My cat is too fat!

[dispenser]

My cat is 10 years old, and apart from being too fat, is happy and healthy. But my vet and others all say she is overweight. I don't feel that she is being overfed, but she is very much a lap cat. But unlike a dog, you can't exactly take a cat on a long walk for exercise. She currently has half a sachet of a Felix pouch each morning, and during rest of day about two thirds of a ramekin dish of dried "reducing diet" food from the vets. Any idea or suggestions of how a cat can lose weight - without cutting down food to the point of it becoming unhappy etc, Thanks in advance.

[Noweia]

Hi dispenser,

I'm afraid with pets, the simple fact that that if more calories go in than come out, the animal will be overweight.

How long has she been on the diet you have described, and has she lost any weight with it at all?

If your cat gets nothing else to eat other than what you are saying (i.e. nothing else to eat of any kind, no treats, no human food e.g. gravy added to the cat food, and no milk), and she is still gaining weight, then she is still getting too much to eat, and I would suggest decreasing the amount of Felix you give. The weight loss diets from the vets are designed to have less energy and more volume, so they fill the animal up without giving it too many calories.

However, if she is losing weight, even if it is slow, I wouldn't change anything just yet. Trying to lose too much too quickly can result in even more problems for the cat.

Try encouraging her to play more and be more active. Maybe chasing games with bits of scrunched up paper or a laser pointer pen? I know it can be very hard with cats to try and get them to do anything other than sleep! Please persevere with the diet too, as a slimmer cat is a much healthier cat!

[lankeela]

If your cat is overweight you are feeding it too much. If even the vet says it is fat, then maybe you should take notice.
If animals were that much underweight instead of over, the owners would be prosecuted. How can it be healthy if being overweight can put a strain on the heart and other organs? Get some weight off it and it will probably want to do more.

[dispenser]

Many thanks, I will try reducing the Felix to a third of a packet each day to begin with, and see if that helps. She has no tit bits, human food, or gravy, so for now thats the best bet I think. I will certainly try and get her to play games with the scrunched up paper, and the laser pen also sounds like that could be fun for her. Thanks again.

[mandimoo]

yes, definately spend time playing with her.

[plowter]

My cat - Da Big Fella - is too fat too so can sympathise with you.

DBF doesn't seem to eat too much, it's more a case of eating but not doing anything with the calories. There are specially-formulated, weight-control cat foods available from the vets but the problem is probably that he's too used to food.

Am trying to give him his usual meals but with decreasing portions compared to before.

Perhaps we should get together and form a cat jogging club? The old wifies tale says that herding cats is easy.

[puss_boots]

I have two cats who eat the same food, one cat is normal weight and the other is a fat cat. They both go out (through cat flap) 4 or 5 times a day and there is evidence of night time prowls. I have tried to reduce the food intake of fat cat but he just sits looking at his empty dish, trouble is they are both old now thin cats is 19 fat cat is 15.