how do i diet my cat?

Question

My cat is about 3lbs overweight and is 7 or 8 years old. I'm afraid she'll have heart disease, so what should i do besides feeding her diet food?

Answer 1

What food do you feed her? Most so called 'diet' foods in pet stores are only weight control foods, not weight loss foods. The best weight loss food you can feed your cat is Hills R/D and it's available at your vets office. IT WORKS. Feed the can the amount based on how much your cat SHOULD weigh. Not by how much it weighs. So when you look at the bag and your cat should weight 8 lbs but weights 11, feed it just enought for the 8lbs. And also, split up the cat's meals to 2-3 times a day. And don't leave food down overnight. Just water. This will keep the cat from eating when it should be sleeping. You can put your cat on a schedule. It'll get used to it. Remember, cats arent like dogs, and they loose weight really SLOOOOWWWLLLYYY... so make sure you weigh the cat every 6-8 weeks to see if it has lost weight. If this doesnt work, see if your vet can help

Answer 2

Actually, DON'T feed her diet food.

For some reason, "diet" or "lite" cat foods are even higher in carbs than regular food. If anything, they might pack on more pounds!

This is true with both canned and dry foods.

You don't have a huge problem to deal with - lucky you. You MIGHT be able to curb the problem by cutting back slightly on portions. It depends on how much you're feeding now.

And if you're "free-feeding" - leaving food out all day, you'll want to stop doing that. Set an amount and feed that equally divided at least twice per day.

Or you can try what I did - switch your cat to canned food. What I learned is that dry food, which I was feeding my little piglet, is very high in carbs. Since cats are carnivores, they have a hard time processing that and many of them will gain weight. Not to mention being dehydrated!

I've switched both cats to a good quality canned food - Natural Balance Venison & Green Pea. They eat the same amount - about 2/3 to 1 full can (5.5 to 6oz) per day. Poppy is losing weight and Sophie is staying the same.

You can also check out these links. There are some articles on obesity and what to do about it, and one is a list of very very good foods - none of which are on the recall list!

Answer 3

Firgure out how much you are feeding her per day. The average cat usually only weighs between 7 to 12 lbs and only needs to eat about 1/2 a cup per day.
If you are planning on dieting your cat please reduce it's food slowly and over a period of time. Also, have a chat with a Tech at your vet hosp. they usually have great info on how to go about this the safest way for your furbaby.

Answer 4

Exercise, Exercise, Exercise. In any way or form. Cat trees are good. Motorized toys, personal contact. Keep him/her moving. Putting a cat on a diet is tough, cause they just don't understand. But you gotta try.

Answer 5

In addition to feeding her lowfat cat food, I would make a point of playing with her daily. Try dangling a string in front of her and once that gets her energy levels up a bit, you can graduate to walking around the house dragging a string or cat toy behind you. It's great exercise for your kitty.

Answer 6

Never put a cat on a diet without strict veterinary supervision, it can damage their liver (hepatis lipidosis etc) and kidneys and even kill them. You will need to take her to a vet to do it right as what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another.

A better choice is to play with her more which is good exercise for her. Cat wants, feather or ribbon are good choices or fishing rod toys. There is a product called Da Bird I can recommend. Also give her things to do to amuse herself, such as cardboard boxes to play in (if you're creative you can make her a condo) paper grocery bags, door knob toys, whatever you can find that she will play with.

Answer 7

Change of food - or even decreasing the amount you are feeding her now. (BTW - how often and how much are you feeding?) A cup of food once per day is plenty of food for your typical (6-10 lb) house cat.

No kitty treats - or serious cutback if she gets whiny like mine does when she's "dieting".

Lots and lots of play! My kitty likes to play rough so we chase each other through the house, play with "string" toys and feather teasers, she has lots of toy mice and birds that she loves to "hunt".

Answer 8

Check out Rune's links for you. Also at www.littlebigcat.com Dr. Jean Hovfe has an article titled "Feline Obesity" which is worth reading and at www.thepetcenter.com there is another on feline obesity and a lot on proper feline nutrition.

If you don't bother to do that you may lose some weight in your efforts to get your cat to "excercise". I assure you it will do little or nothing for your cat.

Answer 9

Try getting her to become a little more active. Purchase a laser pointer (can be bought for around $4), as cats tend to love the thrill of the chase.

Answer 10

Activity and 1/4 cup of Wysong Geriatric daily.