i'm just wondering if anyone else has an obese cat. mine gained all off the weight within a few months of rescuing him as about a one year old cat. i believe his peak was 25 or 27 pounds. somewhere around there.
i was just wondering, what are you doing to help it lose weight?
i had my cat on insulin, but the vet says he doesn't need it anymore, so he's just on diabetic cat food now. strange thing is, he isn't even diabetic!
i also want to know if you or anyone else teases the cat for being fat.
my boyfriend and i call it the dog, because it's just so huge, and when it's next to my other cats, he really looks as huge as a dog! lol.
anything else you have to say about this topic is cool. i just want to hear from other people who are in this situation.
2006-11-21 05:28:55 · 21 answers · asked by answer away 3 in Pets ➔ Cats
my cat gets exercise because my kitten will play and wrestle with it all the time. idk about the diabetes. the vet put him on insulin, assuming that the cat had diabetes, then took him off it later. i don't understand all the reasoning behind it. my vet said he even posted my cat's sotry on a vet website, and no one could figure out why my cat gained so much weight in so little time.
2006-11-21 07:27:33 · update #1
my cat is also just a big cat, i guess. he's taller than my other cats, and has a bigger head. idk. he's still huge.
2006-11-21 07:36:52 · update #2
My youngest cat is a year and half old and weighs in at almost 22 pounds. I took him to the vet and he said he's healthy and weight is fine, he's a rather large breed of cat. Almost double the height and length of my oldest cat. If he continues to gain weight however, it could become a problem. I would talk to your vet about the safest and best course of action for your cat. The last thing you want to do is try something and it not be the right plan for him and it end up affecting his health. Good luck!
2006-11-21 07:22:43 · answer #1 · answered by MasLoozinIt76 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I had a really fat cat. It's the same as in humans really. You need to play with your cat more and get it more active. Use catnip if you have to. They can't resist. Feed your cat some weight control kitty food. And don't just poor it into a big bowl and poor more in the second its empty. On the bag is serving size, just like for humans. What I do is I have a measuring cup in the bag. I pull it out in the morning and feed the cat that cup of food throughout the day. It's really slimmed her down. She acts a lot happier now.
2006-11-21 05:38:18 · answer #2 · answered by ♥N,K,E&DJ'§ Mommy♥ 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have a 21 lb. cat, but she is definitely diabetic, on insulin shots twice a day. He's a steady 21 lbs, there doesn't seem to be any fluctuation in her weight.
Why would your cat be on diabetic medicine and food if he's not? Diabetes doesn't just go away, in fact, it probably is worse if the cat is overweight.
A normal weight is 8-10 lbs, depending on the breed.
Lola is my fatty, but I know that it's not healthy for her. She's only getting about 1 cup of food a day (1/2 am and 1/2 pm) so I don't think I can cut the food down much more. She's healthy, except for the diabetes, so I'm ok with a fat cat.
2006-11-21 05:36:37 · answer #3 · answered by BVC_asst 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Well, I guess weight would depend on a few things. Some breeds like Main Coon Cats can get very large. It's not so much weiht you need to watch, but how much of it is bopdy fat. Also take into account how active he is. I currently have a cat who is about 20 lbs. But he is all muscle and very active. If he is very overweight for his frame, cut back on portions or try something like Purina Pro Plan weight control food. The Pro Plan line is the upper end of Purina's foods and cats love it. It is not as expensive as IAMS and is (according to my vet) much more well balanced. Also get some interactive toys. Believe it or not, our cats favorite toys are these little artificial mice that they will bat around all day until they chew the stuffing out of them. You can get a pack of 5 for like $2 at most major dept stores like Meijer, Wal Mart or Target.
2006-11-21 05:42:24 · answer #4 · answered by sparrownightmare@verizon.net 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It seems like everyone else has pretty much covered the weight issue but I just wanted to warn you- sometimes rapid weight gain can be due to or lead to a kidney problem or crystals in the urine. Just make sure you keep an eye out for that, I've known a few fat cats that had problems with this.
2006-11-21 06:25:59 · answer #5 · answered by Caitlin 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well I have a 20lb fat cat, but hes lost weight , I talked with my vet and we put him on a diet with diet kitty food, he only gets 1/2 cup twice a day , which makes him think I'm starving him.. But its really not good on them to be so over weight, thing is, its just has bad on humans as it is cats.. Could start heart problems , breathing problems, etc.. My cat has alot of stress on his heart because of his weight, at 20lbs, so if your cats over 20lbs then maybe you should talk with your vet again, and get that boy on a diet. I thought at first that it was cool to have a big old fat cat, but after hearing all the health problems I was subjecting him to, I really felt like a a$s ..
2006-11-21 06:26:00 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Please don't listen to the people who say they like fat cats - - it just shortens the cats lifetime & fat cats are more prone to the same diseases as fat people. They are more likely to have diabetes and/or heart problems. And fat cats have a hard time keeping themselves clean & getting around which results in less exercise.
Put him on a good diet. I recommend Science Diet "light" for adult cats. Be sure to read how much to give your cat each day & it shouldn't be long before "Tubby" shows some weight loss.
2006-11-21 06:09:25 · answer #7 · answered by Judith 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have a fatty too.
My vet recommended feeding her 1/3 cup of dry food per day. Not surprisingly, that failed.
After taking a crash course on cat nutrition, I now feed her canned food. She gets one can per day. I'm also giving her 250 mg of L-Carnitine per day.
I haven't seen results yet, but I don't have a scale, plus it's only been a month. If it's going according to plan, she'd only have lost 1/2 to 1 pound by now.
Tons of other things have improved, though!
Here are some links that got me started. Good luck, and don't forget that switching to canned food can take some time, but it's well worth the patience required.
2006-11-21 05:59:38 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Being this overweight is a serious health risk for your cat so you do need to help him lose it. Two words: Diet and Exercise. But you knew that already, right? Diet - feed him a low calorie diet and limit the amount he eats. If you have other cats, feed him separately so that you can monitor how much he gets and make sure he cannot "steal" the other cats' food. Also, NO handouts in the kitchen/dining room. Exercise is a little harder, but try to find games he likes to play and play with him. Trail a piece of yarn behind you and encourage him to chase it etc. If you have stairs in your house, "chase" him up the stairs several times a day so he has to exert himself to get up them. Also, keep his water bowl in the basement but his litter box upstairs (or vice versa) so no matter where he is, several times a day he has to go up and down stairs to take care of his needs.
2006-11-21 05:36:57 · answer #9 · answered by auskan2002 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I personally love the big fat cats, they are easier to snuggle with. We had one at the vet that i worked for his name was BB. but we called him garfield because he was a fat orange cat. he was so sweet though. we put him on science diet hairball control light and this made him lose weight. We finally managed to get him to a beautiful 10 lbs.
After i left the clinic he got exposed to feline leukemia and lost a lot of weight and the vet had to euthanise him. Everyone that had ever meet BB cried because he was such a sweet playful cat.
2006-11-21 05:54:46 · answer #10 · answered by Pamela P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋