How do I get my Obese cat to lose weight?

Question

I have 3 cats. My oldest is obese. The other 2 are all right in weight. If I put my oldest on a diet, how can I prevent my other 2 from losing weight?

Answer 1

I don't know how you feed your cats, but cats are obligate carnavoirs and after they are adult, they must be fed 2 meals a day with fasting inbetween for their health. They intestinal tracts are short and it is better for them if they go without food for 8 to 12 hours inbetween their meals. If your cat was in the wild, it would be doing that. Also, your cat would be getting a lot more exercise if it was in the wild so be sure that you are giving it at least 2 good quality play periods a day. This can be done with a toy on a string, or a ball you roll and they chase, or you can invent games. We play indoor pingpong and badminton so that ours can chase the balls and the birdies. We also have several home made toys on strings that we purposely make them chase up and down their condo's. The key in these exercises is to play until the cat gets tired and stops first, and they will. Another good game is to get one of those laser lights but be sure you do not shine it in their eyes or they will go blind. Anyway, if you are feeding your cat properly, you will find that it tells you one the can of food how much they need for their weight per day per meal. If you get your kittys good exercise and keep their food intake correct, the ones that are skinny will gain and eat what they need because the exercise will perk their appetite and the ones that are fat, can't eat more than you put out for them at a feeding and the exercise will help them lose. You can feed them all in different corners of the room and stay there until they are finished or in different rooms. If you train them that they will get food for only 1 hour down, they will learn that if they want to eat, they had best do so. All day munching for a cat is not healthy for them. If that is what they are currently doing, you will have to break them of that habit. To do so, if they are adults, put the food down 2 times a day and leave it down for 6 hours and pick it up for 6 hours for the 1st week. Then each week after that, pick it up 1 hour earlier until it is only down for 1 hour. You can actually get them to eat it all in 30 minutes if you work at it and that is what they should be doing. The problem now is that they are allowed to have it all the time most likely and so they have learned to nibble. You will have to retrain them and it is very easy if you keep patient and consistent. I guarantee they will get the message very quickly. Cats are actually easier to train than dogs. I know since I train all of mind to do everything. Good luck.

Answer 2

I can only say what my vet told me - you might want to talk to yours first.

My vet recommended a "catkins" diet - i.e. low carb. Because cats are obligate carnivores, they need very little, if any, carbs at all. There are a ton of carbs in dry foods, which is what most of us feed our cats with the bottomless bowl. And even *more* carbs in the "light" foods. The vet said to use high quality canned kitten food, which is low in carbs and I have found several other brands of grain-free (i.e. low-carb) adult food, too. It's a lot more work to feed twice a day and more expensive to feed canned, but I hope it's worth it.

I don't know if it's working yet (I'm having a tough time figuring out portions and occasionally she rejects food), but I'll know in the next couple months.

The moisture in wet foods is also good for cats, so there's an added benefit to low-carb. I've learned a lot about cat metabolism when one is obese and the other goes into kidney failure :(

Answer 3

Separate them at feeding time and stop feeding dry food - which is loading in carbohydrates - http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=therightweightlossprogramforcats

Also feed ALL the cats only twice a day - once in the morning, once at night, or three smaller meals during the day. Cats shouldn't be "free fed" - because they'll eat out of boredom, just like humans do.

Answer 4

I have a 16 year old cat and he too is FAT! we got him some food with a lot of vitimans that made him loose weight but is also safe for my other 3 cats. but it is not bad that his is a little large!

Answer 5

Besides taking him to the vet and limiting his food intake (and giving him lower-fat cat food if your vet says to do that), play with him. Dangle yarn in front of him or give him toys that he will like to chase. If he doesn't play much, give him some catnip to get him to be a little active.

Answer 6

Buy him a really fast mouse to chase around or get a hamster and put it in one of those clear balls then he can chase that but he won't be able to really get the hamster. That should give him some exercise.

Answer 7

Take your old fatty to the vet for a checkup. You may be dealing with a diabetic cat.
Best wishes for your fur baby.

Answer 8

Seperate him from your other 2 when you feed them. Slowly start to change his food over to a healthier food you vet recommends. Make sure all of them have plenty of fresh water. And take him to the vet because he could be diabetic.

Answer 9

Eat a diet filled with all natural healthy whole foods

Answer 10

first of all you can buy some specail diet food for cats depending on his/her age and buy some toys for the cat....and anoter thing i if your cat is really overweight it will have really fat bluburry wrinkles on its tummy to prevent that all you have to do is play with your little fluff ball hope everything works out good luck!!!