Tortilla Cat is getting Chubby

[Aggie_Ama]

I am a little worried that our cat, Tortilla, has become quite the chunk since we got her. The shelter said she was 9 pounds when we got her in May and the other night I weighed her at 13.5-14 (weighed twice holding her). She has the weird swinging belly chubby cats get. I am feeding her Purina Pro Plan indoor formula which is supposed to be helpful for weight management and hairball control (she is medium fur). I only give her one cup which is the recommended feeding and she is still big. DH keeps saying we should get her a treadmill. :o How fat it too fat? I don't want her getting in poor health!

[bmccasland]

I have the same problem with Calypso, who at 2 yrs has put on quite the belly. Meal rationing is part of it, but I'm not sure about the rest.

Are there kitty crunches? Little ab machines for kitties?

My problem is limiting the food that Calypso gets, when I have another cat in the house that is clinically underweight. So Bonnie needs all the calories she can get, and C needs hers limited.

Seems with one cat, it would be somewhat easy to limit the amount of food they get daily, thus lowering their total caloric intake. And slowly over time they'd loose weight.

[Becky]

I feel your pain. Both of our cats are somewhat overweight, probably from our apartment days. It saddens me a little, but I keep plugging away at reduced portions, more exercise, and regular vet checks.

We switched to wet food about a year ago for the increased protein and decreased carbs compared to dry, and that seems to be slowly helping. Feeding them in separate rooms helps too, as one is on an expensive prescription diet for UT issues, and neither needs to be swiping extra from the other's bowl.

I had an interesting conversation with our vet about portion sizes. I was worried that our female wasn't eating enough, and the vet's comment was that the portion sizes (even the lower ones) are gauged for active cats, and that most cats weren't nearly active enough to justify feeding what the label recommended. She advised slowly cutting back until we reached a portion that they were finishing in about 10-15 minutes, and to make that the new "normal". If they walk away from the food, it gets picked up, and they get a smaller portion at the next meal. We're down to a smaller portion than is listed on the label, but they're both losing weight at a reasonable pace, and seem more happy and playful.

What does your vet say?

[Biciclista]

The trouble with dry cat food is that it doesn't make them feel full. So they overeat. And they still feel hungry. I give my cats a little dry food, since they've eaten it all their lives, but in the evening they get a raw meat mix that i make for them. My fat cat is no longer fat, my other cats look great too. It took about a year. SInce i changed their diet, they all look a lot better. They have glossy coats !

Bottom line, your cat does not need 1 cup of food a day. She's getting dangerously fat.

[Becky]

...but in the evening they get a raw meat mix that i make for them.

Do you have a recipe or link?

[ehirsch83]

'my vet nicely said that my cat,Izzy, was "tubular". that was her nice word for fat!! She said cats only need about 200 calories a day. Izzy isn't quite so tubular anymore!

[Becky]

She said cats only need about 200 calories a day.

A useful link that I stumbled across when looking for calorie info for my cats' foods: http://www.petobesityprevention.com/food_calories.htm

[Eden]

I haven't gone to a raw diet (I did try....my male was throwing up too much), but I did go as close as possible. My two only get high quality 100% meat canned food. They are slim, well muscled, soft and glossy.

Corn (the largest ingredient in most dry cat foods - especially grocery store brands) is bad for them. They like the taste - its like candy to them, but it makes them fat and is being linked to all sorts of diseases that used to be quite uncommon in cats like hyperthyroid and diabetes. I've also heard that they have no appetite control - they don't feel full the way we do, so freely available food will make most fat.

Cats are what's known as obligate carnivores. They need the nutrients in meat, and specifically organs to survive. In the wild they don't really ever eat grain and usually only eat greens in order to throw up.... Most cat foods are a pretty unnatural diet for them.

(but the little swinging belly often develops on cats that are not overweight - so that alone is not an indicator - their profile from above is better - they should have a waist....)

Oh - and too give their teeth a workout I give them a daily treat of a 1/2 a dog sized "Breathies" - much better than the kitty ones that are just tiny shreds. They love chewing on them. Just avoid the ones with lavender (Mellow Mutt) - many essential oils are toxic to cats. These are pretty much just dried meat strips (I get chicken and duck) - so no bad carbs in them either.

[wackyjacky1]

I highly recommend you check out catinfo.org. It explains pretty much everything you need to know about feline nutrition. My cats are the picture of health after switching them to quality canned food.

[Biciclista]

wackyjacky,
thanks for the link. i was surprised to find that my catfood recipe is more "natural" than hers.

My catfood recipe:
whole chicken
4 egg yolks
1 pound liver
1 pound chicken hearts.
4 squirts of salmon oil
water
grind the chicken, liver, and hearts, add water and salmon oil and eggs; put into containers, freeze.

[tribogota]

Uchuva gets 1/2 c a day of dry food (Nutra nuggets) and is the "right" weight. She nibbles at it all day and I never put more food in it until it is gone, so some days she gets less than 1/2. She has a beautiful soft shiny coat and seems to be a happy healthy cat.

[Aggie_Ama]

Oddly Tortilla doesn't usually finish her food but she probably is being given the option of too much to eat. What kind of can food do most of you use? I haven't taken her to the vet yet because DH thinks I am overreacting. She is a pretty active indoor cat and has lovely coat. I have always had indoor/outdoor cats so they naturally stayed lean. Doesn't help her they know she is manx and they believe she is part Maine Coon, she should be large but not tubby swinging belly big!

[Eden]

I've found all meat foods to be hard to find. I give my kitties Ziwi Peak - no grains, no veggies. I've been supplementing with a little BG canned too as my two were getting a bit skinny.

[katluvr]

Oh can I relate.
And I have been thru all the website info on raw diet, homemade diet, etc when one of my cats had problems w/ Inflammatory Bowel.

But I am off course...last summer we found the "kittens". I found out they did NOT have an "off" button when it comes to eating. Serously, you are supposed to keep food avaialbe at all times for kittens, but they got fat.

2nd problem: multi cat household, some fat and only a couple thin (old sick girl first mentioned)

3rd problem: although had them all on organic or other "non" grocery store or vet distrubuted brands I have a cat w/ renal failure (d/t blocked urethera way back when). Putting HIM on the prescription diet DID help get his BUN/CR down...but everyone is on it. I hate that it is not more natural. And it is not low cal/low fat.

So I have an 18 pound cat w/ renal failure (not the typical renal failure cat)
Finally fixed my IBD cat w/ prednisone (tried everythign else--this works) and man what an appetite she has now. She is about to go from underweight to overweight in record time!

2 over weight 1 year olds.

And the timid cat..normal weight.

But then again, both the of their mommies have a few pounds to shed. When we go to the vet I am sure they are saying...."Here comes the fat family"!:D

I did digress some...(hyjacked?)...There is a LOT out there about how bad dry food is.
If I only had one cat I would not do the dry and focus on wet food that is mostly (if not all) protien. As some have said here.

K

[Aggie_Ama]

I have made her an appointment for Saturday to see the vet. I don't get her food at the grocery store but I do go to Petsmart. Maybe I will look around for other options. She is not the most awfully fat cat I have seen but she is too large, I would guess she needed to put on a little weight when we got her but not this much!

Do you have to worry about their teeth if they eat only wet food?

[Biciclista]

yes, you do have to worry about their teeth. But that's true of dry food as well.
Thanks for reminding me, I've been meaning to check all my cats' teeth.

[Eden]

Do you have to worry about their teeth if they eat only wet food?

I love this quote - I think it sums it up nicely.... "The idea that dry food promotes dental health makes about as much sense as the idea that crunchy cookies would promote dental health in a human."

I do give my cats large (dog size) jerky style treats to give them something that must chew on to eat.

[WindingRoad]

Since we are on the subject, my baby is about 15 years old now (I had to work for that). I've been feeding her dry Iams for her whole life. Peanut has always been pretty chubby and I'm noticing now as she gets older she's getting chubbier. Do you all think it would be OK to switch her to canned food at this point? I would like to get her weight down. I only have her so I can regulate the food supply easy enough. Are there any specific canned foods that are better for older cats like her?:)

[bmccasland]

Maybe because I've been searching for answers, but got to the feline diabeties web site http://www.felinediabetes.com/diet.htm
There's a link to nutrition charts, that includes % protein, fat, & carbs, and calories for most higher end cat foods. Charts for dry and wet are separate.
I'm a data junkie, so having the data makes me happy. Now if there'd just be a chart on taste....

And I'll have to remember Mimi's suggestion to get them jerky treats next time I'm at Petsmart for their chewing and teeth cleaning pleasure. Thanks Mimi!

[tulip]

Reposted from Show Us Your Pets in case Aggie Ama doesn't read both.

When I had cats growing up in the 70s and 80s, we fed them what was available, which was cheap-o Purina dry food. But they were farm cats and they supplemented that with plenty of mice and birds and lizards and crickets. They also got plenty of exercise and were always trim and healthy. Fudge lived to be 21, Khin-lin was 18, Marblehead was 20, and Vronsky was 15.

But if you have indoor cats, you have to feed them high-quality food. A raw diet is very much preferred for healthy, happy, and appropriate-weight cats, but not everyone is inclined to do that. So get the best food you can and give them plenty of opportunities for exercise (climbing towers and feather toys and that awesome ball-racetrack that BleekerSt Girl has for her munchkin).

[Biciclista]

I didn't say anything about jerky treats! but for those of you feeding dry food, you can wet that stuff too!

[Becky]

I didn't say anything about jerky treats! but for those of you feeding dry food, you can wet that stuff too!

I'm not sure why you would though... It's still high in carbs, and I've heard that the addition of liquid or moisture can encourage bacterial growth....

[Biciclista]

my cats eat a little dry food - i think it helps their teeth. I add water, which increases the amount of water they get in their system. I don't worry about bacteria, because they clean their dishes in less than 5 minutes.

[Eden]

brought over from show us your pets for RedRock


.....They, ( I spoke with a tech NOT the vet) suggested that I stay with the IAMS brand of dry food. I then went and did some research on IAMS and they look no different than the chepo brands of cat food. They are still high in the carbs and low in proteins.
Red Rock

Unfortunately, and I'd love to get the whole story from some of the veterinarians on the board about why - I've heard rumors, but I don't really know what is true.... many vets have what seems like a sponsor food that they push... (hills, science diet, Iams - heck they may all even be the same parent company....). I won't argue that they may be formulated and supplemented for specific problems, but the raw materials that go into them are as bad and scary as the supermarket foods. (they were affected by the recalls too)

After going through a UT blockage with my male cat (99% sure it was from tainted gluten in cat food - the same stuff was causing bladder stones in children in China :( ) and a lot of research about cat food, I've chosen to not feed my cat the prescription food, which is still full of really nasty stuff and go to a completely grain/veggie free diet. I haven't gone raw because my cat throws it up, and he obviously can't get nutrition from food that won't stay in his stomach. He's been healthy and stone free for 2 years now - no prescription food.

I've come to see feeding cats a dry food diet as much like a person subsisting on a diet of solely fortified breakfast cereal... yeah you can get 100% of the RDA out of it, but would you be healthy?

[Eden]

And I'll have to remember Mimi's suggestion to get them jerky treats next time I'm at Petsmart for their chewing and teeth cleaning pleasure. Thanks Mimi!

I'm the one who give my cats the jerky treats. I get Dogswell "Happy Hips" duck treats and "Breathies" chicken treats. I've had "Vitality" on occasion too. Stay away from the fancier ones like "Mellow Mutt" though - they contain lavender oil, which could possibly be harmful to cats, especially if they already have kidney problems.

The chicken ones I usually just break in half and give one half to each cat. They crunch on them - make a lot of noise, sometimes they will even try to swallow a piece that was a bit big and regurgitate it..... So I always keep an eye on them when they have the treats, but so far they've never seriously worried me (and these two tend to *bolt* food...) The duck treats tend to be a bit tougher and sometimes have what look like tendons, so I do break them into slightly smaller pieces unless they are very crisp.

My cats loooooove them - don't even think about trying to take one away once they've got it. They treat them like little prey.

[Veronica]

Tucker Cat was getting fat on dry. We switched both my kitties to canned only - Wellness Chicken from Petsmart - last January. Tucker lost two pounds and Cassie has stayed the same. Tucker's energy level also increased when we took him off dry.

Veronica

[Biciclista]

Eden, where do you get that dogswell stuff? and what kind of canned do you feed?
I'm getting a new kitty today or tomorrow (I can't not mention it anymore ) :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
and I'd just as soon not start her on dry food at all.

[Eden]

Congrats on the new kitty!
Show us when you get him/her!

I do most of my food shopping at Mud Bay Granary (http://www.mudbaygranary.com/) - there's a bunch around town
U-District, 2 on Capitol Hill, downtown

The canned food I mainly use is Ziwi Peak - its a bit pricey compared to a lot of foods, but its about as close as I can get to a raw diet without going raw and it has *no* grains, starches or veggies added. I've been supplementing with a bit of BG 100% meat, pheasant and salmon too, just because both kitties were getting a bit thin on the recommended feeding of the other and it is easier for me to keep track of how much I'm feeding if I use a totally different food to supplement (somehow this makes sense......) Plus - no matter what anyone says I find it hard to fathom that they might not get sick of eating the same stuff again and again... Like they wouldn't have variety in the wild - a mouse here, a few grasshoppers there, maybe a baby bunny or a bird???

I get the Dogswell treats there too, but I've seen them at plenty of other pet food stores and even at Central Co-op's Madison Market. Not all cats will take to them... I haven't ever been able to interest the shelter cats in even the cat sized ones - but then its hard to even get many of them to eat anything. My two can be insatiable little gluttons.... they rarely if ever turn their noses up at food.

[Aggie_Ama]

Tortilla is a healthy presumed 18 month old but needs to be a little leaner. Right now she is 13 lbs, 11 oz. My vet would like to see her get down to around 11 lbs. He said when they first saw her (for her shelter attack in May) she was under weight at 9 lbs because she is a large frame cat. He said she is long, large head and definitely part manx which means she should be a larger cat but she is overweight and that is dangerous.

He recommended wet food for the same reason you all have, it is high protein and lower carb. He said she should lose weight slowly because even though she got chubby fast, cats tend to be slow on losing weight. He does not believe based on her exam she has anything wrong with her, just needs a better diet. I am so glad, now if she forgives me for taking her to the vet we will be set! :)

Edited to add- My vet feels the "dry food helps teeth" idea is a myth. He said if you watch how cats eat they break the food in half and swallow it. They don't really chew, he said that while he does think their dental health is a concern he doesn't think feeding dry for the dental benefit helps. I do notice Tortilla seems to enjoy the crunching based on her preference for crunchy treats over soft (which I haven't been giving her much since she got so heavy) so I may keep a small bit of dry food as a nice change.

[malkin]

wackyjacky,
thanks for the link. i was surprised to find that my catfood recipe is more "natural" than hers.

My catfood recipe:
whole chicken
4 egg yolks
1 pound liver
1 pound chicken hearts.
4 squirts of salmon oil
water
grind the chicken, liver, and hearts, add water and salmon oil and eggs; put into containers, freeze.

Calf liver?
And it's all raw?

I think my old Tiger T. Cat might really like that.