Fat Cat...

rising_from_the_ashes

NoGoodNamesLeft wrote: »

I feed my cats a grain-free, high protein food. They like Applaws, but their current favourite is zooplus' Porta 21 Feline Finest Sensible. It is grain free and is good for cats with allergies or sensitivities.

My cats eat a lot less now. They have lost weight and my oldest's allergies have cleared up. I also spend a LOT less on food as they eat so little!

Very true for both cat & dog food that you often end up spending a lot less by buying a high quality food that may cost more initially but work out cheaper long term as you need to feed less ......

I would love to get mine onto something better but have tried (seriously) everything and they just won't eat it and I've unfortunately got to the point where I cannot afford to keep buying stuff for them to not eat it (even tho' the rescue does well out of it!).

Piq perfect time to move him onto a better food when you've just got him and he hopefully won't be fussy as he'll have been eating whatever he's been given at the rescue!

tidus

Rather than worry about exactly how much food is "correct", which in reality will differ for every cat depending on size, activity etc, weigh your cat and monitor his weight! If he's gaining, cut back a bit and adjust as necessary until his weight is stable.

You've presumably got a cat box, we use a suitcase scale on it to weigh ours. They get weighed at the end of each month, and we've managed to get them to stop piling on the pounds.

Fire_Fox

I've had greedy rescue cats, and my last two have been indoor only so getting less exercise naturally. I successfully got my last (large) indoor boy down from 6.5kg to 6kg, the vet was very happy with his condition and I didn't starve him in the process.

Try slowly switching to a higher quality/ more nutritious/ more filling diet - cats are obligate carnivores so they must eat meat (the whole animal, from fat to bone to offal) and have no nutritional requirement for carbs/ cereals/ grains which most dry foods are packed with. Carbohydrates peak and trough the blood sugar leading to cravings or hunger and actually encourage weight gain. IMO don't cut the wet food, cut the dry food or switch to a decent quality dry food.

Many raw feeders report that their cats and dogs are more satisfied on less food, and it can take a while to polish off a meal or snack if you include bone in chunks. So things like chicken wings, turkey necks, meaty bird carcasses - all raw never give cooked bone - are worth considering. Some vets also recommend this for cleaning teeth.

Pouches are an expensive way to feed and many are very high in water (jelly, gravy) so are not as filling as animal protein and saturated fat. Bozita tetrapacks (Zooplus and others) are good quality but reasonably priced, goes down well with many cats and seems to be quite satiating. Less than 25p a pouch but you actually feed smaller portions, ~90% meat compared to as little as 4% meat in many branded pouches.

Exercise is also important as others have mentioned - a knock off Da Bird and all it's attachments (esp. Da Sparkler and Da Mousey) will keep any cat happy for hours and you can use it from your sofa. http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/search&category_id=59
Another good toy for getting cats leaping around, but a lot more expensive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIgdVucDeVU
You might also try rotating different types of balls from scrunched up kitchen foil to mylar (like Xmas decorations) to ping pong balls to the light up ball for the Turbo Track above.

RosaBernicia

Mine are currently on Applaws and doing fine on it - though as I said, even big cat doesn't seem to need the amount they recommend.

I'm intending to get Porta 21 Sensible next though, as it's also grain free but cheaper on Zooplus and has had good feedback on here.


Rosa xx

Piquant_2

See what happens through lack of food...

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Piquant_2

tidus wrote: »

Rather than worry about exactly how much food is "correct", which in reality will differ for every cat depending on size, activity etc, weigh your cat and monitor his weight! If he's gaining, cut back a bit and adjust as necessary until his weight is stable.

You've presumably got a cat box, we use a suitcase scale on it to weigh ours. They get weighed at the end of each month, and we've managed to get them to stop piling on the pounds.

This is what I'm going to do, but weighing me first, then me holding the cat. The scary bit is weighing me.... I may be on a pouch of Whiskas a day!

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I've had greedy rescue cats, and my last two have been indoor only so getting less exercise naturally. I successfully got my last (large) indoor boy down from 6.5kg to 6kg, the vet was very happy with his condition and I didn't starve him in the process.

Try slowly switching to a higher quality/ more nutritious/ more filling diet - cats are obligate carnivores so they must eat meat (the whole animal, from fat to bone to offal) and have no nutritional requirement for carbs/ cereals/ grains which most dry foods are packed with. Carbohydrates peak and trough the blood sugar leading to cravings or hunger and actually encourage weight gain. IMO don't cut the wet food, cut the dry food or switch to a decent quality dry food.

Exercise is also important as others have mentioned - a knock off Da Bird and all it's attachments (esp. Da Sparkler and Da Mousey) will keep any cat happy for hours and you can use it from your sofa. http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/search&category_id=59
Another good toy for getting cats leaping around, but a lot more expensive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIgdVucDeVU
You might also try rotating different types of balls from scrunched up kitchen foil to mylar (like Xmas decorations) to ping pong balls to the light up ball for the Turbo Track above.

We've had great fun playing this evening, football up and down the hall and a very gentle game of feather on a stick. It took him a while to play with it as he was very wary, but he really enjoyed it once he was brave enough to take the plunge.

RosaBernicia wrote: »

Mine are currently on Applaws and doing fine on it - though as I said, even big cat doesn't seem to need the amount they recommend.

I'm intending to get Porta 21 Sensible next though, as it's also grain free but cheaper on Zooplus and has had good feedback on here.

Rosa xx

I'm going for the Porta 21 too. The sensitive version as he is allergic to flea bites, perhaps it will help.

I don't think I'll have any problem introducing new foods, he really isn't that fussy. He'll eat anything. Hence his weight problem!

rising_from_the_ashes

Awwwww he's lovely Piq ...... TBH personally I don't think he's that fat so some good quality food and exercise and sure he'll have shaped up in no time!

Have you checked his size - vets can be a bit errr (no offense to any on here) stuck about weight figures .... I was told by my old vet that skinny cat was too heavy ..... in actual fact he is huge compared to "normal" cats and considering his hip bones / ribs are very visible he is certainly not what could be called anywhere near overweight but she just went with "cat should weigh xxxx" rather than looking at him properly (he's a nightmare to try to get weight onto but at the end of the day is healthy and better that way than fat!).

Piquant_2

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Awwwww he's lovely Piq ...... TBH personally I don't think he's that fat so some good quality food and exercise and sure he'll have shaped up in no time!

Have you checked his size - vets can be a bit errr (no offense to any on here) stuck about weight figures .... I was told by my old vet that skinny cat was too heavy ..... in actual fact he is huge compared to "normal" cats and considering his hip bones / ribs are very visible he is certainly not what could be called anywhere near overweight but she just went with "cat should weigh xxxx" rather than looking at him properly (he's a nightmare to try to get weight onto but at the end of the day is healthy and better that way than fat!).

I think he's lovely, fell in love with him at our first meeting. He is a bit chunky, but not really fat. It is worth controlling it now though. He is very greedy for his food....I am embarrassed to admit that he was up to six pouches a day and still begging for more Please don't all tell me off! Today he's had two pouches of Whiskas and 20g of dry food and lots of play time.

...and one more. Last one, I promise!

IMG]http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t386/Piquant2/IMG_0346.jpg[/IMG

Fire_Fox

Handsome boy! I hope nobody will tell you off for realising there is a problem at an early stage. There is that urban myth that cats regulate their food intake, but that is not always true - partly down to the ingredients in some commercial foods and partly down to a bad start in life or genetics. It's not like you have been feeding cakes or other human junk food.

McKneff

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Handsome boy! I hope nobody will tell you off for realising there is a problem at an early stage. There is that urban myth that cats regulate their food intake, but that is not always true - partly down to the ingredients in some commercial foods and partly down to a bad start in life or genetics. It's not like you have been feeding cakes or other human junk food.[/QUOTE]

It's amazing how many people do exactly this, thinking that they are giving their cat or dog a treat. To a cat it isnt a treat, it is just extra food.