Overweight Cat Not Diabetic & Hoping To Prevent It .

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Philippe & Mei Li

Philippe & Mei Li

Member Since 2015
My Philippe is overweight at 19 pounds . Although he is naturally a big boy I was told by my vet that he needs to lose some weight . I am not sure how much he should lose or the proper amount to feed him . I used to feed mostly dry diet but now feed mostly wet ..
I feed Fancy Feast Classic & 9 Lives Meaty Pate Chicken .
I give a little Evo kibble for a snack .
For Philippe's weight how many calories per day should he have for weight loss ..
I have attached a few pics taken today ..
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Hi!
Go to catinfo.org....Dr Lisa Piersons website. She is amazing and lots of us in here rely on that website. She has a whole section on feline obesity. If your cat was a "free feeder" stopping that is the first step, and implementing mealtimes. Definately go to that site though
 
Such a pretty kitty! He looks like a real sweetheart!:)

When I look at that first picture of him, he seems pretty close to ideal, he looks stocky but not overweight. Here is a website with images of cats at different stages of weight, too skinny, too fat , that kind of thing. Something there or in the article may help you. And as Barri says, definitely check out www.catinfo.org, it's a wonderful site, chock-full of great information.
 
Comparing the first picture to this Body Condition Score Chart I'd say he's looking pretty good myself!! Maybe a 6?

I'd just start him on timed feedings so you can monitor how much he's eating (instead of free feeding) and weigh him once a week to see how he's doing...if he's losing weight you know you're on the right track but if he gains you know you're feeding a little too much
 
Chris & China said:
Comparing the first picture to this Body Condition Score Chart I'd say he's looking pretty good myself!! Maybe a 6?

I'd just start him on timed feedings so you can monitor how much he's eating (instead of free feeding) and weigh him once a week to see how he's doing...if he's losing weight you know you're on the right track but if he gains you know you're feeding a little too much
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Really , that is awesome .. Thank you .. It will probably help a great deal now that he is eating a mostly wet diet .. If I go by the 20 calories per pound calculation it says Philippe should get 380 calories per day . Does that sound right ?
Oh , I have never free fed ..
 
There's a formula on Dr. Lisa's site for a "starting point" for calories....it's [weight in lbs. x 13.5] + 70

For a 19lb cat, that would be about 325 calories per day but if he needs to lose weight, I'd start a little lower than that (since that formula is more to "maintain" weight)

The formula is just a place to start...some cats will need more, some will need less to maintain their weight. If you're trying to lose, you just have to start somewhere and keep track of whether the amount you're feeding is allowing them to lose weight or not

I just started my China on a diet too. She's not happy (who would be?...nobody likes to be on a diet!) I bought a great baby/pet scale so I could keep an eye on her weight, but you can use a bathroom scale too and just weigh yourself, then pick up the cat and do the math
 
Hi Wanda,
Philippe is a very cute cat! Did the vet say how much he or she thinks Philippe should weigh? I once had a vet tell me that my Marshmallow should lose 3 pounds. She was 12 pounds at the time. If she went down to 9 pounds, she would have been underweight. She lost 1 pound and that was enough (her new vet said she was perfect at that weight). All to say, I'm wondering how much the vet thinks Philippe should lose and do you agree with that? I knew that Marshmallow would be underweight if she lost as much weight as the first vet said. Like Chris said, he looks like he's about a 6 on the chart, and I wouldn't think he needs to lose very much.

Shane
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
Where did you get the baby scales? My scales don't do anything other that on the pound or half pound.....
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Bobbie, I bought a nice set on Amazon, on sale for around $40. Keep your eyes open for sales, otherwise they are pretty expensive. I've also seen them on ebay with comparable prices.

@Chris & China I like yours better than mine! They didn't have that one when I got mine, I don't think. :(
 
Chris & China said:
There's a formula on Dr. Lisa's site for a "starting point" for calories....it's [weight in lbs. x 13.5] + 70

For a 19lb cat, that would be about 325 calories per day but if he needs to lose weight, I'd start a little lower than that (since that formula is more to "maintain" weight)

The formula is just a place to start...some cats will need more, some will need less to maintain their weight. If you're trying to lose, you just have to start somewhere and keep track of whether the amount you're feeding is allowing them to lose weight or not

I just started my China on a diet too. She's not happy (who would be?...nobody likes to be on a diet!) I bought a great baby/pet scale so I could keep an eye on her weight, but you can use a bathroom scale too and just weigh yourself, then pick up the cat and do the math
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Ok , thank you so much . Well since I just switched to mostly low carb wet food I will start with the 325 calories per day and see what happens . I don't think he needs to lose much weight . Maybe 2 pounds . I do have a baby scale . I also weigh my little dogs on it . ..
 
BJM said:
When I switched the household to low carb canned food, a couple of civvies lost weight without changing anything else.
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Thank you so much . I am hoping that is what will happen here . I used to feed Purina kibble because that is what they liked . Big mistake . I tossed that and I have been feeding 90 % Fancy Feast Classic & 9 Lives Meaty Pate Chicken with a sprinkle of Evo kibble . They seem pretty happy with this .
 
granadilla said:
Hi Wanda,
Philippe is a very cute cat! Did the vet say how much he or she thinks Philippe should weigh? I once had a vet tell me that my Marshmallow should lose 3 pounds. She was 12 pounds at the time. If she went down to 9 pounds, she would have been underweight. She lost 1 pound and that was enough (her new vet said she was perfect at that weight). All to say, I'm wondering how much the vet thinks Philippe should lose and do you agree with that? I knew that Marshmallow would be underweight if she lost as much weight as the first vet said. Like Chris said, he looks like he's about a 6 on the chart, and I wouldn't think he needs to lose very much.

Shane
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Hi , thank you for your response . At the last annual vet visit I was told Philippe should weigh about 15 pounds . Personally I think that is a little low because he is a big framed cat . I am going to go for one or two pounds .
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
He is very handsome and I think he looks good. Maybe a 1-2 less, how much does the vet think he should lose?
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Hi , thank you so much . I think you are right . One or two pounds sounds good . At the last vet visit I was told Philippe should weigh 15 pounds but I personally think that is a little low because he is a big framed cat .
 
Philippe & Mei Li said:
Hi , thank you so much . I think you are right . One or two pounds sounds good . At the last vet visit I was told Philippe should weigh 15 pounds but I personally think that is a little low because he is a big framed cat .
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My Bubba started off at 25 lbs! He was a chubby boy. He is also a really big cat. I thought that 17-18 lbs would be good for him but he recently went down to 15-15 1/2 ( I need new scales that give accurate amounts) and is holding. And he looks fine. These large cats can carry the weight with out look too fat and the weight sneaks up on us.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
My Bubba started off at 25 lbs! He was a chubby boy. He is also a really big cat. I thought that 17-18 lbs would be good for him but he recently went down to 15-15 1/2 ( I need new scales that give accurate amounts) and is holding. And he looks fine. These large cats can carry the weight with out look too fat and the weight sneaks up on us.
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Thank you so much . You have been so helpful . I will definitely keep an eye on his weight . I am going to weigh him this morning . I will set a goal of 1 - 2 pounds and see how that looks . I got a suggested calorie amount of about 325 calories . I figured the calories of what he is eating now . Morning - can of Fancy Feast Classic sprinkled with 2 Tbs of Evo kibble . Evening - 1/2 can of 9 Lives Meaty Pate sprinkled with 2 Tbs Evo kibble . I always mix in 1 Tbs of water . This equals 315 calories . How does that sound ?
 
Philippe & Mei Li said:
Thank you so much . You have been so helpful . I will definitely keep an eye on his weight . I am going to weigh him this morning . I will set a goal of 1 - 2 pounds and see how that looks . I got a suggested calorie amount of about 325 calories . I figured the calories of what he is eating now . Morning - can of Fancy Feast Classic sprinkled with 2 Tbs of Evo kibble . Evening - 1/2 can of 9 Lives Meaty Pate sprinkled with 2 Tbs Evo kibble . I always mix in 1 Tbs of water . This equals 315 calories . How does that sound ?
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You could start there because just changing his diet to lower carbs are going to have him shed weight. If you don't see any progress with that amount of calories re-calculate for 18 lbs. Do the formula Chris gave you in post #6 with the weight being 18 lbs 13.5 + 70 . So ~ 18 X 13.5 + 243 = 70 =313. How does that sound.
 
Bobbie And Bubba said:
You could start there because just changing his diet to lower carbs are going to have him shed weight. If you don't see any progress with that amount of calories re-calculate for 18 lbs. Do the formula Chris gave you in post #6 with the weight being 18 lbs 13.5 + 70 . So ~ 18 X 13.5 + 243 = 70 =313. How does that sound.
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That sounds great . Thank you so much . I wish I had found this forum long ago . Everyone here is super nice and helpful ..
 
For our 19 pounder the vet said maintenance was around 500 calories and that dieting was around 380. We had worked him down to 180 without weight loss. We took him back up to around the 310-320 and he still maintained, but was much happier :) The nutritionist said to start at what you are feeding and reduce 10% at a time. So you might want to work on measuring and figuring out what he gets now and work down from there.
 
Melanie and Smokey said:
For our 19 pounder the vet said maintenance was around 500 calories and that dieting was around 380. We had worked him down to 180 without weight loss. We took him back up to around the 310-320 and he still maintained, but was much happier :) The nutritionist said to start at what you are feeding and reduce 10% at a time. So you might want to work on measuring and figuring out what he gets now and work down from there.
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Thank you so much ..
 
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