I adopted a cat 2 months ago from a family that was moving out of state and couldn't take her with them.?

Question

She is a really good girl. She's a five year old tabby and she has been fixed, since being a kitten. Problem is, she's huge! She weighs like 16lbs. How can I get her to slim down without risking health problems, like malnutrition stuff like that?
Overall, she is a healthy girl just big.

She's not from a shelter, I took her from the peoples home when I stopped at their house for a yardsale, she ended up being part of the yardsale.

i have four cats total. Her, A 1yr old male, and 2 five month old kittens. They chase her all over the house.

Answer 1

So nice of you to take on this cat. I'm sure you will develop a deep affection for her.

I checked out the Purina weight formula at the supermarket. It has turkey, turkey meal and corn as the first three ingredients and my position on this weight issue with cats is to eliminate ALL corn from the diet.

Corn is used to fatten slaughter animals who may have life-spans of only two years. Vets have no credit courses in small animal nutrition and some I have seen need to take off a little weight themselves. Their "education" consists of seminars put on by the food companies who sell this awful food.

When you find a cat in a cornfield it is not there for the corn. It is there for the raw meat it gets from catching mice.

The premium foods do not contain any corn: CA Natural is chicken and rice. Natural Balance has a venison and pea and a chicken formula with brown rice in it. Prairie (the priciest) has chicken and rice.

As you know from all the human diet information, the best way to reduce weight is to totally watch what you eat for the rest of your life. True weight-loss only comes over time.

If you switch kitty to foods without corn the weight will come off. Slowly and surely and she will not be gaining any more. The food is more nutritious for her too and over time you will find that she eats less of it when her body is no longer starved for a decent meal.

Answer 2

Old-cat-lady is right, the cheaper foods have corn and other starches in them that cats just don't need. Cats are carnivores, so in the wild, all they would eat is meat, your kitty has been consuming too many carbs. Please be careful with some of the 'diet' cat-foods, as what they actually do is drop the calorie count by including more fibre, which is the opposite of what you should be doing. Go and get her premium food, with as high a protien content as you can, and try and substitute around three meals a week with raw meat (preferably chicken or rabbit) Again, as everyone has mentioned, get her off her large kitty butt and try and encourage her to be more active. I find that the easiest thing for you would be to invest in one of those lazer pointers, and let her chase the red dot until she collapses from exhaustion!

Good luck and well done on wanting to make sure that she is healthy!

Answer 3

this is totally common with cats from shelters. I volunteer at one and it seems as if all the cats are fat and the dogs are skinny.
Just start feeding her lite food and play with her. She will definetly slim down since she's not cooped up in a cage anymore. The reason they get fat is that they have nothing else to do, so they eat. Maybe try getting her a companion, that way she'll have another cat to play with and that'll help her slim down as well. no need to put her on medicine or special diets, just pick up some science diet lite cat food. If you want you can go talk to your vet and see what he/she says. good luck and good for you for adopting!!!

Answer 4

Like others said, it would be wise to bring her to a vet and have her checked out. They may be able to give you insight into how much of it is actual body fat, how much she needs to lose, and so forth.
There are so many cat foods on the market for diet and weight control. Do not feed her Iams or any cheap supermarket-bought cat food. Not only are they filled with ingredients such as animal by-products (beaks, feet, other animal parts that are not legal to sell for human consumption), but they use cheap and unhealthy fillers such as corn meal. Investing a couple dollars more per bag of cat food for her is REALLY worth it for such a large quality improvement. A brand I like is Natural Balance, you can purchase it in most pet supply stores. They have a reduced calorie formula that might be great.
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/catformulas/home.html
Good luck with your big girl!

Answer 5

Have a lawyer write up a letter threatening to realize this if the canine isn't suited contained. If the canine's proprietor isn't taking duty for the canine and your components is being broken and you're searching for for propose on what to do here on Yahoo then the ball is on your courtroom to preserve it. You sound such as you do no longer desire any war of words with the neighbor yet you're at your witt's end. you ought to do the canine a prefer and take it to the pound. or you additionally could have your backyard fenced.

Answer 6

Good for you!!!

Take her in to the vet, she willl have good advice to you. You will most likely have to give her measured amounts of food (vet can recommend a good brand), so get a cheap plastic measuring cup you can use just for cat food and mark it with a permanent marker at the level to give her. I've heard it's best to feed them two or three times a day instead of once. You definitely don't want to just fill the bowl and leave it, that's probably how she got so big in the first place!

Also, play with her a lot. I recommend this toy called "Da Bird", I haven't seen a cat yet that didn't love to chase this thing.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11643&Ntt=bird&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1

Lots of luck!

Answer 7

Have her evaluated by a vet- my cat is 17lbs, but he is actually pretty healthy! It depends on the amount of fat on the body, the breeding, etc.

That said, there are many "adult" and "weight management" foods out there for cats. Check at Petco or a specialty pet store if you like, but some of those can be pricy. I know Iams and science Diet make some weight-reduction foods.

Here is a link to some brands that are supposed to help with weight management:
Canned foods:
http://www.petfooddirect.com:80/store/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=1063
Dry foods:
http://www.petfooddirect.com:80/store/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=1062

Good luck! Bless you for adopting a cat in need of a home! =^..^=

Answer 8

I agree with all the above answers. I was told by a vet to play with my chubby cat 15 minutes a day. (She weighs 15 lbs) I know it is a lot of hassle, but the exercise will do her good. Also adding a kitten to your household will slim up your chubby cat in no time:)

Answer 9

Purina One has a good weight management formula...also, make sure that she gets some exercise...play with her and engage her (fly toys--like a feather on a string on a long stick--are instant kitty crack and irresistible to most). If you notice she likes climbing/sitting in higher places, invest in or make a good kitty tree for her to scale. And make sure that she has something to scratch on to stretch her toe muscles.
She may stay big, but if the vet isn't concerned, there are lots of healthy if chubby kitties.

Answer 10

I have 6 cats, and one of them is a boat! She weighs about 16 lbs and her belly drags on the floor. I can't really watch what she eats because there is dry food down constantly because of the number I have. She seems healthy enough (she's 12 this month).

If you have only the one cat, they sell dry cat food for overweight cats. Try her on that for awhile. It can't hurt. Good luck, and congrats on your new kid!

=^..^=