does not seem to be working

So, I have a little tubby indoor cat who's 2 years old. I used to leave massive amounts of dry food around and also fed him 1/2 can a day of wet food (he has to have l-lysine powder everyday and wet food is the only means of giving it to him). The food is good stuff, Purina One and Authority. Once he ballooned up to about 20 lbs, i started slowly cutting back on his food. For the past 2 months he has gotten 1/4 a can of wet food a day, and 1/2 a cup of dry food with the ocassional treat for cuteness. He has lost a minimal amount of weight.


I feel like to feed him any less would be cruel, but I'm disapointed in his weight loss and I'm not quite sure what else I can do to help prompt it. While he doesn't go outside for exercise, he does do alot of running and chasing indoors. Does anyone have any ideas on how to help my kitty trim down?

3/21/2007 6:20:53 PM

On that much food a day he should lose a lot of weight.

Maybe he has thyroid problems.

I'm sure se7entythree will chime in, she knows more than I do.

3/21/2007 6:23:37 PM

I would actually call up the vet and ask them for advice
it's hard to get a pet to lose weight - they do have weight loss formulas that are mostly fiber that would help some, but yeah I mean it's not like you can put him on a treadmill :/
cats are particularly hard to de-tub

3/21/2007 6:26:38 PM

or

3/21/2007 6:30:25 PM

He has a leash. He goes catatonic the minute it's on him

3/21/2007 6:39:30 PM

I have fat cats too. They have both lost weight with the IAMS dry food for weight control. I am only giving them soft food once a day now. They both begged and drove me nuts for the first week, but now they just go in and munch on their dry food and are happy.

3/21/2007 6:42:36 PM

thats still too much food


put him on science diet light dry food

mix his lysine in a tablespoon or two of wet food

3/21/2007 7:11:09 PM

they have l-lysine gel, called viralys, if that's an option, and cats should not lose weight really quickly, so if he has lost at least a little bit in two months you may be on the right track.

3/21/2007 8:03:55 PM

first question: what food is your cat eating?

2nd: what are the feeding instructions on the bag/can?

3rd: are you following these instructions?

obviously, if he's not eating diet cat food, then you should consider switching to a diet formula (low fat, higher protein). cats can be very hard to de-tub. a common misconception is that wet food, because of the "gravy", has more fat/calories. it's really just dry food with added water. it rarely has a higher fat content, but it's really a waste of money unless you have a kitten (who's going to lose his teeth anyway), an old cat (who has a hard time eating/no teeth), a cat that's dehydrated, or you have to give a medicine in it. try using less. wet food is bad for teeth.

if you have cut down on food (according to the the instructions on the bag), and are feeding diet food, and the weight is still a big concern, consult your vet. hyperthyroidism can be common in cats, but that leads to weight loss. there are cases of hypothyroidism, which leads to weight gain, but it is less common. diabetes is another problem that can lead to weight gain in cats.

really it all comes down to checking with your vet.

all of that said, i have a fat cat too. she eats diet food (along with my other 2), but it's hard to control how much each cat eats. i got her when she was very very young (should have been nursing still - no momma cat, kittens found in box by animal control on side of road), and her growth was stunted. she is a very small framed cat, with a short (capri) tail...3/4th of the length it should be. no matter what we do, she's fat. the vet has checked her out and said there's nothing to worry about and nothing much we can do.

good luck.

3/21/2007 8:57:16 PM

my cat's a fatass too. been feeding him diet food, even less than what directions say, but he still seems fat. The thing is, his sides are skinnier but he's still got alot under his belly, and its hard for me to tell if he's still a fatass or just "bigboned"

I've also been trying to "exercise" him. I bought a laser pointer that he loves to chase.

3/22/2007 9:17:57 AM

He used to be so little. Now imagine a giant basketball where his tummy is

3/22/2007 10:00:51 AM

My old cat used to eat Purina Indoor Cat formula.
He lost weight when i switched him to it..

shrug.

3/22/2007 10:02:12 AM

How could I resist this?

3/22/2007 4:07:18 PM

so i guess you're not going to answer those questions, huh? oh well, i tried.

3/22/2007 4:10:32 PM

First question was already answered in original post

As for how much, for dry food it states 2/3-1 cup a day. He eats 1/2

I'm not willing to feed him less, and when I brought this up issue at last year at a well visit with the vet, she brushed it off and didn't give me many concrete ideas...basically a "wait and see" approach, although she did berate me for using wet food with him

3/22/2007 4:50:57 PM

Quote :

"I'm not willing to feed him less"

ok well if you arent willing to change his diet or feed him less

STFU and have a fat cat


hope he doesnt become a statistic and get diabetes and die a slow horrible death of kidney failure

3/22/2007 6:05:55 PM

^Your dumbass neglects the fact that he is already eating appromximately 1/2 of what a "normal" cat should eat every day. Considering he is about 5 lbs over what is considered a "large" cat, that amount of food seems barely enough

3/23/2007 6:12:59 AM

^You need to put him on a cat weight loss food. Period. And feed him as little wet as possible.

3/23/2007 7:02:07 AM

i know you said he does a lot of running around indoors, but if you haven't tried it, you could try using a little laser pointer to get him to run even more. My dog goes nuts for the laser

3/23/2007 7:20:05 AM

Quote :

"You need to put him on a cat weight loss food. Period. And feed him as little wet as possible."

3/23/2007 7:28:01 AM

Quote :

"First question was already answered in original post"

no it wasn't. i asked what type of food your cat is eating. all your post said was that he's eating purina one or authority.

purina one has 10 different dry cat food formulas.
authority has 8 different dry cat food formulas.

netiher of those brands are top of the line premium (they're not bad either).

it makes a HUGE difference whether your cat eats kitten formula, adult, diet, urinary tract health, senior, etc. you should pick a brand and stick with it. don't switch around, it'll screw w/ the cat's digestive track.

if your vet is not helpful, then go see a different vet. get a bionutritional analysis done. ask them to check for diabetes and/or thyroid disorder.

[Edited on March 23, 2007 at 8:30 AM. Reason : ]

3/23/2007 8:28:56 AM

my bad

he eats Purina One Chicken and Rice dry cat food and has ever since he was about 7 months old.

as for Authority, he refuses to eat the "lite" wet food. I think it's because it's dryer, even if i mix it with water. He usually eats chicken or beef (sometimes catfish if I'm feeling giving). Either way, he only gets 1/4 a can a day, and that is only to help administer his l-lysine powder.

I'll look into the bio analysis. Maybe it could help shed light onto this problem

3/23/2007 11:22:54 AM

Quote :

"put him on science diet light dry food"

works

3/23/2007 2:14:23 PM