How to stop my cats getting fat

[ILookAtTheFloor]

It seems impossible?

They eat 2 pouches a day of Felix (each) and I always have dry food down too, like the Purina stuff.

They both love their food and badger constantly for stuff, they have the occasional Dreamie too. They're not hugely active and mostly house cats (their choice, they're just not bothered about going outside).

I've said to DH we should take away the dry stuff as they are 9 and 7 now, they're getting middle age spread but he says I'm starving them! My MIL is the same, says they're 'skinny' but they're not, just not grossly obese like her two.

I read an article that said fat dogs have fat owners but it's not the same for cats, all of us are not overweight but our cats are!

Well obviously without pics nobody can comment!!

Try them on a food with higher meat content or give them meat. It's more satiating

Worth asking the vet? My cat is a similar age and disposition and I would never leave dry food down all day for her as she would just eat constantly.

It's always having dry food there that's going to be your downfall. Some cats are grazers and are able to self regulate, but others are not. E.g., however much food I give to my cats, they will eat it all immediately and still beg for more. Mine have an ideal weight of 4kg, so I use the feeding guides on the packaging to measure the appropriate amount, and do not give them any more no matter how hard they beg.

And I would second getting good quality food with a high meat content, they will definitely be more satisfied. I can recommend Bozita (I get it in Zooplus) which isn't as expensive as some of the other brands but still good quality.

Can you bring some extra toys into the home? Like a play tunnel or little toys that they can chase (we have a wind up mouse for example…). It doesn’t sound like they’re overeating but cats are hunters, they’re made to move a lot during a few hours every day and indoor cats don’t get all the activity that outdoor cats get obviously.

My dcat is 9. I get food for dcats aged 7 +

Our cat got quite plump - we were feeding her the lower end of the recommended portion for her weight that was given on the food packaging but she kept getting bigger and bigger.

I rang the cat food company and got the calorific value of the food from them and then realised she was having far too many calories, despite using their portion size as my guide.

If you find out how much your cat would weigh at their ideal weight, then you can find out how many calories a cat that size requires. Then you just feed your cat that many calories a day, and eventually they slim down. You might have to reduce the food a little at a time, rather than cutting it dramatically.

Lots of cats cannot regulate their food intake. It’s a myth that cats only eat what they need. They don’t need to graze on biscuits all day.

So basically, ask your vet how much your cat should weigh and then feed your cat the number of calories per day recommended for a cat of that weight.

Here's one cat, if the image works...

And here's the other. The ginger is Alan and the tabby is Eric.

Thank you all for the tips, I'm going to look into some other food-- I normally go for the standard supermarket stuff, probably rubbish!

Impossible to tell from that picture really, has the vet commented on their weight? Such a pretty kitty though!

Ps Eric doesn't always have a princess necklace, that was thanks to DD and was removed after the photo session

They don't look especially fat

My DMs cat was recently at the vet and DM was told she was overweight. She weighs 6kg and should be 4.5kg! The thing is, she's particularly long (!) so doesn't look podgy, but she is heavy when she stomps on your nipples

I told DM off, because she didn't regulate food at all, just topped the bowl up with good quality dry food when it was running low and left her to it. But also gave her half a dozen dreamies most nights when coming in from work.

Shes started measuring out 20% less than the recommended amount and splitting it into two meals. 3 weeks later the cat has adjusted and now doesn't even finish her bowl. She lost 100g in the first week -and that was confined to the house and sleeping a lot after GA. Shes back for a check up in 10 days and I hope she's lost more now shes able to go outside and eating less.

I'm surprised shes adjusted so well as she was pretty food driven (the cat not DM )... as long as shes not subsidising her diet with ermm "live" snacks

This is the "fat" cat in question!

My cats have dried food and one pouch a day each and are 4kg, right weight for them. Weigh the dried food, give less than the packet recommendation (which is usually a bit too much) and cut down on the pouches a bit. Don't give them dairy if you do now.

My maine coon was 8.5kg when he should have been 6kg, mostly because he was lazy and inactive (and we were unknowingly feeding him too much, same as @Helenahandkart). So we changed his food from wet+dry to the Hills Weight Mgmt dry kibble, and fed him from a feeding toy that he had to bat around for 20 mins. He's now 7yo, but as frisky as a kitten and very active. We did transition him slowly to the new regime, but he's overall a very easy going cat so YMMV

My dd also used to dress up dcat... I have absolutely no idea how she got this on him and kept her eyes..

When I switched ours from purina one to Arden grange she stopped mithering for food all the time.

I weighed the food and then used a pound shop set of American cup measures to scoop how much was needed, so even at 6am I can scoop out a days supply for her.

Our cats goal in life is to be fat - she’s got no off-switch, especially for dry food!
We feed her high-meat-content wet food from zooplus twice a day at set times, a few bits of dry food to get her in at night, and ignore her “but I’m starving” act (which she does for 2 hours before EVERY meal).

You have to harden your heart. My cat gets my husband to feed her and then tries to trick me into feeding her again.

MrFattyCat was obese when we adopted him. One of the things we did was give him his dry food from this slow feeder. At first he got 30g a day, and we've gradually reduced to 20g. He gets wet food at mealtimes. The dry food is available all the time, but because he has to work for it he rarely eats it all. Before we got the slow feeder he would snarf the lot up as soon as we put it down and beg for more.

He's now at what I think is a healthy weight - I can feel his bones clearly and he is more streamlined - but I'm sticking with the slow feeder.

My cats got fat when they had free access to expensive dry food. Swapped to cheap stuff and they thinned down again. They only eat it when they're really hungry rather than gorging on it.

My two have a Royal Canin dry food which they don't love so they get half a pouch of wet on the side (separate from the dry food) so they at least get some pleasure from their food.

Boy-cat gobbles his wet food and then knock girl-cat out of the way and finishes hers. He is very slim. She is not.

(I have a laminated sign which says "we've been fed" so we don't get hoodwinked )

I’d get them weighed by your vet if you can’t tell if they’re overweight or not. If they are, cut their food down a bit.