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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / March 2007How to reduce weight for 1 cat in multiple cat household?
I have two pounds cats, 1 male and 1 female whom both are indoor only. Georgie the male cat was the first cat I adopted. He always was extremely motivated by food, will wake me up at 6am every morning for breakfast but I was able to control his diet and keep his weight under control. As i began to work longer hours Georgie began chewing paper wherever he found it and the vet suggested getting a companion for him. So after 2 years of being the lone cat I adopted Willow. They both get along fine, play with each other a fair amount yet Willow's a lapcat and has really bonded with me where Georgie's more independent. Anyways, since I've got Willow, Georgie has put on a lot of weight during the past year. Both were fed dry food only, Hill's Prescription T/D at first to keep the teeth healthy which really did the trick. Unfortunately George started to really bulk up, he's close to 17 pounds where orginally he was about 12 or 13 pounds. I tried switching his diet over to Hill's Prescription R/D but he'd just be digging into Willow's food. Tried feeding them at separate times, putting Georgie in the bedroom when I fed Willow, resulting in Willow being more interested in trying to swat Georgie from underneath the door than in eating. I then switched both of their foods to R/D and Georgie just eats more. I'm finding it impossible to get this cat's weight down and really fear the health complications that may arise in the future from Georgie being overweight. I'm at a loss of what to do next. I didn't have much in the way of Georgie's history in terms of being an outdoor/indoor cat. I'd like to keep him indoors if possible but the only solution I can think of his to get him the vaccinations required for a cat to be outdoors and to let him loose and get the exercise needed to bring his weight down. Can anyone offer any suggestions on how to deal with this problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Dave snippage for brevity > I'm finding it impossible to get this cat's weight down and really fear > the health complications that may arise in the future from Georgie being [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Can anyone offer any suggestions on how to deal with this problem? Any > help would be greatly appreciated. ----------- I have always had all of my adult cats on weight management food. I used to feed them Iams Weight Management, but when one of my cats developed diabetes, the veterinarian put him on Purina OM (a prescription diet for overweight cats). Since it would be impossible to keep Alex (the former diabetic cat - he is now cured) out of everyone else's bowl, all five of my cats eat OM. Nothing wrong with that at all. I also give them canned food, which is better for them, more liquid and fewer carbohydrates, especially for male cats who are more prone than females to developing urinary stones. Plase don't send Georgie outside. There are way too many dangers out there for cats -- cars, other animals, nasty people, poisons, bad weather, etc to name a few. This is especially true for cats that were previously indoor and never had to defend/protect themselves. Please keep Georgie inside where he is safe. Best regards, ---Cindy S. >I have two pounds cats, 1 male and 1 female whom both are indoor only. >Georgie the male cat was the first cat I adopted. He always was extremely [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > really bulk up, he's close to 17 pounds where orginally he was about 12 or > 13 pounds. My cat was obese at 18 lbs. She got that way on Iams Weight Control. At my vet's suggestion I put her on premium canned food (meat as the first ingredient, no grains) in controlled portions 12 hours apart. She lost 9 lbs and is shiny and healthier looking and has more energy. I gave her what she would eat, then cut that back by 1/4 until she began losing weight, per my vet's advice. Canned food is best for your cats. The extra protein is great for their coat, eyes, teeth, and bones, and the extra water is great for them. They are obligate carnivores, they do not need all the grain in dry food. Try this with your boy AND your girl. Feed them before you leave for work, then when you get home. Feed them in separate rooms if you must, to keep Georgie from eating Willow's. Then let them be together when you leave for work. >>I have two pounds cats, 1 male and 1 female whom both are indoor only. >>Georgie the male cat was the first cat I adopted. He always was extremely [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > My cat was obese at 18 lbs. She got that way on Iams Weight Control. I don't know if Iams Weight Control was responsible for my cats being overweight (the two overweight male cats actually lost several pounds over the years they were on the Iams, but it's hard to say if this was because of the food or because they were aging). At any rate, once they were on Purina OM, they certainly lost weight. The other cats, who were not overweight to begin with, seem to have maintained their weight on the OM. >At my vet's suggestion I put her on premium canned food > (meat as the first ingredient, no grains) in controlled portions 12 hours [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > separate rooms if you must, to keep Georgie > from eating Willow's. Then let them be together when you leave for work. I agree with everything you wrote. Best regards, ---Cindy S. Thank you very much for the information. Can one suggest a premium type of canned cat food? In addition, I used to have a dog and would brush it's teeth regularly. Is it possible to do the same with cats? Thank you again. > Thank you very much for the information. Can one suggest a premium > type of canned cat food? In addition, I used to have a dog and would > brush it's teeth regularly. Is it possible to do the same with cats? > Thank you again. I also heartily agree with what cybercat said. My cat became horribly overweight on a _prescription_ dry food, and when I switched to canned, the weight started to come off. Yes, feed them separately twice per day. They will quickly learn to eat when it's mealtime. Wellness, Nature's Variety, and Innova are all good foods. Look for foods without corn or other grains and mainly meat as ingredients. As for teeth brushing, yes, you can do it for cats too! I brush both of my cats' teeth regularly. My favorite toothbrush is the C.E.T. brand. It's much easier to use than other brands. Make sure to use cat (or dog) toothpaste too. >> Thank you very much for the information. Can one suggest a premium >> type of canned cat food? In addition, I used to have a dog and would [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >brand. It's much easier to use than other brands. Make sure to use cat >(or dog) toothpaste too. Thanks Rene. I'm heading out to look for canned food right now. C.E.T was the type of brush that I used on my Jack Russell. Took a while for her to get used to it, the main problem after that was getting the brushing done without her licking the paste all of first. Thanks again. > Thank you very much for the information. Can one suggest a premium > type of canned cat food? In addition, I used to have a dog and would > brush it's teeth regularly. Is it possible to do the same with cats? > Thank you again. I just use Fancy Feast, the varieties that have beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, (any kind of meat) as a first ingredient, instead of "meat byproducts." Your cats will let you know which are their favorites! Mine like Tender Beef Feast, Tender Liver and Chicken Feast, Tender Chicken Feast, and the "Gourmet" ground lines. (Not the awful "marinated" ones that cost twice as much, just the regular with "gourmet" in their names.) You will be amazed at how much more satisfied your cat seems with real meat meals, I think. And there are health benefits to having them wait 12 hours, I can't give you the details as I am not sure I understand why, but when I read about it it made sense to me. >> Thank you very much for the information. Can one suggest a premium >> type of canned cat food? In addition, I used to have a dog and would [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >not sure I understand why, but when I read about it it made sense >to me. One further question. I bought a case of Wellness canned food for $37 for 24 cans each 5.5 ounces. 1 can for Willow who's about 7 pounds and ultimately a 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 for Georgie whose ideal weight should be about 10 pounds. That works out to over 100 bucks a month for cat food for 2 cats. Isn't that kind of expensive? Is it possible to mix some of the wellness dried food in with the wet food and if so how much of each would you suggest? I introduced them to the wet food last night and for the first time ever I wasn't woken up at an obscene hour by Georgie wanting to be fed. Not too sure if there was any connection but I appreciated the xtra few hours of sleep. Thanks to all :) >>> Thank you very much for the information. Can one suggest a premium >>> type of canned cat food? In addition, I used to have a dog and would [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > One further question. I bought a case of Wellness canned food for $37 > for 24 cans each 5.5 ounces. 1 can for Willow who's about 7 pounds and That sounds like a lot. My 4 eat only 4 cans of Fancy Feast (3 oz. cans) a day (2 cans at 6AM and 2 cans at 6PM) - that is, one 3 oz. can per cat per day.. They also get about 1 cup of Science Diet Senior Advanced Formula dry to share among them, but that's just for "emergency" browsing - most of that remains uneaten by them and gets put outside for strays at the end of the day. Some of the FF is also left on their plates. My cats' weights are: Sammy, 18 pounds (although she is a rescued "moggy" like all my cats, I believe she is 99.9999999999999999999% Maine Coon because even at that weight, she's not overweight); Bandit, 9 pounds; Demi, 7.5 pounds, and Jessie, 7 pounds. I think you can figure out who's eating the most in my clowder, but none of them are starving and, as I said, most of the dry food they're offered every day is not eaten by them but by the strays outside. Hugs, CatNipped http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/ > ultimately a 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 for Georgie whose ideal weight should be > about 10 pounds. That works out to over 100 bucks a month for cat food [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > fed. Not too sure if there was any connection but I appreciated the > xtra few hours of sleep. Thanks to all :) >>>> Thank you very much for the information. Can one suggest a premium >>>> type of canned cat food? In addition, I used to have a dog and would [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] > > http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/ Here's a picture of my largest and smallest, "Samazon" and "Jet Ski" http://www.possibleplaces.com/Sammy.jpg. As you can see, neither is skeletal on the amount of food they're given. Hugs, CatNipped >> ultimately a 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 for Georgie whose ideal weight should be >> about 10 pounds. That works out to over 100 bucks a month for cat food [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> fed. Not too sure if there was any connection but I appreciated the >> xtra few hours of sleep. Thanks to all :) Is that a Maine Coon on the right? What kind of temperament do they have if one can generalize about the breed. They sure are beautiful cats.As for the amount of food, the label says one can per 6-8 pounds 'O cat. Willow, an Lavender Point Siamese cat falls between those guidelines. Georgie, a Tuxedo cat, would rank about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 per body weight at ideally between 10 and 12 pounds. > Is that a Maine Coon on the right? What kind of temperament do they > have if one can generalize about the breed. They sure are beautiful > cats.As for the amount of food, the label says one can per 6-8 pounds > 'O cat. Willow, an Lavender Point Siamese cat falls between those > guidelines. Georgie, a Tuxedo cat, would rank about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 per > body weight at ideally between 10 and 12 pounds. Here is a good link describing Maine Coons: http://www.fanciers.com/breed-faqs/maine-coon-faq.html Sammy fits this to a tee - the only thing that doesn't match is that she doesn't have the pronounced ear tips. But, again, Sammy was a rescue and I have no idea what type of cats her parents were, so I'm guessing here, but she *really* matches everything described here. Temperament... Sammy is the friendliest, most easy-going cat I've ever had - her temperament is more like a friendly puppy, eager to play with anyone willing to play with her, very affectionate to everyone, and very "laid-back" (never gets hissy like my other cats sometimes do). Even though she weighs 18 pounds to Jessie's 7 pounds, Jessie routinely "beats her up" (just play fighting) - Sammy is always the one to cry "uncle". I knew from the moment we adopted her that she was going to be a big girl - her paws were *HUGE*! She's not quite 3 years old yet, and according to the breed information Maine Coons can continue to grow until 3 to 5 years old! The above article is a bit dated, the average weights for Maine Coons has gone up over the years since they are bred specifically for size more than anything else. Every single cat food product I've seen over-states the amount of food to be given. Excess food will only add pounds or have to be scooped out of the litter box. You best bet is to ask your vet since all cats are different (for example my Jessie eats more than my Demi even though she weighs less - she got her nickname, "Jet Ski" since she is *SO* active whereas Demi is very sedentary). Hugs, CatNipped > One further question. I bought a case of Wellness canned food for $37 > for 24 cans each 5.5 ounces. 1 can for Willow who's about 7 pounds and > ultimately a 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 for Georgie whose ideal weight should be > about 10 pounds. That works out to over 100 bucks a month for cat food > for 2 cats. Isn't that kind of expensive? It is, and Wellness has a lot of stuff that cats don't even need, like blueberries and such! > Is it possible to mix some > of the wellness dried food in with the wet food and if so how much of > each would you suggest? I wish I could tell you, every cat is different. I think if I were you I would mix them until they are gone, you will have to wing it on the amounts--OR ask your vet. Then when the Wellness runs out, go for a cheaper canned food that has real meat as a first ingredient and no grains. You can get ideas here: http://tinyurl.com/35jwkp The ingredients for each type of food are listed. > I introduced them to the wet food last night and for the first time > ever I wasn't woken up at an obscene hour by Georgie wanting to be > fed. Not too sure if there was any connection but I appreciated the > xtra few hours of sleep. It's already working! I believe you will find that although it requires a little more effort to feed canned alone, it is worth it. > One further question. I bought a case of Wellness canned food for $37 > for 24 cans each 5.5 ounces. 1 can for Willow who's about 7 pounds and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > fed. Not too sure if there was any connection but I appreciated the > xtra few hours of sleep. Thanks to all :) Here's a link that will give you information on a lot of different foods. At the bottom of the page is a link to get to the same info on dry food. http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/canfood.html I would imagine you could feed wet and dry (wet gives them more food for fewer calories) but the bottom line is to reduce the number of calories the cat receives. I know a lot of people say that you need to get the cat more active however my experience is that the cat will become more active on their own once the weight is off. My Isabelle was quite overweight when we first adopted her. Any attempts to get her to move were met with unappreciative stares. We cut back on what she was eating, got her to lose the excess weight and now she is just as active as the boys half her age. W > One further question. I bought a case of Wellness canned food for $37 > for 24 cans each 5.5 ounces. 1 can for Willow who's about 7 pounds and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > fed. Not too sure if there was any connection but I appreciated the > xtra few hours of sleep. Thanks to all :) That price seems high. When I bought Wellness on a regular basis, I paid 99 cents or less per can. What I did was go to their web site and find stores near you that carry it, then I called them for their prices. I found prices to be all over the place. Also, ask if you get a discount by buying it by the case--many stores will do this--or if they have a punch card for future discounts. I saved a lot of money by doing this. You might need to adjust the amount of food you're giving your cats too. I was able to maintain one of my cat's weight at 14 lb 10 oz on only one can per day. I understand that energy levels and needs differ, but your 7 lb cat may only need 2/3 can per day to maintain her weight. > That price seems high. When I bought Wellness on a regular basis, I > paid 99 cents or less per can. What I did was go to their web site and [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > they have a punch card for future discounts. I saved a lot of money by > doing this. Bet it would be helpful if I included the web site: http://www.omhpet.com/ |
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