Question by LYNN66669: How to help a cat lose weight?
I have an older cat, Mr. Kitty, we think he’s about 10, but we’re not really sure. He’s a bit on the chunky side, probably about 20 pounds. I know he’s overweight, even the vet told me he needed to lose weight. I don’t know how to help him lose weight though.
He’s not a very active cat. All he does is sleep and eat! His only activity consists of jumping on and off the bed! I’ve tried toys, he lays there and plays with them. I got a laser pointer, he watches it, and when the dot comes close to him he’ll reach out his paw and swat it, but he doesn’t move! I can’t get him to chase anything, sometimes he’ll follow me down the hall, but he doesn’t move too quickly. I’m not too sure what I should do.
I also have another younger cat, Marmalade. I figured maybe he could get Mr. Kitty moving, ha ha, Mr. Kitty sits on the bed and watches Marmalade make a fool out of himself chasing toys around the room! I can only imagine what Mr. Kitty is thinking as he’s watching this crazy nut race around the room and climb the walls to get the red dot!
On a recent trip to the vet we discovered that he had a compressed disc in his spine and the vet thinks that may be why he’s not too active. The vet did suggest we try treating the compressed disc and see if that helps, but since I’m currently treating him for another isssue I have to wait until that’s cleared up.
So, in the meantime instead of Mr. Kitty expanding I’d like to get him up and moving. I don’t think I over feed them, but he does seem to eat alot. The two cats share a dry food bowl, it is a medium sized bowl, but it is only half full. And they each get one small can of food per day. I had to laugh as I looked at the can of food the other day, “feed cat one ounce of food per pound of body weight” One ounce per pound, that’s 6 cans of food a day! I think that’s crazy! So, it’s one can of food per day for each cat and dry food whenever they want. I was thinking of only setting the dry food down several times a day, but I don’t feel it’s fair to the other cat. But maybe doing that would keep him from becoming overweight. I do notice that Marmalade will eat his canned food and whatever is left Mr. Kitty will eat, but Marmalade will come back for the left over food. They usually do not eat all their wet food, so I was thinking of cutting them down to a half a can each day. I do feed them a very high quality food. They get CAliforina Natural dry food, and Weruva wet food. If you’ve never heard of Weruva, it’s great food! It’s all human grade food, and when you open the can you can tell what’s in it, it’s not mystery mush! The canned food is mostly grain free, I think there’s one or two that have rice in them.
So, what can I do to get Mr. Kitty moving? Should I change the way I feed both cats?
Best answer:
Answer by Clarice
Is Mr. Kitty’s food low calorie?
Ask your vet what his ideal weight should be. The back of the bag should give specific amounts listed according to weight. Give Mr. Kitty the amount for his ideal weight, not his current weight. Cut back on the amount of can food you give him. Maybe 1/4 can.
It can be difficult to do this when you have another cat. You may have to isolate Mr. Kitty when you feed him, and put Marmalade’s food where Mr. Kitty can’t get it, maybe the top of the fridge.
I love the names you gave your kitties! Marmalade sounds funny!
Good luck.
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