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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / March 2008Diet Update
Sammy has now lost 15 ounces - just a few more and she'll be at her desired weight. She's more active too (I know how even a little bit of excess weight "weighs" me down, so I think she's just feeling springier). Jessie's lost 6 ounces and she too is now at her desired weight. Demi has stayed the same weight (she was already purr-fect ;>). Ozzy has put on 5 ounces and Archer put on 3 (they'll be a year old at the end of April, so I'm not worried about the small gain - I think they needed it for another growth spurt). All the cats seem healthier and happier, so I guess I'm doing it right. I'm still giving them about a fourth of a cup of dry food in the evenings (I can't help it, I worry that they'll get hungry during the night even though they don't eat all of their canned). I do eventually want to stop the dry food altogether, so when what I already have runs out I just won't buy any more.  SignatureHugs, CatNipped See all my masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/ >Sammy has now lost 15 ounces - just a few more and she'll be at her desired >weight. She's more active too (I know how even a little bit of excess [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >food altogether, so when what I already have runs out I just won't buy any >more. Great news. Bubba is gradually shrinking a bit as well, with a similar effect. I've completely (almost) cut him off human food and cut his BubbaChow ration slightly. I haven't weighed him lately. I guess I should. He *is* more insistent that I get up in the morning ( 5:00AM, ick.) to feed him but it's worth it if it makes him any healthier. Actually, at this very moment he is letting on that it would be perfectly acceptable to him if I left the computer and dealt with the empty food dish. So I guess I will. :^) >>Sammy has now lost 15 ounces - just a few more and she'll be at her >>desired [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > > :^) LOL! Maine Coons do love their dinner to be served on time! Does Bubba like for you to hang around while he eats? Sammy will take a few bites, look up to make sure I'm still there, then chow down again. I've read that Maine Coons like constant companionship and Sammy proves that point. Hugs, CatNipped >All the cats seem healthier and happier, so I guess I'm doing it right. I'm >still giving them about a fourth of a cup of dry food in the evenings (I >can't help it, I worry that they'll get hungry during the night even though >they don't eat all of their canned). I do eventually want to stop the dry >food altogether, so when what I already have runs out I just won't buy any >more. If you have non-carpeted floors, you can try the trick we use for Five. We throw her kibble down the hall a piece at a time and have her chase it. Her TED checkup & shots are this week and our tubby tabby is 10 lb 4 oz, down from 10 lb 12 oz a couple of months back. Her weight fluctuates on how many treats she can beg for from her daddy ;) We just got her a new toy that she's enjoying. It's a small bird that has a motion / shock sensor in it to trigger its sound chip - plays a chirping bird sound. It has a Velcro pouch for stuffing in some catnip. Five ignored the bird until I laced it with that kitty cannabis - I heard her playing with it when no one else was in the room :) Then she gets the zoomies and that helps burn some cals. Signatureannoyed@net.spammers Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl "One way that you can tell that 'Mythbusters' has been in the area is to look for shrapnel in the trees." - Jamie Hyneman >>All the cats seem healthier and happier, so I guess I'm doing it right. >>I'm [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > playing with it when no one else was in the room :) Then she gets the > zoomies and that helps burn some cals. Kewl deal! I was thinking about getting one of those balls that they have to bat around in order to get treats. One of Da Boyz is an expert treat theif (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okCx7gWxZK0), so I have to lock up the can of treat in the kitchen cubbard. They all like catnip, so I'm going to look for the bird toy next time I go to PetsMart. Hugs, CatNipped >> We just got her a new toy that she's enjoying. It's a small bird that has >> a [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >They all like catnip, so I'm going to look for the bird toy next time I go >to PetsMart. I don't know if they have it at PetsMart, but I got this one at Wal*Mart. Here's a web link from the manufacturer: http://www.worldwise.com/chickchirp.html I checked their product locator page for shops by my ZIP code and they all seem to be Wal*Mart or Target carried products. Here's the locator page for you so you can see where they are by you. Select the "SmartyKat Chickadee Chirp" from the product list. http://www.worldwise.com/storelocator.html Signatureannoyed@net.spammers Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl "One way that you can tell that 'Mythbusters' has been in the area is to look for shrapnel in the trees." - Jamie Hyneman >>> We just got her a new toy that she's enjoying. It's a small bird that >>> has [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > http://www.worldwise.com/storelocator.html THANKS! I'm always at Wally World - I'll check for it next time I'm there. Looks really cute! Hugs, CatNipped >>>> We just got her a new toy that she's enjoying. It's a small bird that >>>> has [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > > CatNipped I had one of those and got rid of it the first night after 3 am all you heard was chirp chirp chirp gets annoying after awhile like having a Elmo doll; evil things they are >>>>> We just got her a new toy that she's enjoying. It's a small bird that >>>>> has [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > heard was chirp chirp chirp gets annoying after awhile like having a > Elmo doll; evil things they are LOL! Da Boyz can achieve awakeness of mommy without a mere toy - they freight-train me all night long! ;> Hugs, CatNipped >Sammy has now lost 15 ounces - just a few more and she'll be at her desired >weight. She's more active too (I know how even a little bit of excess [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >food altogether, so when what I already have runs out I just won't buy any >more. I just saw this conversation, sorry if I'm asking you to repeat old information. What are you doing to get your cats to lose the weight? I just had Onyx at the kitty doctor yesterday (he had an impacted colon and had to have two enemas!) and the vet said that he needs to lose some weight. He's very long and looks lean to me, but at 17 pounds he's a big boy. My other cat, Yoda, is much shorter and looks fat (his belly sways back and forth and dusts the floor for me when he walks). What's the secret to kitty weight loss without them crying from being hungry all the time? Thanks, Catnipped! Zob ----- Tact is for people who aren't witty enough to be sarcastic >>Sammy has now lost 15 ounces - just a few more and she'll be at her >>desired [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > Zob Hey Zob! How's Yoda's weight? Could he stand to lose too or are you dealing with just the one who needs to lose? I had that problem when Sammy needed to lose a lot, Jessie needed to lose a little, Demi needed to stay the same, and the two boys (under a year old) still had some developing to do!! Also, are both boys on an all dry food diet right now? Sammy losing weight was only one issue I was worried about when I decided to quit giving them dry food (my clowder of 5 were eating 8 cans of Fancy Feast a day and about 2 cups of Science Diet dry). The main factor in me wanting to switch to an all canned diet is that, for the first time I have boy cats and I was worried about struvite crystals in their urine causing blockages that are not only extremely painful, but could be fatal. The constipation Onyx is experiencing could be helped by an all canned food diet if he's not already. What I did was really simple... I cut down their dry food to almost nothing (they get less than a third of a cup for all 5 to share in the evenings so they have a little something to snack on at night. When I drastically cut back the dry food I added another can of Fancy Feast at each feeding (6AM and 6PM), so now they're getting 10 cans of Fancy Feast a day. Just doing that has got all of the on them right track - Jessie is now at her ideal weight, Sammy still needs to lose a few ounces, Demi is the same, and both boys have gained a few ounces. Phil P. gave me the formula to use for determining how many calories each should eat to maintain their weight: 16 k-calories per pound per day. Here is the nutrition facts from Purina for Fancy Feast (you'd have to call or write your pet food company to get this info if you're feeding them something else): http://www.possibleplaces.com/Fancy%5FFeast%5FValues/. Phil P. has a FANTASTIC web page on cat nutrition - he's spent years and years researching this and has talked to many experts in cat nutrition: http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm. In fact his entire web site is a treasure trove of information about cats (he's a true blue ailurophile): http://www.maxshouse.com/. Hugs, CatNipped > ----- > Tact is for people who aren't witty enough to be sarcastic >What I did was really simple... I cut down their dry food to almost nothing >(they get less than a third of a cup for all 5 to share in the evenings so [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >weight, Sammy still needs to lose a few ounces, Demi is the same, and both >boys have gained a few ounces. Congrats on the weight loss for your kitties. Five had her TED checkup & annual shots today, and weighed in at 10 lb 2 oz - her lowest weight since we adopted her on 3/24/04! She got as high as 12 lb several month after we got her, mostly from free-feeding kibble (we rarely gave her human food). Her first follow-up TED check told us she was heavier than we thought. We also use an electronic timed talking feeder made by autopetfeeder.com (http://autopetfeeder.com/p_8day.asp) to give her one-third of her food in the morning (5:30 AM) and one-third in the afternoon (1:00 PM). She doesn't haunt us before we get up after her morning feeding. At night she gets the hand-tossed kibble for extra activity. Tonight we were at a "Fit or Fat" pet nutrition seminar at a local vet clinic and picked up a bunch of info on nutrition, and contributed to the group what worked for Five. It's surprising what human-healthy snacks were also recommended for cats & dogs, including apples, melons and cauliflower! Signatureannoyed@net.spammers Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl "One way that you can tell that 'Mythbusters' has been in the area is to look for shrapnel in the trees." - Jamie Hyneman >>What I did was really simple... I cut down their dry food to almost >>nothing [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > got her, mostly from free-feeding kibble (we rarely gave her human food). > Her first follow-up TED check told us she was heavier than we thought. Congrats to you too! Exercise is the other thing I'm doing with Sammy, playing with her with interactive toys and the laser pointer - although getting Da Boyz has been the best exercise regimen I could have done for her. They keep her running constantly (she always did love to play chase, but with only older sisters for a while she had to settle for chasing and being chased by mommy who is slow and tires out too quickly ;>). > We also use an electronic timed talking feeder made by autopetfeeder.com > (http://autopetfeeder.com/p_8day.asp) to give her one-third of her food in [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > the > hand-tossed kibble for extra activity. Have you thought about switching her to canned food? Cybercat experienced the same kind of weight loss with her Boo as I did with Sammy just by switching to canned. I was more concerned that my boys might develop struvite crystals than I was with Sammy's weight loss, but that was an added benefit. > Tonight we were at a "Fit or Fat" pet nutrition seminar at a local vet > clinic and picked up a bunch of info on nutrition, and contributed to the > group what worked for Five. It's surprising what human-healthy snacks were > also recommended for cats & dogs, including apples, melons and > cauliflower! Hmmmm, Sammy always loved canteloupe, but doesn't much care for any other human foods. I would think the fruits and vegetables would be OK for dogs, but cats are obligate carnivores and I wouldn't want too much other than meat in their diet. Are you sure they were recommending this for cats too and not just dogs? Hugs, CatNipped > annoyed@net.spammers > Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl > "One way that you can tell that 'Mythbusters' has been in the area > is to look for shrapnel in the trees." - Jamie Hyneman >> We also use an electronic timed talking feeder made by autopetfeeder.com >> (http://autopetfeeder.com/p_8day.asp) to give her one-third of her food in [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >struvite crystals than I was with Sammy's weight loss, but that was an added >benefit. She was recommended by her TED to be on a dry-primary to keep her tartar coverage lower, as she was "catdopted" with a fairly noticeable amount. She loves her Petmate fountain (filled from a 5 gal jug of good stuff - no tap-crap for her!) and gets lots of water. She does get gooshy on the weekends - and seems to know that Sunday is gooshy day! And exercise has definitely increased by making Five chase her dry kibble. I'm not going to toss wet food around! Although she loves gooshy so much that when I get out a plate for her wet food she's after me in a flash! So I put it on a disposable plate and make her chase after *me* before I give her the food! Through the living room, into the kitchen, out to the dining room, to the living room and around again. Sort of like racing a NASCAR oval track (which I have done as a student in a racing school, but that's another long story) but this makes her a NASCAT! :D So in reality, who is exercising who with that running around??? ;D >> Tonight we were at a "Fit or Fat" pet nutrition seminar at a local vet >> clinic and picked up a bunch of info on nutrition, and contributed to the [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >meat in their diet. Are you sure they were recommending this for cats too >and not just dogs? Oh, it was recommended only as a treat - and caloric counts for given fruit/veggie treat portions and regular food were on the handouts and slides to make us aware of the need for balance. It was *never* recommended to give a significant portion to cats or dogs in place of their primary nutrition. But a piece of carrot or even a quarter of an apple are ok. I asked the presenting nutritionist vet if the list was for both cats & dogs as there was other literature available that was species specific and she confirmed that the list was good for both. Signatureannoyed@net.spammers Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl "One way that you can tell that 'Mythbusters' has been in the area is to look for shrapnel in the trees." - Jamie Hyneman
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