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| Time for a diet, Tiny! |
Just a 20% increase in weight – a 1kg increase in a 5 kg cat – makes a cat obese.
If your cat is already overweight consult your veterinarian before starting the diet. Too rapid weight loss may result in a fatty liver, which is often fatal. Aim to lose about 1-2% of the current weight per week. For a 5 kg cat that is about 50-100 grams per week.
Nurse Leanne runs a weight control clinic at Canberra Cat Vet. She will recommend a diet and a target weight for your cat, discuss exercise and encourage you through the difficult first days.
Nurse Leanne runs a weight control clinic at Canberra Cat Vet. She will recommend a diet and a target weight for your cat, discuss exercise and encourage you through the difficult first days.
A 33% to 50% reduction in current food intake combined with exercise should be effective. If possible, cut back the dry food to less than 50% of the daily intake and offer more meat and canned food. A good chew on raw stewing steak, chicken wings, a rabbit leg, osso bucco or lamb cutlets makes puss feel full and cleans her teeth as well.
Ensure that she does not have access to alternative food sources such as the meals of other pets in the household or friendly neighbours!
Increase the opportunities for exercise. A cat tower and a variety of toys that you can rotate out of the cupboard are a good start. Tunnels and hideouts made from cardboard boxes are cheap and fun to play in. You can join in the fun by tugging a simple length of ribbon or a feather along the corridor. This will trim your cats’ waist lines, increase their muscle mass and make them – and you - feel good.
I took my 1.5 year old desexed female cat to the vet earlier on this year and we got told she was obese by 2kg! Now I changed her food to a light kibble and we are trying to follow the light food feeding amount and she gets fed twice a day so we half her feed so instead of getting the full 1/2 a cup she gets 1/4 of a cup each feed and for a the first month it seemed she was loosing weight rapidly but then we finished the bag of light food but we had 1/4 of a bag of full food left over from before she started on her diet my partner stupidly mixed the light bag with the full bag and now im not sure if she's loosing weight or not but we haven't changed her feeding amount though I don't see any visible changes in her weight but I wont know till we get her weighed if she's gaining it of loosing it she is an inside cat but lately iv been putting her on a harness and lead and tying her up to the clothes line outside (the leads an extendable dog lead so she has lots of room to move and be free) so she can get abit of exercise im just worried that she'll gain the weight she lost back on the mixed food and my partner wont let me buy her any straight light food till she's finished the mixed :/
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa,
ReplyDeletecongratulations on your success so far! the extendable lead is a great idea as long as you're not far away.
I would take her in for a weigh-in as soon as possible to see if the mix is making any difference. Hopefully she has stayed stable at a new lower weight. Otherwise - back onto the light food only!
Hi Dr Kate,
ReplyDeleteThanks to your advice our Toby has slowly been losing weight over the past 12 months, the only problem is he has become a nightmare to live with. Breakfast and dinner are at 7 and 7, he now howls for 3 hours straight before each feeding time. We don't mind waiting out the begging for food as its in his best interests but he now viciously attacks anyone in our family by stealth attack or cosying up to you before grabbing on for dear life with his teeth and claws. We thought over time he would gradually get used to it, and we've used tactics such as a spray bottle but he just seems crankier and crankier about not eating as much as he wants. What should we do? Every 6 month check up, he's been in perfect health but still overweight and he eats only wet food with plenty of water. We're getting desperate!
Sorry to hear about Toby's guerilla tactics... could you try giving him other types of attention eg petting and talking to him or playing with him instead of feeding him? alternately measure the days' food out into a container in the frig and just feed a small amount each time he puts on a performance. Let me know how you go...
ReplyDelete