[Dimmerz]

:?:
When I took my cat to the vet, he told me my cat was getting fat. He is 5.5 kg. Is that fat? I started to give him some weight reduction food. But if he is fat, what kind of toys do you think I should get him to make him more active.

I already got him a lot of mice toys and wand toys. Anything else? and above all, is he considered overweight?

 

[Jeanie]

I had to look at a conversion chart. 5.5k equals 12.1 pounds. I was just curious. That's a good sized cat. Of course, bone structure, height, and length play a big part in deciding the right weight, so I'd trust the vet's word. Have you tried the laser light? Many cats love to chase the light as you move it around. Cats will chase almost anything that moves.

I'm sure the vet recommended that you cut her calories also. There is a variety of foods for the older or less active cat.

 

[ralphcor]

Dimmerz I've been checking out active toys and this one looks like a blast for em, go to the website and view the videos. Bit pricey at $30. but worth it to me if it keeps older cats exercising. I'm sure there's others out there to.

http://www.panicmouseinc.com/index.shtml

 

[Bean]

Moby is about 15 pounds and he's a bit overweight. Iams weight control seems to be helping though.

 

[Dimmerz]

My cat, "DIM SUM", is long and a larger frame so I will continue following the vet's suggestions.

ralphcor, I saw that PanicMouse in the store but after seeing the video I think it is a must buy!!! Has anyone here bought one? It's about $45 CDN.

bengalsownme, I want to purchase one of those but they are fairly pricey. A small one starts at about $50CDN, those floor to ceiling ones must go for about $150-200. Where'd you purchase yours?

Jeanie..I'll have to check out the laser light thing My cat loves wand toys but gets bored with them after awhile. I just want to keep an indoor cat active and interested. Harder than I thought!

 

[Cyprian]

:?:
He is 5.5 kg. Is that fat?

hehe my Gizmo is about 20 pounds, and the vet said he is just a big cat! which he is, very solid.. altho recently he's gotta a little squishy around the middle, but he's still healthy so I'm not worried

 

[Sol]

5.5 kg isn´t much for a tomcat but of course, it depends on the cat, muscle, bonestructure, height etc. I have a cat that weighs 6 kg and he isn´t fat. He´s just a big cat.

Your cat might me overweight but I wouldn´t call a 5.5 kg-cat fat.

 

[Bean]

Well - moby is a large (physically) tom, but he is a bit overweight. It's hard for me to see whether he is loosing weight since I picked him up, but friends have said they have noticed. And also his hanging skin on his belly is increasing (I'm guessing it's because of fat loss?).

 

[Jeanie]

That reminds me of an incident with me and Blacky, my 10 year old male. This was years ago, and Blacky was the first cat I had had that long. You know how when you see your cat every day, there may be gradual change that would be very obvious to you if you hadn't seen him for a long time? Well, I looked at Blacky one morning and got on the phone to the vet immediately and said I had an emergency! The children and Blacky and I jumped into the car and headed for the animal hospital immediately! I was in a panic!

When the young and very amiable (thank goodness!) vet rushed into the examing room, I told him Blacky's abdomen had collapsed! He patiently examined my much loved cat and told me he couldn't find anything wrong. I was flabbergasted. "But look at his abdomen! It's hanging. Something's wrong!"

"Well, my cat has the same condition," he answered. (He had the patience of a saint!) We call him "double belly." It's just a sign of age and a lack of muscle tone. It happens to all of us."

I was too shocked at his "diagnosis" to be embarrassed! In fact I watched Blacky very carefully for weeks. I still don't understand why I hadn't seen it happening. I swore to the vet that it happened overnight! Boy, is my face red....

 

[Jessica]

You know this lady I know.... (Here I go again, I've told thise story so many times.... But it's a classic) had a very overweight cat and was told by her vet to have him lose weight.

So every night when she fed Porker his dinner she's measure out a portion and put half in his dish and the other half she'd toss across the room so Porker had to run for his dinner.

By the time his yearly visit came back around he had lost so much weight, he was back down in the normal range.

 

[Jeanie]

That's funny, Jessica! Hey, whatever works! Of course, if she had just given Porker (good name) a bit less food....
I don't remember you telling that story before.

 

[Jessica]

I told it a long time ago at the other cat site and at several more forums.... And I don't know how many times in person. I've found that people are not comfortable with feeding less food or even a low cal one so giving them suggestions on how to get their lazt cat moving always helps.

 

[Majicou]

There was a woman on TV who took her cat to the vet because it was too fat. When the vet asked what she fed it, she replied, 'Cream, chocolate, jelly...' poor cat! Is it any wonder?