Fat cats...

PurseFanatic

PurseFanatic

O.G.
Feb 8, 2006
2,643
51
#1
Ok so my 8 year old male has been fat for 3 years now, he has never eaten anything but Iams. Now my 1 year old kitten is fat too. It just happened over the last month! I swear I have a pic of her last month and she was thin, now she's fat.

It has to be the Iams food, that's all either one of them have ever eaten. I want them to be healthy and lean again, so I am going to switch them to Science Diet Adult Light food.

I don't feel as if I feed them too much, the recommended dose on the bag is 1/3 cup of food PER DAY! I gave them both more than that I'll admit it. But even when I've cut back on the Iams food and stuck by the 1/3 C they still don't lose weight. I'm thinking Iams has too much fat or carbs for them, they are indoor only cats.

I would love opinions. Especially if you have successfully gotten your cat to lose weight.
 
#2
My stepmom's cat was really really fat- 22 lbs!!! She tried light food, she tried feeding less (although she was not very good at that) and finally she switched the cat from dry food to wet food, on the advice of her vet. She gets 1 heaping tbs per meal, 3x/day, and it's mixed with a little canned pumpkin (also on the advice of the vet, to prevent constipation). Well that's what did it- Glitter has lost 5 lbs since switching diets last spring! I would suggest you talk with your vet about this idea.
 
#3
yeah, i would definitely try to switch diets.

my cats have had nutro and are now on evo.

it also helps that my cats chase each other around the house like they've both gone mad. how much exercise are your kitties getting? maybe more playtime is in order?
 
#4
My kitties are both skinny - 6lbs, and 8lbs. They're both grown and full size. We just leave their food out for them, and give them 1 can of wet foot each day. we have 2 different kinds of dry food out at all times, along with water.
 
#5
Are they indoor only cats? If so, you may need to give them less food because they use less energy then outdoor cats.

But definetly switch brands if you dont think you are feeding them too much.

My cats are not overweight, have a bit of a tummy but the vet said that is normal for indoor only cats.

I leave them Royal Canin Indoor cat dry food to munch on all day and also give them 1 can each a day of wet food. They meow and meow for more food, but I just ignore them - they dont do much exercise so there is no need for it.

Have you got a picture to show us of them?
 
#6
For a while I switched my cats to Iams and during that time, I noticed they put on a lot of weight. I had to switch my cats to wet food because the male developed Feline Urologic Syndrome. That seemed to really take the weight off of both of them. They don't seem to like it that much really, but they do eat it. I think there isn't really the possibility that they can over-eat wet food.
If your cat is overweight, you need to be careful to slowly help him lose the weight. You should probably consult your veterinarian. When overweight cats lose weight too fast they can develop 'fatty liver syndrome'.
 
#7
Our kitties are brother and sister. The boy is so skinny you'd swear he was anorexic, and the girl is tubby! The boy eats almost twice as much as the girl, and still! It's hard to try and put the girl on a diet when the boy is crying for food every 3 hours! I guess guys really do have faster metabolisms lol!
 
#8
oscarcat729 said:
Our kitties are brother and sister. The boy is so skinny you'd swear he was anorexic, and the girl is tubby! The boy eats almost twice as much as the girl, and still! It's hard to try and put the girl on a diet when the boy is crying for food every 3 hours! I guess guys really do have faster metabolisms lol!
Click to expand...


Have you had your male kitten checked for worms? A lot of times animals that eat a lot and aren't gaining weight or are losing weight have worms living in their stomachs that are consuming the food before their stomachs can break it down and turn it into energy. These worms are also highly contagious to healthy animals.
 
#9
Two things about worms:
-- the ones that cause weight gain live in the intestines (not the stomach) and hijack nutrients from being absorbed.
-- if one cat has them, the other probably does too. I will spare you the details of how that happens, but feel free to PM me if you really want to know.
 
#11
I am not sure that the Science Diet Light will do the job. My vet recommended it but my fat pig of a cat still manages to stay lumpen. He seems to be so worried that he might get slim that he conserves energy by doing absolutely nothing. My two other cats run about and play but Fatty Zack just sleeps his life away (...or tries to steal their food).

Oh - ps - not Zack in my avatar - slimmer sleeping cat!
 
#12
Thanks for the advice everyone! My vet isn't too worried about my cats weight, but that concerns me. My kitten is supposed to weigh around 6 lbs full grown and she weighs 13. My older cat is supposed to weigh around 10 (he's part Maine Coon) and weighs 19.

I may need to also think about switching vets. I'm going to give him one more chance and if he doesn't help me I'll switch vets too. He's supposed to be one of the best in the city, and has done surgeries on both of them, spay and neuter and then removed a lump from the older cat, and he's amazing as a vet, but this one weight issue has me ticked off.

They both get regular checkups and blood work and as of their last screening 3 months ago, both were healthy and had no parasites, etc. They are both indoor only and they chase each other around alot. I'll post pics later if I can catch them, :smile:
 
#14
cutiepie21 said:
Have you had your male kitten checked for worms? A lot of times animals that eat a lot and aren't gaining weight or are losing weight have worms living in their stomachs that are consuming the food before their stomachs can break it down and turn it into energy. These worms are also highly contagious to healthy animals.
Click to expand...

Oh gosh! I'm pretty sure they got checked when they were babies, but I've been telling my parents I want to get the boy checked out at our local vet, since he hasn't been there yet, only to the vet that neutered/spayed (which one is it? lol) him when he was little. Thanks for the info!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back