My little girl kitty is so spoiled and fat, probably around 25-30 pounds. She loves ice cream, tuna, cheese, and butter and I admit I give her these as little treats every now and then. I know she needs to go on a diet and I need more self-restraint when feeding her. But when I withold her treats, she refuses to eat her kibble. It's like she's pouting. How do I slim my fat girl down?
2006-07-29 15:42:04 · 13 answers · asked by lexiann721 2 in Pets ➔ Cats
Keep withholding treats. Cats are not stupid, and this one has its humans well-trained. "If I don't eat this kibble, I will get more treats and cheese and butter and tuna!" ;-)
Starve her of butter, cheese, and treats. The tuna's good for her, but in moderation. Stop feeding her kibble, actually, since dry food can make cats obese. Do wild cats eat crunchy nuggest made of grains and vegetables? No, they eat other animals.
Talk to your vet about putting her on a diet, and make sure the food she gets has good, healthy ingredients. Find ways to increase her activity, such as playing with her, or bringing a kitten into the home to energize her into being more active. Feed her more wet-food with good ingredients (no chicken or fish or meat by-product or meal, meal is the ground-up leftovers of what humans won't eat). And keep in mind that cats will appear to lose weight slowly - if a 200-pound human is losing weight at a healthy rate when he sheds 10 pounds in a month, then a 20-pound cat is doing well to lose one pound in a month.
But the key here is, you need to untrain yourself. Let her pout. Like I said, she's not stupid... she'll realize when the flow of treats stops, that she either eats her CAT food, or she will go hungry. Worked wonders for my cat, and she lost several pounds when the vet said she needed to.
Good luck!
2006-07-29 15:51:44 · answer #1 · answered by agentdenim 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
The treats are OK in small amounts, just try not to overdo it.
The kibble is what's making her fat!
Kibble is made mainly of grain, and cats are obligate carnivores - they don't have the necessary digestive enzymes to properly digest vegetable protein. All they can do is turn it into fat, then live off the fat as if they were starving. It's common for cats that are fed kibble to become obese. It's not uncommon for cats that eat mainly kibble to be obese and malnourished at the same time!
Read this:
http://www.catinfo.org
2006-07-30 00:15:34 · answer #2 · answered by Mick 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not very experienced with things like that, but I have a suggestion. Try mixing in some people food with some cat food.Example:tuna and cat food(dry or wet)-mix it up together in a small bowl then put it in the cat's dish. I don't know if it would work for your cat but it works for mine. My cat is currently 1 1/2 years old and is 9 pounds. Why don't you try it out?!
2006-07-29 22:51:55 · answer #3 · answered by blue3coco 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its really easy.. do not give her any treats!! just feed her a low calorie or diet cat food. I would say to give her half the dose of any regular food you are giving her. You say she wont touch her food at all if you dont give to her any treats.... well if she gets really really really hungry she will, trust me she wont suicide because she cant have any treats. Animals dont have thoughts of ending their lifes. Its all a matter for you to be strong enough and take it like it should be. I know its hard but if you dont do it, you will kill your own cat from obesity or diabetes
2006-07-29 23:12:23 · answer #4 · answered by Kitty 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have to treat your cat like a child and for good reasons. Your cat , if you truly love her, can develop some serious health problems that will kill her if she remains obese (diabetes, heart disease etc).
Children don't always like to eat what they are given. If you only give them good stuff and they snub it eventually they will get hungry and eat.
If their are other cats in the house you may have to handle feedings different especially if your one cat tends to hog all the food. You may have to feed your big cat on the floor and your other cats up higher so they can't get to the bowl.
2006-07-29 23:13:54 · answer #5 · answered by rltouhe 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ask your vet about medicine or natural supplements that lessen your kitty's appetite. They won't hurt her, they will just reduce her desire to eat so much and make those treats less appetizing (it works on the same principal as when you have a stuffy nose and you can't smell or taste too well, having less preference as to what you eat.)
This trick worked great on our 4 year old boy cat. He went from 19lb. 7oz. to
10lb. 3oz. in about 6 months! (Your cat should not lose weight at a very fast pace as it could make kitty sick; ask your vet to explain it more.
Good Luck to you and Kitty!
2006-07-29 23:02:36 · answer #6 · answered by Ammy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have to be strong, no people food. She will eat the cat food when she gets hungry enough. Also try to get her to exercise by playing with her. Give her toys instead of treats. She will live longer and be healthier if you get her on better food.
2006-07-29 22:57:41 · answer #7 · answered by Badkitty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Human food reeks havoc on animals internal organs. I would check with my VET, if I were you. i have a big neutered male cat, whos about 18-20 pds, which is a bit over weight for his build, so Id definitely do something for her health.
2006-07-29 22:49:38 · answer #8 · answered by Katz 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
decrease her food by 10% and get some trim treats they are low fat.
2006-07-29 22:46:10 · answer #9 · answered by macleod709 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try getting her purina kitty chow. iknow on the commersials they say it works and they ussually lie. but this does work.
2006-07-29 22:46:52 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋