We have 2 cats same age & diet, one's 15lbs one's 7. How do we put one on a diet without starving the other?

Question

They are almost 2yrs old and currently eat dry indoor formula from self-feeders. They weighed about the same when we adopted them when they were 8wks old.

Answer 1

your diet should be the removal of the dry food, as that is what is causing the over weight, not excessive eating.

dry food, no matter how good it is, indoor or what, is bad for cats. dry food is made up of wheat and corn products. cats cannot digest this well as their body is designed for meat.

you should be feeding the cats 1/4 of a normal size of cat food twice a day. 1/4 in the morning, 1/4 at night (1 can per day per 2 cats). otherwise leave a small bowl out of dry for snacking..no more than 1 cup per day.

I never knew this as all my cats I had fed dry food. But one of my current cats went from 7 lbs to 12 to 14 almost over night. The vet informed me on how so many feed dry, how its bad, how it puts on weight, etc.

That was about 6 months ago....I have been feeding them the way I described above. At first the fat cat meowed and acted hungry but that stopped after a week. She is still slimming down...its a slow process but her energy level is at least 5 times higher now since she was taken off the dry. That energy level is what will burn the weight off. She is also 2 yrs old like yours.

If you have to...seperate them when feeding them the 1/4 can so the fat one doesn't eat anything left over by the other. Cats will eat out of bordom or lack of attention as well. That I noticed on my fat cat...if she wanted to be petted and I ignored her...she'd go eat.

Answer 2

You may want to try to put them in separate rooms for a few minutes while they feed. Don't leave food out all day, and cut out special treats. You might also want to bring your cat to the vet and have blood tests run to see if there is an underlying contributor to the excessive weight.

I would definitely get rid of the self-feeders. Most cats only need about 1/2 cup of food per day. Put food down twice a day. Once they walk away from the bowls, take them up and do not put any more food down until the next scheduled feeding.

Answer 3

You probably need to feed them separately. You can buy diet cat food. Fifteen pounds is way too heavy. You can't leave food out all the time.

How to Put Your Cat on a Diet

Your cat's optimal weight is its weight at one year of age - unless, of course, it was already obese. If your cat is 50 percent above optimal weight, it's time for a diet.
Instructions

STEP 1: Consult a veterinarian before putting any cat on a diet.
STEP 2: Have your vet help you determine the approximate number of pounds your cat needs to lose. In general, the amount will equal your cat's obese weight minus optimal weight.
STEP 3: Feed your cat food formulated specifically for weight reduction.
STEP 4: Provide dry food that contains less than 10 percent fat and more than 15 percent fiber.
STEP 5: Purchase food that has both Association of American Feeding Control Officials (AAFCO) and Animal Feeding Trials (or Animal Feeding Tests) on its label.
STEP 6: Provide weight-reducing food to your cat at every meal. Feed the allotted amount four times daily, or at least twice daily.
STEP 7: Reduce the amount of food you provide if your cat obtains additional food elsewhere - for instance, by catching mice or other small animals.
STEP 8: Weigh your cat every two weeks.

Answer 4

You may have to feed the smaller cat separately and stop leaving the self-feeder for the over weight cat to eat from. Also, investigate if there could be a metabolic problem for the differences in weights . Could it be a difference in the breeds of the two cats and the larger cat could be from a larger breed? It may be more than what meets the eye that contributes to the differences in feline weights.

Answer 5

I agree totally with Nuno. Canned food is the best way to go and it must be high quality human-grade meat. That's available to you in Natural Balance (which is quite reasonable in price), Avoderm, Sensible Choice, and Felidae.

Cats need mostly meat in their diet and lots of moisture - you don't get that with dry food which is hard on the kidneys anyway. Go to www.littlebigcat.com and read Dr. Jean Hove's article titled "Why Cats Need Canned Food". That's the next to last in abut sixty articles on cat health, diseases, diet and behavior.

Both cats can eat the same food when it is quality food and neither has to "starve". Two meals a day with all food removed in between is also best for the cats.

Answer 6

Iams just came out with a new dry food that serves all purposes. I don't know how they did this, but it is supposed to be good for a cat that needs to lose weight, as well as keeping the others at their same weights. I haven't tried it yet, I give them Iam's Hairball, but my big boy is so fat I have to do something, so I'm gonna buy it next time around.

Answer 7

My own cats had the same issue, but our vet suggested feeding both of them a diet formula. it wont harm the other cat or starve it if it eats the diet food.

Answer 8

maybe it's just the nature of their genetic make up. I have one cat that is about 5 pounds and another one that is about 16 pounds. The big boy has really long legs and is just built different than the 5 pounder who came from a different mother and was the runt of the litter.

Answer 9

The easiest way to change one animal's diet without affecting the others is to somehow separate the two animals and only change one of the cats' diets

Answer 10

I have 3 cats and one is overweight. Our vet suggested putting the food in a box for the normal weight cats, with a hole just big enough for them to get in and small enough for the over weight not to get in.