Cat just not losing weight

[trekcrockett]

Neutered male cat- age 6
He's prone to struvite crystals so is on a special diet of Hills C/D (with weight management) dry food.
I weigh his food out daily.
He is an indoor cat so no access to mice/birds to eat.
We have other cats but they are fed separately so he cannot eat their food. He does not like human food, doesn't have treats and drinks only water.
He is overweight by a kilo and has been for the past few months. Losing weight will help with the struvite issues and obviously long term health will benefit.
The poor boy is ravenous, he's constantly trying to get into the food cupboard, he meows in the kitchen for food and is generally unhappy.
We've been meticulous with weighing his food for the last 2 months going on the vets recommended portions, yet he's still not lost a single gram and is begging for food all day.
Tips, help, advice on what to do to help him drop even a few 100gs.

He is such a lovely boy, but we are now all stressed over this constant need for him to search out food.

Does he play? Try and initiate games with him to make him move around which will help him burn calories and lose weight. Maybe look into those treat balls or other interactive food toys you can buy. If his food takes longer to eat and the whole process is more involved it may help him feel full for longer.

Food is pleasurable, so you need to replace it with other pleasurable activities.
Cuddles/chin scratches/laser lens/fishing toys/catnip etc.
Is he on the c/d plus metabolic?
That's usually pretty good for weight loss.
I'd suggest if he's not losing you need to increase his activity and/or reduce his food further

Also how do you feed him? Get him to work for it with puzzle feeders/no bowl feeding - it extends the duration of feeding and thus feelings of satiety

As an indoor cat, does he play and get enough exercise?

Could you try a different food? My cat went on a diet and was also ravenous on the recommended Hills. I switched her to Fat Cat Slim and she seems much more satisfied.

I also broke her two meals a day up into 4 small meals so she went for less time between them (I use a timed feeder for some of these so I don’t need to be constantly remembering to feed her.) And at least one of the meals happens in a more interactive way eg she has a feeding ball that she has to bat around to get the food out of, a simple puzzle, and a snuffle mat where she has to forage for the food.

My Fat Cat lost weight on Royal Canin "satiety" which worked better than some of the other varieties. We also had an "anti gulp bowl" that meant he couldn't wolf the lot down in one go - you can get lots of different gadgets to make them have to search out the food.

I also had to buy mine "do not feed" collars as he wasn't an indoor cat but at least you don't have that issue!

He does play a lot; not just with us but with the other cats. For an indoor cat, he is active.

We can't change his food as he needs the prescription diet otherwise he's at the vets every 6 weeks for another episode of peeing blood and urinary infections.

He had a slow feeder but he's quite a slow eater despite the begging for food.

Will try breaking his food allowance into 3 or 4 meals a day and hope it spreads out the hunger.

Clicker training is another great way to make him work for his food and will help mentally tire him out, so that he (hopefully) pesters you less.