[bluemilk]

My goal: -4 lb by April. :|

 

[Heather102180]

How much does he/she weigh right now?

 

[gunterkat]

Lots of play will help with weight loss, and will also strengthen the bond between you and your kitteh. :wink:

 

[weebeasties]

What a coincidence, I was just going to start a "Biggest Loser - Felines" thread!

We had to take Desdemona to the vet yesterday (eye infection, poor little girl), and, since she was last weighed around Thanksgiving, her weight in the carrier has gone from 13.2 lbs to 12 lbs even! Yay Desi! What did it for us was a diet change, from mostly dry with canned twice a week, to dry for breakfast and canned for dinner every day. We'd made the diet change because Othello will only take his L-Lysine supplement (for his upper respiratory infections) mixed into wet food, but it's had a nice side effect for Desdemona's weight. Plenty of sessions with the laser pointer and Da Bird have also helped - I'm not sure if that's chicken or egg, but she's gotten more active as she's lost weight. The vet would still like to see her drop another pound or so, so we'll just keep doing what we've been doing!

 

[OwnedByACat]

What did it for us was a diet change, from mostly dry with canned twice a week, to dry for breakfast and canned for dinner every day.

That was the only thing that worked for Pesty too! He had just gotten so overweight on dry food, and now with the diet change, he looks wonderful! I never weighed him, so I don't know what the weights were before and after........which I did. Would have been fun to know.

 

[bluemilk]

O.K.! Starting tommorow,I will leave his food out for half an hour in the morning,and half an hour at night. Are snacks good?

 

[weebeasties]

Are you free feeding (he eats as much as he wants, whenever he wants) now? Do you have an idea of how much he's eating per day? You might want to consider measuring by amount, rather than by time. Our beasties now get a scant quarter cup (leaving a quarter inch or so empty in the measuring cup) of dry food in the morning, and they usually finish it within about 10 minutes! Ditto with the canned food at night, they are face down in the bowl until it's gone, and that doesn't take long. We do the occasional kitty treat, but it's more as a behavioral reinforcer/reward than as a staple in their diet.

If he has a lot of weight to lose, you might want to ask your vet for advice - you want him to lose at a safe rate. Crash diets aren't any better for kitties than they are for humans...

 

[bluemilk]

Yes Percy's free-eating,now,which is why I dread changing his diet. I know he'll go postalval. BUT... it's for his GOOD. I want a healthy,happy cat. He weighs 17 1/2 lbs. Some of my 'friends' make 'fat cat' jokes...
:| Down to 12 lbs by APRIL.

 

[Nell]

In all seriousness, going from 17.5 lbs to 12 in less than 3 months is extreme, and dangerous for your cat. In human terms thats about the equivalent of a 200 lb person dropping 60 lbs in the same amount of time. Its just not healthy. Overweight cats that lose weight too quickly are at risk for developing hepatic lipidosis, a liver disease that can and often does have fatal consequences.

Lisa Pierson, a vet who has focused much on feline nutrition, and the author of http://www.catinfo.org recommends that a cat lose 1-2% of their current body weight per week, but prefers to stay closer to 1%. For a 17.5 lb cat, thats about 3/4 lb in 1 month.

 

[bluemilk]

So,I should revise my goal to -4 by when...
UPDATE! He's playing more,thinking of food less! rcat

 

[Nell]

-4 by July is a much safer goal. Remember, its not a race, but a long term goal. You want to see steady improvement over time, not a drastic drop in weight.

Check out the site in my previous post for some info on diet & weight loss. The article library @ http://www.littlebigcat.com is another good source of info.