Overweight Cat (12 lb)

[hoofmaiden]

Originally Posted by aniela

Before someone says something, I'm trying to finish up his current kibble and have been in the process of transitioning to canned. He gets canned on weekends and actually eats it! Though the vet did say that canned was bad for him and to feed exclusively kibble...I know better thanks to this community.

Good thing you know better! Vets just make me go . Yes, transitioning to canned only will not only help him lose weight but he'll be healthier overall. Glad you're doing that!

[Kitty-The-Cat]

My cat's weight and proportions are essentially exactly the same as yours (including the skin flap beneath the tummy), and last time I went to the vet they told me she could stand to lose a couple pounds or so. Earlier this year I put her on an all-grain-free diet with a lot of raw meat too, she gets pretty much no 'junk' food at all (just a very small amount of grain-free dry food as a late night snack), so I'm not overfeeding her or feeding her anything which would normally add weight. For a while over the summer she seemed to have lost a pound or so but lately looks like she's put it back on. It's a bit frustrating since there doesn't seem to be anything I can do to make her lose more weight, but at the same time she's not overweight by much, either. I wonder if I should just not worry about it.

[LakotaWolf]

You've really got to keep an eye on the AMOUNT of food your cat eats if you want it to lose weight - this is directed at anyone who needs their cat to drop a bit of weight, not just the OP ;}

It's not just about food type, or calories. And you can't just eyeball or guess how much you're feeding your cat - you have to buy a food scale and measure things out - almost exactly. You need to be accurate at least to tenths of an ounce.

You should also weight the cat frequently so you can gauge how its weight loss is going. A pet or baby scale is ideal, but if all you have is a regular bathroom scale, you can weigh yourself, note the weight, then hold your cat in your arms and note the new weight. Subtract your weight from you+cat weight, and voila! Cat's weight :}

A cat should get a certain percentage of its body weight in food per day. The goal is to decrease its food intake until it reaches its ideal body weight. This does require you to figure out your cat's "ideal" weight - your vet can help figure it out, but for most normal-sized cats, it seems like the "ideal" weight is 8-10 lbs.

These are guidelines from the Primal website, but I've seen these numbers corroborated elsewhere:

Tips
Feeding Percentages
1.5% Weight Loss
2.0% Non-Active
2.5% Maintain Weight
3.0% Slight Weight Gain

So, for example, I have an elderly cat who is pretty sedentary. She weighs 8.5 lbs. My vet said that she is pretty much at her ideal weight, and I should not let her get to 9 lbs (yes, even 1/2 of a pound can be the difference between overweight and just right).

So, I feed my cat 2% of her body weight daily, which is 2.72 ounces. I experimented around with this amount for a couple of weeks, and found out that I could round this up to 3 ounces a day without significant weight gain or fluctuation.

I spread the amount out over 3 meals of one ounce each, and she maintains her ideal weight perfectly. The spread-out meals also ensures that she doesn't gorge on one large meal and then feel hungry 12 hours later, or go hungry through the night.

So, as an example, if you're trying to get a 12-pound cat back to an ideal weight of 10 pounds, you would want to use the "weight loss" percentage of 1.5% of its ideal body weight. This comes to 2.88 ounces of food per day.

As the cat drops weight and reaches its goal, you can then scale the percentage back to a "maintenance" percentage of 2% or 2.5%, depending on its age and activity level.

Of course, exercise is also important. Try to set aside even 10 minutes a day to play with your cat, and consider investing in some toys that the cat can play with on its own, such as the amazing, ever-popular ball-in-a-circular-track-thingy:

Petmate Crazy Circle Cat Toy at PETCO

My cat adores this toy, and will initiate play on her own over and over and over... ;}

Hope this helps!

[aniela]

Oz has one of those toys. He loved it at first but now plays with it intermittently. I find he loves ping pong balls and need to restock my supply of them.

I did buy him Da Bird and wish I had gotten one sooner! He's usually not one for toys but I guess the fluttering grabs his attention.

[OliverandCo.]

LakotaWolf, that helps me so much!! My cat Oliver is pretty much the same shape as aniela's Oz (with the belly flap). But he's so active and runs around and bounces on chairs and runs and stuff so I thought he could use the extra food for calories. We also thought since he has such a large frame that a bit of belly can't hurt him. He doesn't look or act overweight so...
(when he gets wet food I usually put the whole can down for him)