Fat cat/wet food suggestions please

[Leah2005]

Took fat cat for his jabs. He has gone up from 6.1 to 6.9 kg over the last year and vet would like him to be 5kg. I'm not so sure he wants to be as he breaks and enters into our neighbour's house for food. He then gets a dodgy tummy because they eat various different brands etc (the cats next door, not the neighbours). Our fat cat eats Royal canin dry food (sensible or digestive depending on his tummy situation). The vet says I need to swap him to 4 smaller meals a day, 2 wet and 2 dry to also help prevent urinary tract problems. She seemed to be suggesting purina 1 do a "diet" version but I can't see one. Can I ask what combo you owners of reasonably sized cats feed them? It never seemed to be this complicated 20 years ago when I first had cats.

My cat has become diabetic. We now feed him mainly sheba wet, as its the similar to the posh diabetic cat food. And much less expensive. So that's my suggestion!

@Reluctantadult are those the little trays? Do you supplement with dry food?

I had a fat cat - got too fat on dry food. Swapped them onto Bella and Duke raw. Took a little while to get them eating it but now nice and slim.

@WinterWanders do you buy that online?

MrFattyCat was over 7kg when we adopted him at 10yo. He is now MrCat at a perfect 6.1kg. Because of his age we also did not want him to eat only dry food, so we continue to give him 3 sachets of wet food daily, but reduced his dry food.

We got him to lose the weight over about 18m by making him work for his dry food. It was always available (unlike the wet food) but was in a slow feeder. Either the Catit Diggit or a domed china dish where he had to reach through holes to extract the pieces. This slowed him down and massively reduced the amount he ate. We would sometimes put treats in the slow feeder to encourage him because he is a lazybones.

@Dilbertian what wet food and biscuits do you feed him? (and what portion size?)

Wet food he gets a range of Whiskas, Felix (not AGAIL, he doesn't like them), Tesco and Waitrose. We mix them up in a big box and he gets a random selection. We try to get the senior cat varieties whenever possible, but they're often not available, so he gets adult cat. We also try other makes from time to time.

He gets Meowing Heads dry food. I chose it because it has a very high meat content for a dry food, and no wheat. We had to transition him very very slowly onto it from Whiskas dry food, as it made him puke at first. I mix several varieties, including their senior cat variety, in one tub. I can't remember how much he gets because we no longer use the slow feeder, just sprinkle enough to cover the bottom of his dish once a day. IIRC he got maybe 25-30g/day at first, reducing to 10-15g/day after several months. I didn't want him to be so hungry he looked for food elsewhere.

Yes from their website

I have 2 cats and one is a male half Maine Coon so a large cat and the other is a small female. I feed them one tin of Aldi wet cat food either chicken or salmon in the morning between them, another tin late evening between them and leave kibble out at lunch time. They have a cooked chicken breast each cut up usually on a Sunday or whichever day I roast. They like gravy on it too. Neither cats are fat. The female cat never eats half a tin and the male cat finishes her leftovers off. Neither eat much of the kibble.

@Dilbertian see I worry about swapping between brands because he can have a dicky tummy. However, because he goes pinching food next door he's probably eating all sorts anyway. @caringcarer this is what I mean about overthinking it - I have been conditioned I think to believe the cheaper brands don't have what they need in them. Years ago, I'm sure mine used to just have felix or similar so I might just try him on that.

That's almost exactly why we vary the brands: so that he will be used to many different foods. If he turned out to be a Six Dinner Sid, for example, or if the one food he would eat was out of stock.

@Leah2005 actually the Aldi tins of cat food have a high meat Content. It's in jelly. My cats like their pouches in jelly too. They have those sometimes for a change. They are not particularly keen on the dried food and I have tried many types but they seem to prefer the wet food the best.

Royal canin will have a diet version if that’s what you want. Is the cat overweight (you’re meant to look at their shape from above I think!). I’d chose a decent wet food if that’s what you want to feed, look on zoo plus for ones with high meat content, the big names are low meat content and lots of fillers

I remember reading all the nutrition facts on the packet for protein/carbs etc, and kept to those brands that had most protein and least carbs.

I fed more wet food than dry, and half a sachet at a time. Is it possible that if you start giving him wet food he won’t try and steal from the neighbours. I also bought a water fountain to make sure my cat was drinking plenty.

Is there any chance of a picture. I love fat cats, although I know it isn’t healthy for them.

Here's MrFattyCat when we first got him. He was so chubby he couldn't put his forepaws together when sitting. When he crouched down to eat his stomach spread out on either side of him.

Now he's lovely and lean, but he has never lost the saggy tummy just in front of his hind legs. It's an empty flap now, and swings hilariously from side to side when he trots 😍

@Dilbertian six dinner Sid 😂? What does that mean?? @BungleandGeorge we have tried the diet version of Royal canin without much success - he just goes off eating elsewhere. The vet recommended we swap him to wet food to help prevent urinary tract issues. He is definitely overweight with a fat pad under his tummy and generally thick of stature all over. He isn't grooming well either and I think that's to do with his weight.

@Dilbertian our JJ isn't that size as yet but he has gone up nearly 2 kilos since we had him so we need to do something to stop it.

@Isheabastard he doesn't photograph well as he is mostly black but maybe you can see his chonkiness here

Six Dinner Sid

😁

JJ is beautiful.