Been to the vets, its been made official, I have a fatty catty

lilmissmup

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1218227&highlight=cat+needs+lose+weight

I enquired in a post back in September as was concerned my boy Spencer (who is now 3) was overweight.

Today he has been to the vets for his annual check and booster and they have weighed him, he is 6.5kg :eek::eek::eek:

Which is 2.5kg over the weight of a average cat and 1.5kg over the weight of a large cat, he is quite big build so the vet says we need him to lose 1kg by the time he goes next year or else he could risk diabetes.

I love him more than anything (even my OH sometimes!!), the issue being is we have two cats, he eats her scraps so its time to get strict or risk losing him, just would like tips on fun games etc to help him lose weight, the vet said we didn't need to put him on any diet foods but i am still thinking of switching him to a Lighter cat food.

RacyRed

Awww, your post worried me for a moment as I have a 7+ kilo cat, but then I remembered that when he first strayed into my life he was coat, skin and bone, badly under weight, at 5k !!! He is a really massive boy.

Try feeding both cats just enough for them to eat at one sitting, so that there are no scraps to be had. If Spencer eats fast and tries to push his way onto your other cat's bowl you may have to teach him not to do this or give them seperate feeding areas to reduce his opportunity. If necessary and possible, feed them a lot less but more frequently than you currently do, maybe 3 or 4 times a day, but be sure that their total food intake doesn't go above their daily quota.

Do they eat wet or dry food? If dry, give him a feed ball sometimes with his dry food in it so he has to work to get it out.

Getting a cat on a diet is never going to be easy, be prepared for sulks, tantrums, constant pleading and so on at first.

But he will get used to it.

Edited to add a link to the feed ball thing I mentioned, HERE

Waterfalls

oh bless him!

my cat was 6.3 kg, and i aimed for 5.5kg as he is a very large bulit cat, he is now 5.8 kg and i have stopped the diets as he looks a great shape now.

what i advise my clients(im a vet nurse) to do is work out how much food her needs for his target weight.
weight the food daily
then split this daily alllowence into 3-4 meals a day.
if u want to give him a treat-use it out of his daily allowence. as it is the act of giving a treat rather than the treat its self

move the food bowl around to encourage him to 'hunt' for his food
u can make the food into games by getting him to 'fetch' it-up/down the stairs for example

good luck!
p.s weight him monthly to see how its going

Buttonmoons

When I took my cat to the vets to get neutered they told me she should loose some weight and at the time she weighed 3.7kg, I didn't think she was fat at all, though is supposed to be lean, anyways since then she ballooned to 4.3kg just from being less active, I haven't cut down her food as she doesn't eat that much anyways! I've just increased her activity and is now down to 4.0kg, still a bit to go.

How about a cat laser pen? You can easily sit and watch TV and shine it all over for them to chase, seems to be working for my one.

Waterfalls

laser pens are great!! used to have one but it broke.Doh!

no idea where to get them now.Where did u get urs buttonmoons?

geri1965_2

I saw some in Pets at Home.

Buttonmoons

I actually won mine from the link someone posted on this forum for the GO CATS website. It's not a brilliant one, more like a torch but when the room is dim it works a treat. I may get one from PETS AT HOME if they are stronger though.

I just got a new kitten 2 days ago, and he seems to have a fettish for fluffy mice so I need to go by and pick him up some of those!

PasturesNew

Buttonmoons wrote: »

How about a cat laser pen? You can easily sit and watch TV and shine it all over for them to chase,

Strap it to the cat's head with an elastic band and you don't even have to do a thing

lilmissmup

LOL.

I have ordered one today from eBay for £1.55, we did used to have one for him but batteries died.

Go Cat are currently giving away bouncy balls but you have to win one, signed up will see what happens!

Its a bit too hot for him today, chucked a ball about a bit though with him.

BitterAndTwisted

The only thing I'd add is not to try and reduce the cat's weight too quickly as this is not safe, which is why the vet gave you a target of weight-loss over a whole 12-month period, just in case they didn't make that absolutely clear to you

The best and most exciting way to get a cat running around like a complete mad thing is to invest in Da Bird. Absolutely guaranteed to get a cat off its comfy backside. You can buy one at the purrsinourhearts site. They also sell different attachments for it. My boy Stanley goes absolutely ape when he sees me getting it out of the tube for a play. If you buy one and your Spencer doesn't like it, I'll buy it back off you, I'm that confident. Worth every penny and they're not dear.

lilmissmup

No she did say cats can't cope with rapid weight loss to me.

Will have a look at what you suggested