my cat is obese!

[sasquatch]

I have two male neutered cats,(same age) one is skinny/normal, and the other is huge!
I watch them when feeding to make sure he doesnt grab all the food, but he is getting bigger and bigger.
Anyone got any ideas on what is too fat for a fat cat, or how to get him to lose weight?

I think someone else may be feeding him.

We had two cats like that, one fat and one thin although they got the same to eat. I know the fat one wasn't being fed elsewhere because she was too nervous to go out and she definitely wasn't having the other one's food because I watched to make sure. The vet did put her on a diet of pasta and just a little bit of tuna mixed in which she ate quite happily but being a sickly cat with many allergies she reacted to the pasta and developed big bald patches! The second attempt with rice and tuna was more successful. You'd be surprised what they'll eat! This was a few years ago and I expect you can buy all sorts of special cat foods now for overweight cats, like you can with dogs. Not much use if your cat is getting fed elsewhere though!
Could you attach a note to him somehow to say "if you are feeding this cat please stop as the vet has him on a special diet"? You could put your phone number on in case someone has 'adopted' him. Mind you, I heard a story where someone did this and 3 separate people rang up!

I thought I might try and keep him in for a week or so and see if he loses any. he is on 50g IAMS and the other is on wet food only recently since he had a blocked bladder and nearly died!
Good idea about the collar though, I might try that first, as its hard to keep just one in. Thanks

I will try the pasta or rice diet, do you remember how much per day? did she lose weight on it?
I could do that and keep him in.

I would not recommend the pasta diet at all. Pasta is not a sensible cat food. If you are worried about your cats weight then please talk to your vet about it and do it with proper health supervision. There are low calorie diets that will be much safer to use with a correct balance of proteins and minerals. Cats are not like dogs and us, they need quite a high level of protein to stay healthy (heart especially) and pasta +tuna just doesn't do it. Tuna as the only source of protein with it is asking for trouble especially with a bladder problem cat in the house too.
The easiest thing you can try if you do not want to see the vet as a first off is to feed restricted amounts twice a day - any food not eaten within 15-20 minutes is then removed and is not available again to be snacked on during the day. Even with the low calorie diets this is usually necessary to get cats to lose weight.

I know many vets surgeries have nurses that run weight clinics. Many of those will not charge you for these clinics but only for the low calorie foods you may need. Why don't you ring your vet to find out what they do?

You definitely need to see a vet. He may have a thyroid problem or be bloated with worms etc. Cats need a particular amino acid only available in red meat so you do need to do diet thing under supervision.
Poor feller hope he gets back to normal soon!

Erm, it was the vet who told me to give her pasta, I didn't just make it up. I don't think he meant it as a long-term thing though. He retired not long after so maybe it was quite an old-fashioned idea, sorry.

Thanks all replies. Maybe I shouldn't give him pasta then....
As I said he is already on restricted amount of food,IAMS 25g twice a day and that is the amount recommended by the manufacturer.and he eats it all in one go, i have never left food out for them.They are also wormed regularly. But it is not the fat one who has the bladder problem,its the skinny one, in fact now he has the wet food he cries for it all the time which he never used to. Before he was on the wet food they both had Science Plan or IAMS, the correct amount.
I think that was why I wasnt buying two, a low calorie one and a regular, IYSWIM. But the vet said it was dry food that causes the blocked bladder.
Its good to hear there maybe a weight clinic that is low cost or free, as i am poor.
Gosh, do I sound as if I am being neglectful of my cat? I hope not.

Vets really take the piss with their prices in this country!
Is there a pdsa near you? They're not as expensive.

How much exercise does he get?

My cat was getting very fat and was put on a low cal food which made no difference (we'd never overfed her really, no snacks, no food left out for grazing on) and it was only when, on the advice of the vet, we made a concerted effort to get her active by playing with her and chasing her about the place for at least 20 minutes a day that she dropped some of the weight.

Ours is an indoor cat though so she really needed the push to get going. I would imagine that an outdoor cat would naturally get more exercise. Just wondering if that's the difference between the cats, that the fat one is more lazy .

Are you sure he's not just big boned?

I would speak to your vet about dry urinary diets. There are several available specifically for bladder problems like your other cat has had. It is all to do with the pH (acidity) of the urine and small crystals that form. Wet diet only helps in that it pushes more fluid through so helps to reduce the crystal formation a bit, but lowering the pH with special diets is a far more effective method, and then your cat gets the best benefits. These special diets come in dried or wet forms so you could use either/both. Dry food is much cheaper to feed than the wet though.

If you dont want veterinary low calorie diets look for the intermediate option available from big pet stores - the light diets that are available. Any big pet store will have several of these available - eg Hills feline light. I am not certain but would be surprised if Iams didn't make one. Perhaps another brand of cat food anyway would help? How old are your cats? If over 7yrs also consider the senior diets too - they are lower in certain minerals and also a bit lower in calories, reflecting the altered needs of the older cat - not that 7 seems that old to us, but in terms of physiology it is old!

I am getting lots of help from all you pet lovers, thankyou.
BGirls, are you a vet?
It's good to know that I could get a dry food for the bladder problem and that overall it is more beneficial for his health, as it is more costly to feed the tinned food and it stinks! I have noticed that bladdercat very rarely drinks any water - in the house.
Yes,Manuka i go to pdsa luckily they saved the skinny ones life, he was in the hospital for a week and I couldnt have paid privately. They are a godsend.
My cats have just turned 7 and i had considered the light but held off feeding it before time.
I will take him for a check up and see if it is anything more than overeating and laziness.I'm sure I could adjust the diet more.
He has always been the more hefty of the two but now I am wondering if he will get stuck in the catflap, and when he runs in it sound like a small child on the stairs. Even though he goes out I dont know what he does out there, does he just sleep in the garden during the day and then come in and eat, sleep indoors all night?
Should I put him out at night as well as playing with him everyday?

shh!!!!

Putting him out at night is a personal choice really - depends a lot on your area, your cats, neighbours cats. They are at higher risk overnight as car headlights may dazzle them if they are in the road...but my cat is allowed out at night - he has a catflap.

Good luck at the vets - ask them about the obesity diets and the bladder diets. You may have to go to another vet to get the diets as if I recall correctly (don't quote me though) the PDSA does not have many specialist foods but can recommend ones to get elsewhere.