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Won't stop gaining weight?

2K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  MinkaMuffin 
#1 · (Edited)
Maybe I'm obsessing too much, but off of the advice from Dr Lisa Pierson, I am measuring my cat's weight to make sure he's not loosing weight too fast. (Weighing myself and then myself + cat is fine right?)

Unfortunately, he seems to be gaining and I have no idea why. X__X

When I first got him, I was feeding 6/8 cup SD r/d.
Since then, I've given him this: (by day as I remember it until now)
1 can wet + 1/4th cup SD, 1 can wet + less than 1/4th (just a tiny handful) of SD (half thrown for him to catch, rest in his bowl for later) for 2 days, then today not even half a can plus <1/4th cup.

So you don't think I'm crazy, here's my thought process for the different days.
6/8th cup SD to hopefully get him down to 14-16lbs.
(switched to better food/mostly canned)
1 can wet = normal cat weight + 1/4th cup SD so he doesnt lose too fast plus for gradual transition
1 can + <1/4th - realized 1/4th was probably too much and decided to pair that with Dr Pierson's technique of throwing the pieces to exercise the cat; took probably a little more than 1/8th cup (plus if it's too little, i can always bump it up)
(weighed him and saw that he had gained but wasnt too worried)
boyfriend spent the night so Grim was in the bathroom, fed him 5 pieces at 5am and 7-9 at 9am to keep him busy
fed him a spoonful of wet then went out
came back and weighed him and he had gained
fed him only the rest of half a can

I'm going to weight him again tomorrow to see if that did anything but I'm getting worried :/
He was checked for thyroid issues on the 29th, so I know thats not it.

And here are his weights..
3/31/11 20.2
4/2/11 20.4-20.6 (idk, i math failed that day)
4/3/11 21.0


Help? D:
 
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#3 ·
Muscle does weigh more than fat, so if he looks like he's gaining muscle mass, that could be it. It's probably best to use a combination of visual/tactile observation and scale numbers to get a good idea of what's going on. If his belly is looking more trim and you can feel less fat bulging around his middle (you should be able to feel his ribs under a layer of fat, too much fat and you won't be able to feel them at all) then I wouldn't worry. If he seems to be getting visually pudgier, then that's a sign it's fat gain rather than muscle gain.

Also, do you weight him at the same time every day? Weight fluctuation throughout the day is normal (humans can appear to "gain" several pounds every evening, so for cats, a few decimal gains later in the day are probably normal). Weighing him at the same time every day, preferably in the morning before he's eaten, will give you a clearer idea of how much actual fluctuation is going on, vs. "temporary" weight gain caused by meals eaten and water consumed during the day. I wasn't sure if you were saying you weighed him in the morning, and then fed him, and weighed him again later after coming home, but if so, that gain would be totally normal, since he'll have "gained weight" from the meal he ate before you weighed him.
 
#4 ·
See, thats the thing, I can't tell! >__<
His fat mostly hangs down, so I can feel his ribs, though he's got this weird 'empty space' where his shoulders are, I dont know if that is lack of muscle or what..

Blerg, okay, I guess I'll start weighing him in the morning. I think I'm going to keep a log of what I feed him too.. but luckily I start a new can tomorrow, so I can keep better track.
 
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