Does raw food aid weight loss?

[StuntNun]

One of my three cats is overweight. They're all free fed kibble (Royal Canin Norwegian Forest Cat food) and given pouches of Sheba in the morning. I tried switching to a weight loss kibble but the overweight cat wouldn't eat it whereas the other two cats, who are healthy weights, did eat it. I was wondering whether switching from Sheba to raw food (supplemented by the kibble) might be better for weight loss in the overweight cat without affecting the weight of the other two cats?

I tried out raw food when I first got a cat but I made it myself then and I didn't like having bowls of half-eaten mince and chicken wings lying around the kitchen for long periods. Also that cat preferred dry kibble for some reason. But now ready-made raw cat food is much more common I wondered whether it might be worth giving it another try.

Think I might try it for me! Cat is fine!
She likes sheba but it does mess with her digestion- I suspect it has a lot of roll refined TVP. This results in wind and bloating which cannot be good for digestive transit.

I am interested though is there any reason why you think raw chicken would be less calorific than cooked chicken?

I thought raw food might be more satiating because it has a higher meat content than Sheba which is basically cat fast food.

Be careful of assuming total protein on cat food is meat protein

The only real way to get a cat to lose weight is to cut right back on their food allowance.

Mine was put on a diet in December and has lost of over a kilo - we never changed his food, just stopped free-feeding and gave smaller portions instead. He gets a pouch of Sheba a day (split over two meals) and a small amount of Scrumbles high protein dry food (again, split over two meals).

The vet was really pleased with his progress.

Thanks @fieldsofbutterflies it's great to know it's achievable. I gave him two pouches of Sheba this morning and he still came begging for more. He's not keen on the dry kibble so I don't think I have to worry about him filling up on that. Part of the problem is that he will eat the other cats' food. If he was the only cat in the household it would be easier to manage his food intake.

@StuntNun have you thought about microchip feeders so they can only access their own bowls, or feeding them all in separate rooms then removing the food after a certain amount of time?

We supervise them eating now so we can take bowls away or remove anyone who tries to be greedy - except yesterday DH wasn't watching and the kitten pinched the 8yo's breakfast 🙄😂

I might have to do that @fieldsofbutterflies I'll see what the vet says at the annual check up.

Your healthy weight cats need microchip cat feeders so fat cat can't barge in and nick all their food.

I have 2 cats and one is a food monster, she will eat everything and anything and has never had an off switch.

Second cat at the time was an elderly girl who wasn't that interested in food and possibly had dementia. We still managed eventually to get her using the microchip feeder.

The impact on fat cat was dramatic - became clear over night who had been eating all the food!

It's now a long time since fat cat was fat. It doesn't really matter what we feed her as long as we are rigid about rations. However high quality grain-free food does seem to make her fuller for longer so cuts down on the whinging.

Just to add, Sheba is addictive. When the elderly girl had basically given up eating, all she would eat was Sheba.

So what ever you choose, you need to cut off your cat's access to Sheba!

Oh no @AnnaMagnani I only bought it because it was on special offer at Zooplus!

I suppose I only need one microchip cat feeder for my two healthy weight cats to share. I'm slightly worried that Marty will muscle them out of the way when they're eating and take over!

While my food monster is small she can also be aggressive and definitely has a one track mind if food is around.

However she hasn't managed to break into the feeder yet.

On one occasion the battery was going flat and it opened for her on demand. I think she still doesn't understand why it's changed so she tries her luck every day.