incredibly greedy cat - should i starve her or is that too mean?

[gigglinggoblin]

dont want replies form cat haters! you know who you are!

she eats all the time. its the only thing she wants to do. i have considered it might be worms but she is getting fat so dont think so, you can actually grab a handful of dangling flab from her belly. i have tried talking to her about it but she has quite reasonably pointed out that i have no right to lecture anyone on excess weight.

should i just let her get fatter and fatter or should i put her on a diet? and if so, how much food should she get?

[FairyMum]

My cat also eats all the time and she never goes outside to excerise either. She is not relaly fat, but does have a belly. I think all cats have food/love-issues! I don't limit dry food, but I try my best to limit the canned food. I think that's what's the most fattening?

[WigWamBam]

A dangly tummy is really common in neutered females, and it doesn't necessarily mean she's overweight. Take her to see a nurse at the vets, they can weigh her and recommend a diet for her if she needs one.

[BadHair]

My cat is exactly the same! I accidentally overfed him over the summer as he was out a lot so I figured that he was being active. Every time he came in he went straight to his bowl so I fed him, thinking he was hungry. Turned out he was just plain greedy, and now he's the size of a small house.
So, I've put him on a diet. He has three bowls of food a day - morning, tea-time and bedtime. He sometimes gets leftover meat, like tonight, as I'd rather he ate it than it go in the bin, but for the most part he's now a 3-mealer. I figure it's for the good of his health as now middle-aged.
He's still fat though.

[gigglinggoblin]

hmmm...not sure if its worth the stress caused to me going to the vets just yet (i know that awful, but she really hates it and i really hate being scratched lots)

i did consider she might be stocking up for winter. i have another cat who eats very little so i suppose she might make fatty cat look worse. how much food should they be eating? i thought a tin a day was enough but she will munch through 2 or 3 given the chance. she keeps asking dp for food after i have fed her and me when he has fed her. she is very good at lying aswell which doesnt help. infact she told me this morning she hadnt eaten for 2 days (definately not true)

[Avalon]

How long ago since you wormed her, ggg?

[gigglinggoblin]

it is a while, i really do need to do it. i'm just assuming its not worms cos she is putting on weight

[BadHair]

Mine has about a tin a day now that he's on a diet. Before that he'd have nearly two, but that included a couple of pouches when I was too lazy to open a new tin.

[Avalon]

Gross, I know, but it could be the weight of worms inside her.

[gigglinggoblin]

ewwwww... i havent actually weighd her, you can see that she is getting fat. can it still be worms? am going to get some worm tablets tomorrow, shouldnt be a problem getting her to eat them atm

[suedonim]

Definitely check out the worm situation! Our fat kitten turned out to be half cat/half worm. Our neutered female also has a dangling belly. The belly fur is orange and fluffy and we call the whole thing her 'frilly udder'.

[sparklymieow]

My 2 year old cat weighes 8lb and he is huge. he is really fat, but only fed twice a day, should I worry?

[anorak]

Feed her on Iams or Science Diet light food and limit her to one bowl a day.

It's more cruel to let her get fat and unfit than to ration her food. You'd feel awful if she died young of heart disease.

[sparklymieow]

Is 8lb too much for a cat??

[sparklymieow]

Also wonder if his fluffy coat makes him look bigger....

[dejinglejags]

depends on the breed sparkly.

my two (norwegian forest cats) weigh 8lb8 and 8lbs2 at 9 months old. they are known to reach around 14lbs at full growth though.

[sparklymieow]

He is just a moggy, he doesn't look overweigh but he is heavy, and he does have a huge coat.

[lilibet]

8lb???

My three year old neutered girl weighs 13lb

she has a very dangly undercarriage!

But then if I walked on all fours I would have too!

[dejinglejags]

sounds absolutely lovely Sparkly.

[sparklymieow]

cool was worried that I would have to put him on a diet. He is lovely, and so fluffy.

[sparklymieow]

He also has short little legs so that make him look fatter

[dejinglejags]

now my two bloaters will probably have to go on a diet - the smaller one is the greediest cat I have ever come across, she would eat until she exploded if I let her.

[cori]

Bad Hair. THat seems like an awful lot of food for one cat. I have had my cat for a year. We give her as much dry food as she wants and about half a pouch in the evening.

The breeder recommended no wet food at all.

So how much should a cat eat per day?

[sweetkitty]

I've got 3 cats the female one is perfect just eat what she needs!

The boys are a different story altogether, one is a big cat (long and tall) he weighs 7kg (15lbs odds) but he doesn't look fat has a little bit of a frilly udder going on underneath.

Also have a very fat black and white boy, he's been fat forever we've been to the vet had him on countless diets he's about 7.6kg and looks pregnant. Problem in our house is that he goes round stealing the others food we've tried removing the food as soon as they have eaten but what happens is they scoff it so fast they sick it straight back up. They are all on Iams Light now and we are resigned to the fact that the fat one will always be fat. I know it's bad but with a baby now I don't have the time to police their food.

[suedonim]

I don't think 8lb is particularly big, Sparkly. Our Little Boy, a black and white mog, is 10lbs and not at all fat.

I second Science Diet foods. The bags tell you how much food your pet needs and you get a littel measuring pot to dole out the required amount.

Having said which...our dog is going to the Fat Club (They call it the Diet Clinic!) at our vet's. She's on a special Reduction Diet food. I think it is helping as she's lost 700g, down from more than 10k to .9.5k. Also, she's not snoring anywhere near as much, which is good!