Tortilla Cat is getting Chubby

[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.