weight on Nutro, too. Someone told Mom that I would lose weight if I ate only canned food. We did that for a while, but that didn\'t work either. You might want to try something with more protein. That\'s what is working for me. I eat Innova EVO and I\'m actually losing weight for the first time ever, even though I free-feed. I just don\'t feel as hungry because all that protein fills me up. I know that ProPlan has a high-protein, weight-loss formula. Be careful about cutting back too much on the food. Like humans, cats\' metabolisms can go into \"starvation\" mode if they don\'t get enough to eat. Unlike humans, this can have a devastating effect on their livers. Most of all, good luck! This is such a frustrating problem. I wish there was a simple solution.

Megan Nelson

We tried kitty EVO, but I forgot to look last time at the doggie food store here if they sell it. We have two places that sell good food and I know the one 45 minutes away carries it but I'm not sure if the one 5 minutes away does. He's been eating 1/2 cup food a day for about 3 years now, just different foods... I think I'll try to keep mixing wet and dry... and maybe I'll try a better dry food too. SpringerLover and Rascal

Beastie_and_the_Boys

I've always been a full-figured beauty, too! Our mommy has tried all sorts of diet cat foods, and so far nothing has made a difference. She never wanted to restrict food too much, since my brother, Arthur, and I eat the same foods and he is thin and really doesn't need to be on any kind of diet! Earlier this year we started eating Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul, but after several months mommy was worried that I might have gained some weight. So now we've switched to the 'Light' formula. I don't know if it's going to make any difference yet, since we haven't been eating it long enough. I'm not sure about the Innova food, it seems awfully high in protein! Isn't that hard on the kidneys? Arthur and I are both over 10 years old, so it's hard not to worry about that. We've noticed that most of the kidney-support diets stress being low-protein. Maybe I should just quit raiding the freezer for ice cream while my mommy's asleep. ;-) hehehe

Jan Crocker

Hi, cutie! You don\'t look as if you have much of a weight problem. But if you\'d like to take a couple of pounds off, you might ask your human mom to try Hill\'s Science Diet Hairball Control/Light (dry). There\'s something about that food that satisfies me immediately -- I think it\'s the huge amount of fiber in there -- and fills up my tummy big time. Without that fiber, I could be a bottomless pit! Mom gives me about 1/2 cup of Hill\'s one a day, since I\'m a \"grazer.\" By the way, I\'m an indoor kitty who lives in a small two-bedroom apartment. I run around some, but not a lot, so this is obviously very low-calorie stuff. I\'m four years old, and have no issues with hairballs at all, even though I groom myself plenty. Best of all: This stuff tastes great! Yum! Who needs kitty treats when you\'ve got Hill\'s?

Jan Crocker

I lost 10 pounds -- yes, folks, 10 pounds -- when my forever-home humans fed me 1/2 cup each day of Friskies Senior Dry Food (it's lower-calorie food, apparently) and immediately weaned me off the endless kitty treats my former owner gave me. That was how I got up to 21 pounds -- I was so fat that I could barely walk. It helped a lot, too, that my humans' apartment had a long flight of stairs. When they first adopted me, I was so hefty at 21 pounds that I couldn't climb up one step. After four months, I was 10 pounds lighter -- and able to race up the entire flight of stairs in two seconds. Talk about an awesome kitty gym!

Megan Nelson

I have fed Science Diet in the past and wouldn't feed it again... its got so much gunk in it... no nutrition. Thanks though... At my heightest weight I was 17 pounds... I'm at 15 now and should be at about 12... so I need to loose those 3 pounds:) Maybe we will just try the Innova EVO cat... see if it fills him up and gives him more energy! SpringerLover and Rascal

Unknown

Beatrice, I don\'t know what the story is with protein. I\'ve seen conflicting evidence about whether high-protein diets are a problem for cats. All I can say is to learn what you can about the topic and make the choice that seems right to you. My perspective is that being obese (22 pounds, at my heaviest) is hard on our bodies too. Also, if you consider a mouse to be the natural diet of a cat, a mouse has similar protein content to EVO. That is the logic we are operating from, but I\'m not saying that it is right for everykitty. It just seems to make sense to me.

Cyndi Horstmanshof

Hi Siatom, I was 16 lbs when my mommy adopted me. I was an inside/outside kitty and had been given table scraps as well as kitty food. After I went to mom’s house, I was not allowed outside anymore so mom cut back on my kitty food a bit to compensate for the lack of exercise. Since my cat parents are vegans, I did not want what they ate, so I started losing weight. I got down to 10 lbs within 6 months. My siblings are all less than 10 lbs as well. I would think just eating what the can, box or bag recommends per day with NO people food would really help.

Tabitha Smith-Elliott

Being overweight is hard, so I sympathise with you all. Mom has tried everything to help me but to no avail. Have you gotten checked out by your vet? There are medical conditions that can cause obesity.

Megan Nelson

I had a UTI a while back and thats when I dropped a few pounds but... no more of those recently and I got off the ICKY vet food so I should start doing better. I certainly have a lot more energy. I think that after this HealthWise and Nutro Natural Choice is gone we will try the Innova EVO cat again! Thanks everyone! Meows from Rascal aka Siatom Always In Trouble!

Diana Mertens

I used to be tubby, too. I got there two ways: 1. I used to live in the streets, and after adopting Mommy I continued my habit of cramming in as much as possible, thinking I may not eat again for a while. I was a six-pound adult when I showed up; within a year I had doubled my weight. 2. My sister Roxanne had to eat special renal food, and I'd sneak it. This was getting to be a problem as both of my hips are dislocated, and the vet said if I get too fat my hips couldn't handle the strain. Mommy had me on Iams weight management food for a while, which didn't help. Then she learned that the WM food has rice (yuck) which has carbs, which are not for carnivores. She learned also that in order to get the protein I need, I have to overeat. It's actually counterproductive! So, Mommy just put me on regular old 9-Lives - how about that? She also increased my canned food intake and decreased my carb-filled dry food intake. And I am now down to a healthy 9 lbs. (from almost 13) Also, after being with my Mommy for two years, I finally got over my starvation obsession, which is good. Good luck and purrs....

Megan Nelson

Well, mom got me some Wellness canned food today. She had to get kitty frontline and stopped at the good food store on the way. I REALLY liked it... and got filled up pretty fast... no whining after dinner... she gave me only 1 teaspoon of canned food and maybe 1/8 cup of dry food mixed together... Maybe I'll start to lose weight now! Thanks for the suggestions everyone! SpringerLover and Rascal

Cindy Marsh

I'm a bit "fluffy" too. The vetlady says I need to lose about 3 pounds so momma is gonna stop letting us free feed I've been sick the last week though so she's gonna start my diet as soon as I'm all better. I've already lost some weight from being sick and throwing up all the time but now I'm getting better and starting to eat more again.

Unknown

I used to be very heavy but I lost several pounds just by upping my exercise and cutting my food back a little. I get 1/4 of a cup of food twice a day and my mom used to take my dinner portion and split that in half so 1/8 of a cup right before I ate I had to work for. Mom would sit at the end of the hall way and would toss a piece of kibble, one at a time down the hall and I would have to run to get it. It was a lot of fun and before I knew it, I was down to a more reasonable weight! She would also take me outside on a leash and we'd walk around the yard. My favorite part was walking out to the fish pond and watching all those yummy koi swim around.

Megan Nelson

That's a great idea about throwing the kibble down the hall! We'll have to try that! I HATE walking in my harness! I only wear it when we got out to the vet or a show... just for safety reasons... something to hold onto/grab onto for mom! I'll make sure to get mom to lock the rest of the critters up and play food fetch with me! Rascal