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Cat Forum / General Topics / September 2004How do I feed my obese cat?
We have a 12 year old female, two 4 month old male kittens, and a 6 year old male who is obese. We know that his diet needs to be controlled, but haven't figured out how to control his eating while insuring that our female and our kittens get all the food they require. Apart from the weekends, both I and my partner are only at home from ~ 8:00pm until ~6:00am. We know, of course, that we could keep him in a separate room with his own food and box for the duration we are gone. However, that seems a bit cruel to keep separated from the other cats for such a large part of the day. He has bonded extremely well with the kittens. Any suggestions? TIA  SignatureWayne in Phoenix unmunge as w-e-b *If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it. *A mind is a terrible thing to lose. > We have a 12 year old female, two 4 month old male kittens, and a 6 year > old male who is obese. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Any suggestions? We had this problem. An overweight male and an extremely active female who needed the extra calories. The dry we left down was always for "overwieght and less active" cats. Luckily the male wasn't as fond of dry as he was wet so he wouldn't over indulge, waiting instead until "dinner" time. When we fed them wet food, we gave the female the richer diet she needed and kept him on low cal stuff. Seemed to work out pretty good. Not sure what you do about the kittens. You definitely don't want to separate them while your out. No telling how they will respond. Just keep them separate when they eat (as much as possible). You could also try some extra "active" attention for the tubby one. AG > We had this problem. An overweight male and an extremely active > female who needed the extra calories. The dry we left down was [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > You could also try some extra "active" attention for the tubby > one. I have a minor problem in this respect - one cat is a guts, the other a grazer, but the guts has only ever been mildly overweight, and the vet said it really wasn't too much of an issue. However, remarkably, today I have just had a real breakthrough. As a treat, I bought them some lactose-free milk, and Cassius (him of the rounded tum) has hardly touched the food all day, instead going into seventh heaven drinking the milk. I'm wondering whether, if I make the milk a regular part of their diet, he will continue to choose it over food and so self-limit his calories. I suspect it might just work. >> We had this problem. An overweight male and an extremely active >> female who needed the extra calories. The dry we left down was [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > regular part of their diet, he will continue to choose it over food > and so self-limit his calories. I suspect it might just work. Good thought. I might just give this a try. SignatureWayne in Phoenix unmunge as w-e-b *If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it. *A mind is a terrible thing to lose. > Good thought. I might just give this a try. I wish I had had it as a thought some years ago - instead, it was Cassius' thought and my observation :-) >Good thought. I might just give this a try. It should be noted the milk is Lactose free, not fat free or reduced fat. Also milk isn't good for males. >As a treat, I bought them some lactose-free >milk, and Cassius (him of the rounded tum) has hardly touched the food all >day, instead going into seventh heaven drinking the milk. While there say hello to Rev. Camden for me. > I'm wondering >whether, if I make the milk a regular part of their diet, he will continue >to choose it over food and so self-limit his calories. I suspect it might >just work. Does the milk have more calories/fat than the overweight/less active food you're feeding him? If it is whole milk I would think you're better off with the overweight/less active food. >>As a treat, I bought them some lactose-free >>milk, and Cassius (him of the rounded tum) has hardly touched the food all [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > food you're feeding him? If it is whole milk I would think you're > better off with the overweight/less active food. I don't feed him overweight/less active food. For a start, as I said in my original post, he is only slightly overweight and the vet has said that while it would be nice for him to lose a kg, it's not essential. Also as I said in my original post, I I have two cats, one of which is a grazer and it is impossible to keep them out of each other's food bowls. As it is, Cassius (the rotund one) has FLUTD and is on Hills Science Diet C/d. >> We have a 12 year old female, two 4 month old male kittens, and a 6 >> year old male who is obese. [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > AG Thanks. We buy both canned and dry NutroMax cat food, kitten varieties for the kittens, and "Lite" for the adults. So far, we've been separating the kittens from the adults for feeding sessions of the canned foods, both before we leave for work and when we return from work. They generally tend to finish off the canned food before we leave. Both the kitten and Lite dry foods are left for them during the day. Unfortunately, our "tubby" kitty has been eating the dry kitten food as well as his own. That's basically the predicament we have now. Guess we'll just have to keep thinking about how to adjust it. SignatureWayne in Phoenix unmunge as w-e-b *If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it. *A mind is a terrible thing to lose. > Thanks. We buy both canned and dry NutroMax cat food, kitten varieties > for the kittens, and "Lite" for the adults. So far, we've been [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > well as his own. That's basically the predicament we have now. Guess > we'll just have to keep thinking about how to adjust it. I figured this would be the big problem since kitten food is so high in calories. One last option is to put the dry kitten food in a separate room..then put up a baby gate just high enough for the kittens to get under but not high enough for the "bigger" cat. This is how we kept our dog out of the cat food. Course the dog was 100lbs and didn't jump... not sure how well it would work for cats. AG Is there a place the kittens can get to that the obese cat can't? When my little ones were little, I put a cat tree next to my entertainment center, so they could get up there and eat, while the elder could not. > We have a 12 year old female, two 4 month old male kittens, and a 6 year > old male who is obese. [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > *If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it. > *A mind is a terrible thing to lose. Get a cardboard box, cut a hole that is too small for the tubby one but large enough to allow the kitten in. Cut a small 'window' to let in some light. Velcro the bowl in position as far away from the door as possible. Feed the kitten in the box and the overweight cat in the usual location. W > We have a 12 year old female, two 4 month old male kittens, and a 6 year > old male who is obese. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > TIA Following up to my original post and all responses... You've all given me some great ideas to consider and try, and I'm sure that one or more will be the answer! We already have a baby gate, so that's a quick try. I think we'll also go looking for a cat tree for the kittens. They'd love it anyway, regardless of the food issue. Also, the box with a small hole cut out for the kittens might just do it. Thanks again for all your great ideas! SignatureWayne in Phoenix unmunge as w-e-b *If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it. *A mind is a terrible thing to lose. |
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