Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: fluffybunny on February 23, 2009, 18:29:50 PM
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Anyone else trying to diet a cat? :Crazy:
I am just over 3 weeks in with Geoffrey...I have been ignoring his pitiful cries for more food and have been much more structured with mealtimes. We have also been trying to play with him more, and hoped that the improved weather will encourage him to be a bit more active...
Starting weight: 7100g
Weight this evening: 7030g :Crazy:
How the dickens does one get a lardy cat to shift all this weight. Answers on a postcard please :Crazy:
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One of mine is currently seeing a nutrionist - he was 8.6kg, he is now 8.01kg but he will be going back in again next week for a weigh-in. Don't think he's lost much more though - but that's my fault, I've not been exercising him enough lately.
Mine have always had a structured meal-time - but because they are indoors and he is slightly greedy (we think he's eatting his brother's food too) we think that is how he is overweight, he is also extremely lazy. He also has a heart murmur which was making him not want to run about - he is now on tablets and since then he has been a lot more active.
It is very difficult - however, I'm lucky in that the only time Harvey ever cries for food is for when he is genuinely hungry and it is always near to when he is due food - at breakfast and at dinner-time. They only get (and ever have) get a couple of treats at the weekend.
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Hello! Thanks for replying! Geoffrey isn't a permanently indoor cat but he rarely goes out through choice - he too is somewhat lazy and likes his home comforts.
How long has it taken for yours to lose that 600g? Have you been feeding him a reduced calorie food, or just less of his normal food?
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That's been since August and the nutrionist actually predicted that he should be down to 5.5kg within 6 - 9 months (so he is way behind on that) but everytime we go in, he has lost a little so that's what's most important to me.
He is on 60g Hill's Prescription R/D dry food a day - which is split into 2 meals - one at breakfast and one at dinner. He could have wet food but we would have to deduct some dry food for it but he won't really eat wet food anyway so I've just stuck to the dry food.
However, you will probably find that just by cutting down on the current brand you give him, he should still lose weight anyway. And make him exercise.
I was told that you should give them slightly less than what it says on the brand's instructions as apparently they try to get you to use more up quickly so that you buy more - whether that's true or not, I don't know.
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Have you got a Da Bird? That gets the interest of most cats ;D
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Yes, mine got one for Christmas.
They both absolutely love it. Ollie will play with it for hours but Harvey likes to hide and slide his paw out to try to catch it, he won't run about mad like what Ollie does. Honestly, he is one of the laziest cats ever. I can Harvey to run about for 1 minute then he runs and hide to play that way.
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Try feeding high meat content foods and/or raw food diet i.e. a diet free of carbs (which are in all dry foods in some form or another, and many wet foods in the form of cereals). Nature's Harvest (I get mine from PAH), Forthglade (I get from local pet shop), Bozita (online) are all high meat/no grain (carb). Applaws/Encore contain rice, but reasonably low amount, about 1% - although bear in mind its not complete so you shouldnt feed it everyday but mix n match with other complete diets.
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Thanks - will have a look at them and perhaps give them a go.
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I dont rate R/D, I havent had much success, and had more success with practically cutting out dry and feeding 90% wet - and what dry Tom did get was senior/light (it was just enough to stop him waking me at 3.30am finding his own food!!). When he did get his supper biscuits, I used to throw them over the floor so he had to take his time finding them - you could also try a treat ball, although I haven't had much success with those either.
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Star (who will only eat dry food) has gone from 5.9 to 5.2 it took a few months - we used Royal Canin light 40
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Thanks that's encouraging - I'm using the new Royal Canin ultra light with Geoffrey, it's wet food in pouches and it seems to keep the hunger relatively well at bay. He doesn't eat a lot of dry anyway so short of feeding him virtually nothing I'm running out of ideas on how to get the weight to shift :Crazy: It's only been 3 weeks though so maybe I need to be more patient and let things settle a bit more first!
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Exercise is just as important as food.
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Seem to be making a bit more progress now :wow: He's down consistently to just under 6.9kg now...ok it's not a lot but I'd rather it went down slowly and safely, hopefully it will be easier to sustain his target weight when we get there too.
I'm really liking the Royal Canin ultra light pouches. It is very easy to 'measure' how much you've given and it does seem to keep the hunger at bay, so although there's no terribly detailed ingredients list, I'd guess that it isn't too bulked out with grains etc.
Just another 0.9kg to go :Crazy:
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I am watching this with some amusement but also interest as Misa is about 6.5 kgs and too heavy but he loves his food and Sasa is around 6 kgs and also too heavy, actually think she is more too heavy than Misa :shify:
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I'm really liking the Royal Canin ultra light pouches. It is very easy to 'measure' how much you've given and it does seem to keep the hunger at bay, so although there's no terribly detailed ingredients list, I'd guess that it isn't too bulked out with grains etc.
It contains cereals (carbohydrates) and also the dreaded 'derivatives of vegetable origin' i.e. soya! as well as meat and animal derivatives and yet they claim high protein! You'd be better off with the high meat content/no carbs foods I mentioned before.
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I was feeding mainly Bozita, with some Applaws prior to the diet, they're the things that seemed to be giving him the greatest weight gain, hence trying a change of tactic onto a 'lower calorie' food.
But at this week's weigh in he is back at 6.95kg...aaarrrrghhh! Short of stopping feeding him entirely, I don't know what else to do. I've slowly been cutting the amount down and he's actually eating less than Milly now and she is half his size (but at least twice as active).
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You need to work on exercise as well as food, you can't lose weight purely off diet alone, one thing I did with Tom was to throw his dry food one piece at a time, and in different directions so he had to move for his supper.
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Yeah I will get da bird out more often, I'm hoping that now the weather is warming up he will get more general exercise too and I can run round the garden with da bird - our lounge looks like a children's playground with all the various toys and stuff :rofl:
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Does your vets offer a 'weight clinic' these are usually offered by vet nurses who have tried and tested strategies and really do get results. I would definately look into it.
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Yes they do - I've tried to avoid that if possible though because Geoffrey is such a scaredy cat and totally freaks out at being away from his home territory. Fortunately he's not hugely obese, as he is a big cat to start with, so he's not in immediate danger for his health, but it's obviously better to get him to the 'right' sort of size. I may have to resort to the weight clinic if the weight doesn't start dropping off soon though!
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I have found most vets so-called obesity clinics are sponsored by Hill's or RC and they just recommend their respective diet foods. I'm really not sure if reduced fat foods are the way to go with cats as their bodies are designed to metabolise fat. It's the carbs that are the issue. I am sure grain-free foods such as Orijen or Arden Grange sensitive are the way to go, although they have potatoes in which are also carbs :Crazy: - I tear my hair out trying to keep Kylies weight down. I had no luck with R/D though - all it seemed to do was make her produce huge, smelly poos :sick:
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I have to say the new RC ultra light is high protein but 19% lower calorie overall and it does seem to be working...albeit slowly. Geoffreys poos are absolutely magnificent on it I have to say, much firmer, better formed and less stinky than previously on Bozita! They are much easier to clear up from where he does them in the middle of the lawn.
:sick:
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Ok it's been just over 2 weeks since the last weigh in and we are at 6.75kg so slow progress...but progress nonetheless!
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Slowly but surely ;D Would Geoffrey like to join the Purrs 2009 diet club? :evillaugh:
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Well done Geoffrey! ;D
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6.60 now :wow: Slowly but surely getting there :wow:
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That's great! ;D Well done Geoffrey.
Lexy is still at her very :-[ 5kg. No matter what she just won't lose it! Excercise be gone she says, I's a cat, not a dog :evillaugh:
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Well I can officially join this thread now. Mojo has had his weigh in (He was weighed a couple of days after arriving and was 6.15kg and very podgy but oh so cute!) he had his 2nd weigh in at the vets on Thurs, almost 4 weeks after arriving and he's now 5.85kg so he's losing weight at a good rate, not so fast he gets poorly but nice and steadily. Him going outside and running around like a look in the last week or so has made such a visible difference. The vet would like him to be around 5kg and thinks it will take around 3-4 months to get there but I am pleased with the early progress. He does really like his food though so I'm being very strict!
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Oh well done, that's brilliant :wow: What are you feeding Mojo at the moment? Geoffrey is still losing, he's been a bit slower the past week or so as hubby has been working from home and has been giving him too much food :P But at least he is relatively stable at 6.59 at the mo, so that's half a kilo since we started.
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A mixture of Applaws dry and some wet. I thought I would try a grain free food as it's the carbs that tend to pile on the lbs in cats so I will let you know how we get on.
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6.5 :wow: Just half a kilo to go!
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Well done Geoffrey!
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Excellent news