We rehomed our cat 2 yrs ago, when she weighed 6.7 kg, and we’ve managed to get her weight down to 4.9 kg. The vet thinks her target weight is 4.5 kg. She is now 13, when we got her she wasn’t very mobile and needed help getting on my knee etc. I worried that apart from it being unhealthy for her, it was also dangerous in terms of being able to run and jump to escape if something unexpected happened. To cut a long story short, we really struggled at first, and it turned out the recommended portion sizes on her food were way too much for her. She’s long haired so we use ‘Royal Canin Hairball Care’ dry food, I started off using their portion guide for an ‘overweight’ cat of her size, but had to keep reducing it, and was shocked by how much less I had to give before she gradually shed weight. The recommended amount for a dieting cat at her current weight is 52g and I give her 35g a day, she gets nothing else. She’s fed at breakfast time and 4pm, then just a few biscuits when we have our evening meal (all out of the 35g portion). I checked out what I was doing with the vet and she okayed it. There are guidelines on how much weight can be safely lost in each monthly period which she was well within. If I give her more that 35g she gains again ! I’m going to stick at that amount now though, don’t want to reduce it further, she’s already done so well.
My explanation for this is that she is not naturally very active, she likes being outdoors but only really to sit near the house or near me ! She is also the most laid back cat I have ever known, rarely gets stressed. Also, this may sound strange but I noticed from the start that she produces very small, dry, compact stools, much more ‘concentrated’ than our previous cat did. I think this may mean that she has a digestive system that is very efficient at extracting all from her food. She loves water and drinks lots so it isn’t a hydration thing. So basically I think she naturally needs less calories. she is so much healthier now and can move and jump quickly ! And she never asks for more food than she gets at mealtimes !
Our previous cat (long haired also) was on the same food, but at normal portions, she was fairly highly strung and produced huge poos that a dog would be proud of 😂. And she was ALWAYS hungry. She veered towards being a bit overweight but it was impossible to get away with giving her less that the recommended amount.
So I think that, as long as you check with the vet, you may need to feed less that you think based on your cat’s natural metabolism, age and character !
Sorry I’ve been long winded ! A good tip the vet also gave me was to make her move around more by e.g. putting her bowl at the top of that stairs, to make her climb each time. And if she’s reluctant to go outside I’ll sometimes carry her with me when doing a garden job, she usually hangs around a while with me. Good luck, I think it’s worth persevering for the long term health of your cat.
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