Help my fat cat lose weight!?

Question

My cat has a very touchy stomach and can only eat Special Kitty Urinary Health or she throws up, so I cant put her on a diet food. I've cut down her food, but I cant give much less because our other cat is very thin and needs extra food. Tigger is very inactive, and I recently started her on an exercise program. What type of exercise is best for fat old cats?Is there anything else I can do?

My cat is 12 years old

Answer 1

I would stop putting food down all the time. For your other cat, I would put food down three times a day for him/her, in a room where you can shut her in and let her eat until she's done. For your fat cat, I'd put food down twice a day for her and when she's done, she's done.

For the skinny cat, add egg to her diet for a bit, that should give her some extra weight. (cooked scrambled in margarine)

I know the president of the zoo here and my best friend house sits for him. This is exactly what he does for pretty much the same situation. He puts the skinny cat in a room by himself three times a day to eat all he can eat, then he picks up the food. Fat cat gets limits to what he can eat.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

For the thin cat, buy or make some kind of enclosure that is only wide enough for the thin cat to get through, and put the thin cat's food in there.

For the fat cat, keep her on her favorite food, but make sure she has both dry and wet food. The sad truth is that many cats out there are both obese and malnourished. They aren't getting the right types of food. So keep the fat cat's supply in less amounts at a certain amount of times a day according to the package of her food. So the fat cat loses weight and hopefully the thin cat will gain it. Also, try changing the thin cat's food. Many thin cats require high energy foods, such as many cat canned wet foods. Make sure to give her dry food as well.

But, cats aren't as effected by obesity in later life than humans, so if your cat is really sensitive and difficult, you're better off keeping her on her favorite food until any dire health problems come up, then you should follow your vets advice.

Answer 4

I have the same problem with one of my cats, she is way over weight and I couldn't give her certain foods because it would upset her stomach. I did however finally switch her to science diet, it is a little more expensive but it last just as long, she has now lost almost 10 pounds and let me tell you that she did weight almost 25 pounds. It is called Science Diet
Sensitive Stomach for Adult Cats it also has great taste and complete, balanced nutrition. And the Healthy Defense System of antioxidants offers protection from the risk of disease. Designed for cats from ages 1 to 6 years with sensitive stomachs. and she loves it. you should try it and let me know how it works for your cat! hope this helped out.

Answer 5

The best exercise is playing with you! Just be sure that if kitty gets tired you let Tigger rest. Don't want to stress the heart. You might also think about putting extra food for your thin kitty up high where Fat Cat can't get it but Thin Kitty can. I did this once and it really made a difference.

Answer 6

Hello,

I have a cat that is seriously over weight and the diet food made things worse, we talked to someone who suggested putting her on a natural diet, so feeding her a chicken stew and take her off dry food completely. She hated the stew, so we feed her a mix of tuna and chicken every day. i just cook the chicken once a week and mix it all up with Tuna and feed her twice (or three times) daily. She has lost 2.5 lbs in a month, and has started to run around and play again. She was 18 lbs at her heaviest.

good luck!! :)

Answer 7

My cat has gained several pounds since we adopted her. The pet food store (they only sell all natural products) suggested giving her a diet higher in meat content with less grains. We just recently eliminated the more grainy food, so don't know yet if that will help. As for exercise, my cat loves to chase a laser light. She actually waits every morning for me to play with her. Sometimes, she takes it slow and "hunts" down the light while other times she runs at full speed. We try to do this daily for her to help her keep fit. Hope you find the right answer for your cat, ask your vet for advice at her next appt.

Answer 8

You need to start slowly in introducing exercise to a cat that is very fat, inactive and getting on in years. I'd begin with soemthing simple like catching her interest to MOVE her limbs with a feather teaser or anything that will get her to use her paws. Danggling ribbons, feathers whatever... then when you see that she likes to play with the toy, get her to chase it short distances - drag the ribbon or feather accross the floor, up and down the sofa (it will be great if kitty jumps up and down a sofa)... up and down stairs, etc. Five to ten minutes at a time. Praise her excessively if she does chase - like she's done soemthing incrediblu clever. Mind you, this will be more tiring for you then her... hee hee hee... but worth it if you could get kitty moving.

Also let her earn her food bowl. When its time to feed her, let her walk one circle around the house "chasing" her food - of course you'll be holding her food bowl up, walikn around the house with it and making sure she knows you've got it. Rememeber, for a fat cat, every little bit of walking counts!

Oh, maybe you should separate the two cats when you feed them. One in one room the other in another room. I have had to do that on occassion when my fat cat has to be on a diet and the younger one needs his kitten food. However, now, they seem to understand that they cannot eat one another's food.

Answer 9

go slow on the exercise, I have a VERY FAT DOG named Jake and (this sounds really funny but it works slowly) I stretched his legs just a little bit but not too much, he hated it but it really helped him...then I got him running around chasing me for a treat, or just chasing me cause he thinks I have one! Take it slow and don't expect super quick results...but this does slowly work! It is an old fashion animal workout! LoL
Hope your cat does good, goodluck! Have fun!

Love,
Mickey

Answer 10

As far as exercise goes, when she is laying down, gently take her legs ands stretch them out, rotating them in circles. This should help her circulation. I do this to my dog and he doesn't mind it. My friend has two cats, one is very thin and one is pretty big. I would suggest feeding the cats in different rooms, so Tigger can't eat your skinny cats food, and then you can also feed her less. I hope this helps!