i need to put my cat on a diet!

[soaccidentprone]

he is now 3 and is getting fatter and lazier by the day. we have 2 other cats who are just right (they are both girls) and are both a lot more active than him. they all get fed the same amount, a tin a day between them in 2 meals plus a small amount of bikkies.

any tips for getting a big fluffy cat to be more as active and to lose weight?
ta

[cozietoesie]

Are they housecats or do they go outside? (Particularly your big boy.) Doesn't sounds as if he should be gaining weight on his share of that so I'm wondering what else he's getting?

[soaccidentprone]

they all goes outside, but he doesn't go out anywhere near as much as the 2 girl cats. he is very lazy

[cozietoesie]

Are you leaving the dry food out all day for grazing? I'm wondering if he's noshing at the girls' share of that (and maybe also of any remaining wet food of theirs when they leave the meal station and/or go outside.)

Weigh him and work out what he should be eating by the food guides on the tin - and then start gently cutting it down for him. And don't leave bowls of dry food down all day at the moment. Personally, I'd stop/strictly limit his intake of dry for the duration. You can scoff a lot of calories down in a short time with that.

(I'm assuming by the way that he's neutered (which can sometimes lead to a little weight gain) and that you've had him recently to the vet and confirmed that he's otherwise healthy with no underlying medical problems?)

I reckon that controlled eating is necessary. It's complicated by you having three of them to feed but I'd consider:

• Giving them all separate bowls if they don't have them already - maybe even in different places - and remove the girls' bowls once they move away for the second time or go outside. Plenty of water at all times of course.
  

• If you're home during the day, maybe breaking up his total intake into a few more, smaller, meals to give him more interest. (Say four or five small wet meals.)
  

• Playing with him to get him more active - buy some more toys for him to use by himself but also get some bits that you can use to interact with him. (It's possible that he may have been eating too much because he was a little bored and it's all become a vicious spiral.)
  

• Giving absolutely no 'treats' for any of them, including table scraps.
  

• Being hard-hearted about the pitiful 'Mum, I'm hungry' cries. They're great manipulators. Set the right calorie intake targets (not too tough, remember) and stick to them.
  

I'm afraid that it's likely to be a slightly long haul. You won't want to suddenly savage his food intake but, like humans, a gentle long term reduction in intake with increased play should hopefully do the trick over a month or two.

[soaccidentprone]

good advice.
I was thinking that there might be cat food which is lower in calories or something which might be good for him?
I also think it is a case of him not being very active because he has put on weight, and putting on weight because of the inactivity, so a vicious circle iyswim
perhaps I also need to invest in some new cat toys?

[YouveCatToBeKittenMe]

I watched a program about overweight cats, it was quite a while ago but a couple exercised their cat and it lost quite a lot of weight by throwing individual biscuits up or down stairs so the cat would run up and down to get them.

[soaccidentprone]

that sounds like a good idea! I presume you do until your cat won't 'play' any more

[soaccidentprone]

do it (doh)

[YouveCatToBeKittenMe]

You just do it for a few minutes each day. Like a cat workout!
But take that amount of biscuits out of the total food he would usually have so they are not extra.

Mind you he might just look at you and not move! You might have to start when he is hungry

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

There are lower-calorie biscuits for indoor cats, and another formula for neutered cats; GoCat does them.

I also have an overweight cat, but he doesn't go outdoors (too stupid to find his way back). Is yours ginger?

[soaccidentprone]

all 3 cats are black, and 2 of them are fluffy and gorgeous, but really stupid. I don't know if there is a correlation

I am taking the fluffy large one to be groomed on Saturday. I sf don't think he is going to be a happy cat that day. he hates been brushed or combed. he bites and complains. should be fun for the groomers (not)
maybe I should put up before and after shots (of the cat, not the groomers hands and arms)

[Zara1984]

Reading this with interest - I have an overweight indoor Tonkinese (5.5kg!!!!). Her Burmese sister is a normal weight, and I think the Tonk snaffles some of her food too.

They are both on Hills Diet dry food. Going to have to be very strict on portions and not leave biscuits out if they haven't finished!

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

My fat cat (yes, a neutered ginger tom, fortunately short-haired) looooooves being groomed, I use a Furminator I originally bought for my Border Collie because he (the cat) is so fat he can't groom himself properly. I have tried various toys and so on but he honestly does nothing but eat, sleep and use the litter tray. I even tried the throwing food up the stairs trick to no avail (but he really is outstandingly stupid, and a back-leg amputee...)

[soaccidentprone]

eventually started his new healthy eating plan. thanks for all the suggestions.

he's on light cat biscuits and a small amount of denies cat food. he appears to have lost .2kg, so is now just under 5kg.

I am aiming for him to be 3.5kg, which will take around 14 weeks, so a svelt cat for the summer

[soaccidentprone]

denes cat food (stupid autocorrect)

[cozietoesie]

Good going. Is he in a foul mood?

[SummerRainIsADistantMemory]

my fluffy black male is fat too but I have five so it's impossible to ensure he never steals. Plus he breaks into whatever cupboard I'm storing the dry food in, bites holes in the bag and snaffles loads. I need to invest in cat proof storage containers!

[cozietoesie]

....breaks in....?

[SummerRainIsADistantMemory]

Yeah, the beast can open cupboards and doors.... And he's determined as hell when he knows there's food to be got at

[soaccidentprone]

I store the dry food in plastic containers. previous cats have eaten cardboard boxes to get at the biscuits (and then regurgitated it everywhere - lovely)

[soaccidentprone]

he appears to enjoy his new diet, and not in a bad mood at all

[SummerRainIsADistantMemory]

I'll need a bloody big container... With 5 of them I bulk buy massive bags of dry.

And yes he'll eat through cardboard, paper bags, plastic bags, anything but metal.

Stoopid fat cat.

Are your other two ok on the diet food so? I didn't realise it could be given to healthy cats, must order some and see how it goes down.

[soaccidentprone]

would this be big enough?

fat fluffy gets different food to small fluffy and old lady cat.

I take away their bowls when they have finished eating.

I am mean

[SummerRainIsADistantMemory]

Lock on lid.... I like it!

There'd be mutiny if I took their snack bowl away.... They're never all home at mealtimes and my poor tired brain wouldn't remember who'd been fed and who hadn't. That being said my two older girls could probably do with a few less calories too..... Middle age spread doesn't appear to be confined to the humans in this house. So I could probably feed them in two groups; kittens and big cats

[cozietoesie]

Well done then, soaccidentprone. Hopefully, he'll also become more active when spring arrives. (And he's maybe a pound or so lighter.)

[Bonbonchance]

My cat was 6.3kg at her heaviest and is almost at her 4.5kg target! She is a big cat though. Vet advised me to cut down her dry food especially over time and she gets the equivalent of a pouch a day split into 3 meals and a small amount of dry food (Go Cat indoor) in a SlimCat (!) ball or hidden around the place. Minimal treats too. She's always hungry though but giving her small meals more often has helped.

She's quite lazy too, won't go outside, cat nip used to help get get more active but not so much now. I changed her food to Bozita a few months ago and she's much more active so might be worth a try feeding your cat higher quality food if you're not already? And finding what toys they like - mine will now & again play with actual cat toys but her favourites are plastic bottle tops to kick about and plastic bendy straws(plus finding stuff like pens, make up brushes, tops from things to steal & knock around!)