how do you put ONE of 3 cats on a diet?

Question

i have 3 cats, a large one (3+ yrs old, overweight-about 18+ lbs?) a regular sized one (>1 yr old, a bit pudgy-maybe 14lbs?) and a small one (>1 yr old, just right-maybe 9 or 10 lbs)

how can i get only the one (maybe two, to an extent) to loose weight without putting all of them on a diet?
now i usually just leave out dry food (purina, indoor cat formula) for them (all together they eat about 2 cups total, per day)

btw, they don't have designated dishes, there's 3 dishes but they just chose one & chow down.
i feed them once a day.

no, they are ALL exclusively INDOOR cats.

Answer 1

You're making two mistakes - free-feeding and feeding dry food.

Some cats are disciplined and don't overeat. That describes one of your cats! The others will eat until the food is gone - and if the food is never gone they may never stop eating.

Dry food is not appropriate for cats. Great for humans, though! It's full of carbs and is curiously lacking in the things that cats need - namely moisture and meat-based proteins.

Take a look at the ingredients list of just about any dry food. First ingredient? Usually corn. Corn? Why the hell does a carnivore need corn? They don't - it's just filler which is why they can sell the food cheaply.

So your answer is this - get them off the dry food and onto a good quality canned food. Those who need to lose weight will, and the one who doesn't will remain healthy. All three will benefit from an improved diet as well.

I guarantee it.

Answer 2

Your overweight cat needs to switch on to a diet food and eat this exclusively. Cutting down on his current food will result in him being hungry, which is unnecessary. Diet food has a high fibre content, which makes the animal feel full but still lose weight.

It's handy that the other two cats are outdoor and that this one is mostly indoor. You need to feed them separately to each other so than the overweight cat does not get food other than the diet food. Do you feed at certain times of the day or leave food down at all times? You'll need to get in the habit of only feeding at certain times, e.g in the morning and evening. Perhaps feed the overweight cat his special food in a separate room, that way everyone's getting what they're supposed to, and keep him away from the other's food until they've finished eating.

Answer 3

Hi
By putting them all on proper food for a cat and that means canned foods without gravy
Hi
Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health
Contrary to what you may have heard, dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.
Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. The problems with it are that they are loaded with carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process. Most of the moisture a cat needs is gotten
out of the food and 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Also, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.
You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all. Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods.Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Please read about cat nutrition.
http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics.html

Answer 4

Try feeding then once in the evening and once in the morning. Offer each of them about 1/4 cup of food for about 15 minutes. Make sure to use an actual measuring cup. If you have a food hog, try feeding that one in a seperate room.
I have 2 siamese mixes. They are fed 1/4 cup of food in the am and in the pm. They are perfect weights at 8lbs each.
I don't think changing the food is neccessary if you limit food intake to 1/4 cup of food. Once the cats are at the ideal weight, continue to feed the same amount of food. If you notice they are continuing to lose weight you can increase their food.
If by doing this for a few months and you notice no change, you may want to consult a vet. They can advise special food or do tests to make sure there are not thyroid problems. Remember cats have little tummys and don't need to eat a bunch of food. And when you start this change, the cat's may bother you continuously for food. Try offering them veggies like carrots. Chances are they will turn their noses up at it but that just means they aren't that hungry. The advise given is based on what we advised when I worked at a vet.

Good Luck!

Answer 5

My kitties are on a schedule. They are only 5 months old, but my boy tries to steal his sisters food and he's getting HUGE. I don't want to have to put him on a diet. They get 1/2 can wet each in the morning, 1/4 cup dry at lunch and another 1/2 can wet at night. They are kittens, so they need to be fed more often, but you get the point. Anyway, they freak out if they lose sight of each other, so the boy eats on the floor and the girl eats up on a chair. I sit nearby and make sure he doesn't try to steal her food.

Answer 6

A diet of meat is the only way to take weight off a cat. Fortunately all the cats can eat that same "diet" and each one will attain its optimum body weight and no cat goes hungry nor is deprived of adequate nutrition.

Go to http://www.littlebigcat.com and read Dr. Jean Hovfe's article "Feline Obesity" There are many articles there about cat nutrition, selecting a good food so you will learn a lot by taking the time to read them.

At http://www.thepetcenter.com there is an excellent article about feline obesity and many others on proper cat nutrition.

Answer 7

Your only choice is to have specific feeding times and each one gets it's own dish and food. For cats, especially those on s diet, feeding at least two times a day is best.

Answer 8

That's a tough one. You could feed them at a certain time each day, and not leave the food out all the time.

Answer 9

Put it in a different room then just put a tiny bit of food.

Answer 10

Feed your cats seperatly