Newbie to the kitty forum!

Hi everyone! I have a 7 1/2 year old male neutered cat. He's my very first and only cat I've ever had, besides a stray I housed temorarily.
I found the stray (I still lived at home) outside and it was so cold out, so I gave her some food, and put some bedding down in our garage for her to sleep in. I found her around Christmas time, I tried to find her owner...but I had no luck. She had to have been someones pet as sweet as she was. I took her to the vet and had her vaccinated and to see if they could tell if she'd been fixed, but they couldn't tell. So I waited it out since I couldn't afford to find out if she was, or have it done. But finally March came around and I noticed she had become pregnant, so I cleared out an area and put her bed in there, hoping she'd have her kitties there. Well Easter morning came and there she was laying in her bed giving birth. I got to watch the whole thing, she gave birth to 3 healthy babies, and unfortuanately 1 still born. Once the kitties were older I moved out of my parents house to my own place, taking everyone with me. I found loving homes for the kitties, then I took the mom in and had her fixed, then we found a home for her. I love any animal that crosses my path, and if feels so good to see an unwanted animal find a loving home. I would have loved to keep all of the kittens and the mother as well. However my cat does not get along with other cats, and it wouldn't have worked. But to my question....
My cat is very large. He's an active cat, but he weighs approx. 20 pounds. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get his weight down? He's been on Iams weight control for about 2 years now, but I'm not seeing results. My vet suggested a starvation diet, but I don't know....what do you guys think? My cat does not eat any table scraps, and gets fed a controlled amount twice a day. Is there another food anyone reccomends? I used to have him on purina, but his stomach doesn't tolerate it and he's doing good on the Iams. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post!
-mandi

 

hello and welcome... first off great job for doing what u did w/ momma and her babies... as far as ur kitty what exactly does ur vet mean by starvation diet???? im hoping not meaning like lay off the food or something (porbably not i hope but then again u never know w/ vets these days)..if so i woldnt do it hes an older cat and doing that can cause other problems.... anyways do u have confidence in this vet??? it sounds to me like he would have told u to try a prescribed diet like science diet precription diets that would help get the weight down and something that wouldnt upset his lil tummy.... and by large do u mean like overweight or like a more stocky type cat???? i have one that is 25 lbs overweight and then one that is 20lbs stocky...but im asuming that hes overweight....i would ask another vet and see what they say, dosent sound like this vet is doing a great job.... (my opinion) if nothing else and you dont want to switch the iams food (by the way i feed mine that also) try cutting his food back a little at a time... does he get to free feed or do u have certian times that u feed him? or try lots of toys and keep him busy... my cat chyanne who is overweight refuses to eat any other food them iams and will act like she is starving if i cut her food back and drive me crazy in the process so i went and got her a laser pointer to keep her chubby butt busy and i am happy to say that her weight is slowing doing down...i hope i helped maybe someone else wil have better info... good luck

 

Hi, thanks for replying.
Yes, he's overweight....not stocky. He's got petite little feet. He wasn't like this all his life. He probably got this way about 2 or 3 years ago, but he's worse than ever right now. When I lived at home he was allowed to go outside during the day, and inside at night of course, but even when he went outside he didn't leave the yard. He would do basically nothing except sunbathe. Then once I moved out into an apartment, he was no longer allowed outside, but he had plenty of toys and my husband and I played with him a lot. He has no desire to be outside, as I've tried to put him on a harness and leash (not that he can get a whole lot of excersize that way, but fresh air won't hurt him).
The starvation diet my vet recommended was like a 1/4 Cup of food...I don't remember if he said total for the day, or twice a day. I want to say it was total for the day. I could not starve my cat. I moved just recently so this vet is far away, and I wanted to switch anyways...so when I make my appointment to get the puppy fixed, I'll see what this vet has to say. I thought about switching him to Science Diet, because that's what the puppy eats.
The cat gets fed 2 times a day, he doesn't get free range on his food. However, if I don't watch him carefully he will try to sneak the puppy food, and that's high in fat. I think that is part of the problem.
I close the puppy up in a room until he's done eating I suppose, that may help.
The cat is pretty active now too. He has tons of kitty toys, but would rather play with the dog toys. Him and the dog play a lot too, so he does get excersize. It's so weird to see this cat play with a dog. He hates other animals, he's so spoiled. Just wait until the baby gets here! I hope he does ok with that. Well thanks again!
-Mandi

 

welcome
question...does your cat eat only dry food? I've found most overweight cats eat a strictly dry food diet.
Iams was a really good food until Proctor Gamble bought them and the quality went into the toilet. I haven't bought it but I'd look at the list of ingredients and see if there is a lot of filler in it (corn, etc.). If there is that is probably why your kitty is chunky - the more filler in a dry food the more the cat eats as the nutritional value is low.
Also add some good quality wet food into his diet. It's more filling than dry food alone and he probably won't eat as much.
You can set up controlled feeding times rather than free feed. And it probably is 1/4 cup of food a day that the vet is suggesting. That's the least amount a cat can eat a day and not end up with fatty liver disease. But imagine how much you are going to get harrassed by your hungry cat LOL you probably won't get much sleep.
Overweight cats are prone to diabetes and kidney failure so you want to get the weight off. Pound a week is a good safe weightloss.
When my Dixie had to lose weight I increased her activity level by 10 minutes every few days. We played with a wand toy. 10 minutes to start so she wouldn't overdo it and as she started to lose weight I increased the time. I would put the wand toy into the belt loop of my jeans and walk around the house so she could chase it. She was only 13 lbs. but is now down to 10. She could stand to lose more, but like people she seems to be stuck at 10 pounds.

 

here's a comparison chart for dry cat foods
http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/jmpeerson/dryfood.html
and cat's body size comparison
http://www.placervillevet.com/feline%20 ... dition.htm

 

Welcome to the forum!

I'm suprised to hear of a vet recommending a starvation diet for an overweight cat....this can be dangerous as far as I'm aware so I would not ever consider doing it. If a full vet examination including blood panel indicates that your cat is healthy and that no medical problems are contributing to the obesity I would simply cut back on the amount you are feeding while increasing activity level (if possible).

 

Well, now living in the new place my cat (Cynder is his name BTW) has been quite a bit more active without our extra encouragment. He still plays with the dog, but now he seems to run from room to room. I've still got him on iams dry cat food, weightloss but have replaced one meal with a small can of science diet wet food. We've yet to weigh him to see for sure, be he definately looks to be a bit slimmer now. I've really watched when I feed the dog (he's still on puppy food) so Cynder doesn't get into it, and now if the cat doesn't finish his dry food in the morning, I put it up figuring he's full. The diet the vet suggested was over a year ago. There is no way I could do that to my cat. It would make me feel like I'm starving my child. But just thought I'd update everyone and Cynder seems to be losing a little bit. Take care all!!
-Mandi