Cats on diet

[IGuessIllbetheFirst]

We have 2 lovely cats - a female aged 12 and her son aged 10. Both have been neutered (him since little and her since she was 3). She is average sized, he is bigger/longer as his father was a very large cat. Last time they were weighed at the vets she weighed 4.5kg and he weighed 5.5kg.

They have hugely put on weight - I went to a friend’s house last week and their cats were how ours used to look - so at them I decided to weigh them and shockingly she weighs 6.5kg and he weighs 6.7kg.

There have been some changes that could explain this:

1. We have since moved house about 3 years ago, now we live very close to an area which has been left to become wild by the local council. Our male cat came home twice in the morning badly injured - once his paw and once a huge scratch on his face where the vet first thought that he might lose an eye. Thankfully he didn’t but we decided to keep them both in at night since about the last year as a precaution.
2. My dd has taken on the responsibility of feeding them when she gets home from school. She is very soft with them and has possibly been giving them too much dry food.

Now they are both on strict diets - I’ve bought very expensive special high quality wet and dry food specifically for overweight cats and we are sticking to the guidelines. The cats seem to be adjusting, they are a bit puzzled by the reduction in food but are not complaining that much, they are just seem to be more hungry coming up to a feed and miaow a lot then.

Interested in any other advice or thoughts on what to do - we would rather keep them in at night due to the risk of fights/injuries from other cats or foxes round here.

Our previous cat was overweight too, the vet said to feed her on special diet food which we had to weigh carefully. He said to also feed her cheap wet food which is almost entirely made from water just to fill her up. No treats, she was loosing weight slowly. Loosing weight quickly is apparently very dangerous for cats. Good luck

Keeping them in at night wont account for 2 kg of weight gain in a small animal (for her)

You should be able to feel the spine and ribs of a cat when you stroke them but they shouldnt be visible

You cant feel my cats spine or ribs either

We are a fat nation and we have overweight pets, theres nothing emotional, environmental or hormonal going on for our pets either, we are simply over feeding them. Most animals will overeat if given the chance, mine is dreadful (having said that Ive had one cat years ago who never overate, all the rest have)

And I find dry food is terrible for bloating them up

I wouldnt bother with expensive 'diet' food, just make sure they're eating what they need and no more.

Both Boycat (when still with us) and Girlcat were self regulating with food, so apart from a very small weight gain when they first came home they stayed at the same weight - though wet food was at meal times, they often left some & dry was out 24/7 and always topped up.

When Boycat developed CKD and had to eat renal food, Girlcat piled on the weight very quickly (they always shared everything, including swapping food bowls mid meal etc). However this melted off her after he had to be PTS and she went straight back onto her normal food.

A month later, Tobias came home to keep her company. Despite being skin & bones when rescued a few months earlier, I think the rescue may have gone a little far in putting the weight back on him - though he wasn't too fat. But he was an absolute piglet at first, hoovering up anything he could find.

He's finally settled down as he's realised that there's plenty of food, but I still have to restrict the amount of dry I put down. I too have started to feed "weight loss" type dry & so far it seems to at least be controlling the weight gain - will find out more when he gets weighed on Tuesday when he goes in for a scan! Changed from the original one he was on to the one DSis uses recently, as she's had great results with her somewhat cuddly girl.

I would feed wet at certain times, then do the dry at a different time. Many cats are "grazers" so like to have a little nibble then go back later.

You should be able to feel the ribs, not see them, but certainly not feel the spine. That would be underweight.

Incorrect

Not just the PDSA but this is just one example, my vet knows what he is talking about

https://www.pdsa.org.uk/pet-help-and-advice/looking-after-your-pet/kittens-cats/keeping-your-cat-s-weight-in-check

I personally wouldn't bother with expensive foods (unless you want to) - cats, like humans, are overweight because they eat too much. All you need to do is reduce their portions.

I don't say that to be harsh - we had a massively overweight cat and he lost it very quickly when we cut his portions down.

That's not true @marshmallowfinder - you should be able to feel the spine and ribs when you stroke them.

The vet has announced our rescue cat is chunky. She doesn’t regulate her intake at all unlike boycat who seems to exist off a handful of biscuits and fresh air. She was found living in a garden with two kittens so I’m not surprised she eats everything in front of her.
Our problem is she steals boycat’s leftovers.
Your problem could be DD over feeding them. I would try normal cheap wet food and weight the biscuits to give DD an idea of how much to feed. And no treats for a while too.

When we adopted MrCat he was obese and very food-focused. He would be waiting at his bowl before feeding time, and come and get us if we did not feed him on time.

We didn't want to change the food he was on until he was well-settled in with us, which took a long time, as he's a timid cat with humans. So we kept him on the same pouch 3 x day, but put his dry food in a Catit Digger. He was not impressed at having to work for his food! But it slowed him down. Dry food was always available, but he ate much less of it.

Sometimes we put the food in a different type of bowl that made him work, a ceramic one with holes in the side.

Over about 1y he slimmed down from over 7kg to 6kg, which is the right weight for him. Once he was at a healthy weight, he stopped being so food-focused. He can wait for food now.

The photos are of

There's no need to buy special, expensive, diet food. It's a marketing gimmick, the same as 'diet food' for humans is a money making scam venture.

Cats become overweight as they're being fed too much. The fatter they are, there's likely to be less inclination to 'exercise' (play).

Feeding higher quality, grain free cat food will sustain them for longer. Mac's wet food (available from Bitiba and Zooplus) is grain free and good quality. If you must feed dry, stick with grain free like Lily's Kitchen. Both of these foods are more expensive than supermarket cat food, but the cats will eat less.

You should be able to feel the spine and the ribs. They shouldn't be visible, but you should definitely be able to feel them.

Your cat's Body Condition Score - PDSA

Thanks all, so it sounds like it is both the over-feeding and because they are getting less exercise at night so they should eat less anyway. They are both overweight, I can’t feel the ribs at all, there is no doubt about that.

I really like the Catit feeder, will look at getting one of those. We will also play with them more to get them moving a bit before feeding.

The female cat prefers dry food, the male cat loves wet food and only eats dry food as a last resort. I think dd has been particularly generous with the dry food so the female cat is much more overweight. Not sure which is better for cats to lose weight? I bought expensive cat food as I wanted to be sure they kept in good health whilst dieting but may revert to cheaper brands - also can’t really afford it! What is good about grain free food @Clarice99, don’t think I have heard of that before?

I gradually switched MrCat's dry food to grain-free with a high proportion of animal protein. There are several brands available in supermarkets. Lily's Kitchen and Scrumbles, for example. They are more expensive, but the cat needs to eat far less and is more satiated.

With wet food, I look at the feeding guidelines. Most foods come in 85g portions. Cheaper brands suggest 3-4 pouches for the average 3-4kg cat. I go for the brands that suggest 2-3 pouches for the average 3-4kg cat, and give 6kg MrCat 4-5 pouches a day, plus free access to a small amount of dry food.

Cats are obligate carnivores. They have not evolved to eat grains, and do not need them in their diet. Wheat is particularly bad for male cats and can cause urinary problems as they age.

You can get slow feeders for wet food, too. They are dishes with grooves and blobs, that make the animal work harder to lap up the hood.

...to lap up the food.

I really wouldn't worry about expensive brands - they were a healthy weight on what you fed them before so it's clearly not necessary 😉

Just reduce their portions right down. Our oldest cat lost 3.5 kilos in a year and the only change we made was stopping free access to dry food. They now get four meals a day - two wet, two dry, plus a 3-4 dreamies each before bed. That's it. They all go outside but like you, we keep them in at night.

It's all down to the amount they're eating. It's so so easy to over feed though so don't feel bad.

@MioDioMio we have a similar dynamic and the issue of leftovers was solved by feeding boycat in a microchip feeder.

About once a year the batteries run out and girlcat has the best day of her life as the feeder works for her but other than that the open access to food is closed.

What is good about grain free food , don’t think I have heard of that before?

Cats are obligate carnivores. Carbohydrates are not an essential dietary nutrient for them, but a lot of cheaper food can have low meat content and be filled with non-essential grains/carbs, especially the 'lower end of the market' dry food, which can contribute to weight gain.

Anecdotally girlcat (and her predecessor with the same weight issues) is more bearable on grain free cat food.

It does seem to make them fuller for longer.

If you have outdoors cats there is some evidence it also cuts down on hunting.

Maybe try getting a measure that only takes the amount of dry they should be getting, so DD doesn't have to worry about giving them enough, just fill the scoop/pot whatever.

The recommended amount of dry looks incredibly small to humans, but as even a small human weighs 10 times the amount a cat does it isn't really.

And don't make the mistake a friend did (new to pets of any kind). She read the packet on the wet saying 4 pouches a day, and the pack of the dry saying x grams a day, and fed both! It's either/or, and if you feed both wet and dry then e.g. halve both amounts.

For example, on the back of the (Hairball) dry my cats have sometimes it recommends for a good weight (i.e. not fat) 5kg cat you feed either 65g dry OR 46g dry and 1 pouch wet per day. So with my 2 (5-6 kg each roughly) they get 2 pouches a day between them (shared pouch morning & evening), and about 50g twice a day dry (about an hour after they get their wet).

As I said above, little & often is a good rule for most cats, so doing half a pouch morning & the same evening, and splitting the dry into 2 portions served at different times if possible, works nicely.

Thanks very much for all the great suggestions & information, we are going to try little & often @Allergictoironing as you suggested. I spent some fun time with dd today weighing out the advised diet size portions on my baking scales and she is fully on board with Operation Diet! I will feed 1/2 their allowance in the morning, she will do a 1/4 allowance (dry food) when she gets in from school and then I will give them their final 1/4 allowance (wet food) when I get in around 6.30. It turns out that she thinks the wet food is a bit stinky and that is why she has been giving them more dry food.

We’re also take a trip to the pet shop to check out the non-grain food and the feeding bowl options - I think it will help for them to have to get their food rather it just being given to them.

There's a few non-grain brands you can get in supermarkets - mine are currently eating the Harringtons grain free, Webbox naturals are in a few places as well.

We find this very helpful when multiple people feed MrCat: amzn.eu/d/jcaOT1j

We are at this point with DGirlcat2. She was underweight then ok (just chubby) and now she's so overweight she's on a diet. She doesn't eat much in one go though. I'm hoping it was her plowing her way through the kitten biscuits her brother had that made this weight gain. She's a small, very fat cat and I'm mortified I allowed it to happen.

Her brother eats very well and often eats her leftovers. Do you think she can lose 2kg in a year with a couple of pouches and a dish of dry food a day?