Indoor cats a little overweight

Hi all...

I have two cats, Zoe and Quincy...
They live with my dad so i only get to see them every other weekend...
The past weekend I went it seemed as though they had gained about 5 pounds each in two weeks...(and they were already a little hefty...i dont have there axact weight because we havent had them weighed in a while...)
We usually just leave food and water out all the time because my dad works 5 days a week...9 hour days...
Right now we are feeding them purina indoor formula (they are fully indoor cats) and I know we arent supposed to leave food out but we dont want them to get hungry :roll:

Should we try some different food? Do the foods that say they help weight really help? Should we only put food out at certain times? The only problem about putting food out at certain times is that Quincy qill eat about 3/4 of it and Zoe will get 1/4....They are both a little overweight but I never really worried about it...(they are very happy cats :lol: ) but when they feel like they both gained about 5 pounds in a short amount of time...it worries me a little...

Are there any good foods that help with weight but on the less expensive side...

Hopefully I will be able to put some pics up in about a week....

but any advice would be helpful!

Thanks
Sarah

 

I have two kitties that are sisters. Mittens is on the skinnier side and Socks is chubby.

We leave dry food out all the time for them so they can graze. I think kitties like to do that.

I asked my Vet about Socks being chubby and she suggested mixing some of the healthy weight dry food in with her regular dry food. Purina has one that is for overweight kitties so I mixed that in with her regular food. I haven't been doing it for very long so I don't know if it will work yet. Just a suggestion. Good luck.

 

I find most cats that eat only dry food are chubbier than cats that get wet and dry (my opinion - no proof behind it it's just observation).
You could do schedule feedings - they won't starve if you cut back.
Are they active? Get a cat tree they can run up and down (if they would).
There are plenty of toys on the market that don't require human intervention...that might help.
I have one cat that was chubby when I got her and she couldn't eat the light foods (she lost fur). She's lost weight with me increasing her activity level. But she's put back on 1/2 a pound cause my hubby enjoys sharing deli ham w/her at night :x that stopped after she got reweighed.

 

Hummm. That is interesting about the wet and dry food.

Both Socks and Mittens get some moist food every, too. It doesn't seem to make a difference. I'm sure all kitties are different, though.

 

I actually had the same problem with the same brand of cat food. The problem with most cats foods you see regularlly are full of fillers (corn-meal) and by-products (everythin the humans don't eat from an animal all mixed together...fur, feathers...) If you look on the ingredience list on most foods the first to ingrediences are by-products and fillers! This is bad! Yes pets can survive off of them but they lead to problems, such as obesity! I switched to a brand that has no by-products or fillers. Its called "Chicken Soap for the Cat Lovers Soul" It is made by Diamond Pet Foods. If this does not fully help with the weight, it is also avaliable in a light formula. You wont find this food in a grocery store. I can only find it at the local feed store. I live in a very very small town and it is here so you should be able to find it somewhere. you can also check out the web site at www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com This is more expensive than purina or other common brands but it is soooo much better for the health of pets! Because it has little or no fillers, cats dont need to eat as much to get what their body needs and its not filling their stomach up with fillers that onlt cause fullness filling and not nutritan. Good luck!

 

I think scheduled feedings help. I feed mine 2x daily, once when I get home from work and again before I go to bed. Once they got used to the schedule they all began to eat at the same time and its much easier to keep tract of how much they are each eating. They get a little canned food every couple days too.

 

indoor overweight cats are not losing weight!

My roommate has two boy cats both are tabbys. their names are ashes and figaro and both are overweight, we have tried everything to help them lose weigh ashes is 16 lbs and figaro is 11lbs and they eat purina indoor formula and we only feed them twice a day and small portions but they have not lost any weight, they are not my cats but i love them like my own and i dont want them to die. we have a problem with them and don't know what to do. they like to eat out of each other dishes and so one will eat more then the other and vice versa any suggestions on what to do with these guys!!!

 

I just saw a new food called EVO that comes in both a dry food and canned and it has no carbohydrates!! I think I would feed that if I were starting all over again and was feeding a commercial food. So many health problems that older cats have are caused by eating dry food (not enough water) and all those carb fillers that their bodies can't use - obesity (followed by diabetes), kidney disease, etc.

 

My male cat is on a prescription food that is mostly protein. He was 19# and I think is now 15# (by my scale). He now gets two scheduled feedings and thinks he is starving to death--but obviously he is not! The problem is that I feed my other cat the urinary tract health food and she wants to graze--so it takes her a while. I sometimes have to close him up in the bedroom so she can eat. But that's only if I'm in a hurry and can't be right there to referee so Sabrina can pick at her food and take her time. Good luck...they will drive you nuts at first, but my male did get used to the two feedings a day. Although he still fusses at me if his meals are late. :roll: And BTW, nine hours is not a long time for them to go with out eating.