? Baco update, weight loss still a problem, need help!

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Ruby&Baco

Ruby&Baco

Member Since 2016
Hi everyone,

Baco still is not really losing weight. I did change her calorie intake a couple off weeks ago, she now gets food/calories for a cat that should weigh 4.5KG (9.9LBS) that means she gets 203.65 calories a day of raw food.
She seems fine, not asking for food so the amount is fine (I think) but as you can see in my SS, see tab 4 (Baco's weight loss LBS-OZ) she sticks to the same weight every week, she sometimes drops a little and then will come back up. But never does she really loss weight and stick to that LBS or go even lower.
I do see the difference between the calorie intake she got first (234 calories a day) she was higher in weight than she is now.
So I was thinking, and I want your oppinions on it, to reduce the calorie intake to a cat that should weigh 4KG (8.8LBS) ? That means she will only receive 188.80 calories a day.
I'm asking you all this because the fact she isn't really losing weight, or better said, not sticking to it is a real PITA:banghead:
But what do most cats weight? Is 4KG (8.8LBS) normal for a cat? If so I do think I can reduce the calorie intake to 8.8LBS. If it's not, than I really don't know what I should do anymore to let her lose the weight...
I already find that the amount (grams/oz) she gets is really not that much but she seems to be fine with it. She gets it spread through the day, 4 times a day she gets food, and really not even asking for more so that should be fine.
I know that my other cat Minnie weights around 3KG (6.6LBS +/-) and I find him so tiny and you can really feel his bones you know? It's not that he doesn't eat, believe me he does eat, but he never puts on the weight so I just came to terms with it that he will always be a tiny skinny cat, he's also already a little bit of a senior, being 13 years old :p so i'll let him be, he's healthy that's what counts.


Hope to hear some great advice!:bighug:

ps, she just gave me a beautiful 67 :D:D:D:D:D
 
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What category do you think Baco falls into. Sometimes it is easier to look at the actual body shape to determine where ideal weight should be.

purina-cat-body-condition-chart.jpg
 
Well I would say TOO heavy without a doubt, and then number 6 or 7.
She has a really skinny head but the fat around her belly.... that's the real problem here.
 
Ruby&Baco said:
Well I would say TOO heavy without a doubt, and then number 6 or 7.
She has a really skinny head but the fat around her belly.... that's the real problem here.
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OK..then "fatty" needs to get into bathing suit weight :). You can try to cut back on the calories she is getting but you don't want to get too low. Weight loss should be slow so as not to cause any liver problems. Is there anyway you can get her to exercise more?

ETA How much weight has she lost in what period of time?
 
Tuxedo Mom said:
"fatty" needs to get into bathing suit weight
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hahahahahaha you made me laugh so hard Mary Ann! hahahah :p
Yes she really needs to get in that bikini next summer 2017!

Well that's why I was asking about the calorie intake reduction. I give her food for a cat that should weight 4.5KG but I want to change that to 4KG (9.9LBS to 8.8LBS) So it's not a big step I'm taking here, I did it already in the past, I reduced it with steps of 0.50KGS. So I think it should be fine. But I was just asking it because I didn't know what the 'ideal' weight is for a kitty so at this time, changing it to 4KG I was like, mmm, is that okay? or is that too less for her considering she weights 7KG (15.4LBS)?
But I think not then, also the fact she doesn't seem to mind that she is getting less food than she was used to a couple of months ago.

No, she is absolutely really lazy:banghead: I bought her a laser pen and she does like it but then I play with it/her and she runs after it but then after 5 minutes she will throw herself on the ground and give me a look that says 'i'm done, go play with yourself stupid human'
So that is about the only exercise she's getting.. She will go into the garden but it's not like she's willing to run there. She just walks a little and then after walking she will just lie there in the sun, reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyy lazy!:(
 
Lazy girl...humph..it would be so much easier for her to lose weight and tone up if she could get herself moving more. Too bad they don't have motivational videos for kitties :)

She really doesn't seem to be losing much weight even with cutting back the calories (just saw your weight loss tab..missed it before :banghead: )

Since Baco is not hungry with what you are currently feeding her, you could try dropping the calories down to 188 to see if that will get the ounces coming off quicker. When figuring out how many calories a kitty should have you have to take into account that they are an indoor cat AND how much exercise they get. If Baco is a lazy-daisy then she could do with less calories in a day.
 
Tuxedo Mom said:
Too bad they don't have motivational videos for kitties
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Again, TOO FUNNY:p:p

Well I think she doesn't move so much because of the fact that she is just a fat kitty..... Hope she is not reading this :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
If she would lose some weight I think she will move more, I think that works the same as for people, if people are overweight they also don't do much and the moment they lose weight they feel energetic and will go out more. It must be heavy for Baco to carry all that extra weight on her so I get the fact that she likes to lie down, more than to move.

Tuxedo Mom said:
She really doesn't seem to be losing much weight even with cutting back the calories
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yes right? she drops a little but then gains it again in the same week, so anoying! :banghead: OK well I'm going to cut her calories to 188.80 for a kitty that weights 4KG (8.8LBS) and if that doesn't help I will again cut the calories.
Just like you say, she is an indoor cat that doesn't move a lot so she doesn't need the calories then! She is indeed a lazy-daisy! And if she does move, in the near future, more than now I can give her a little bit more calories again.
 
Good luck with this, Ruby. Do you happen to live in an apartment with an upstairs and a downstairs? I used to have a fat cat and I got him to exercise by throwing kibble, one at a time, down a flight of stairs so he'd have to go all the way down and then up again to get some treats. It is certainly not easy
 
Hi Carol, unfortunately no... I live in a studio, but it's on the below floor so I don't have a staircase. If I had it I would really use it haha.
I've got a tip from the dutch forum to buy a food puzzle, so that she needs to 'work' for her food. I am going to look into that, hopefully that will help.
The Dutch forum also told me that maybe Baco isn't loosing weight because she is on really small amounts of food and that she is in a 'safe mode' right now... could that be?
 
That is true for humans - when daily calories are below a certain amount, the body goes into starvation mode and metabolism slows so no weight is lost. Ironically, by upping the calories a bit, you can lose weight. One method is to change calorie amount every other day : go low on calories one day, increase the next, repeat - this avoids going into starvation mode. I don't know, but I have been told by my vet that indoor cats that don't move too much don't need many calories.
 
Carol & Murphy said:
I don't know, but I have been told by my vet that indoor cats that don't move too much don't need many calories.
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Well yes that is what Mary Ann also said. It's hard this weightloss game.....
I hope she isn't in starvation mode, I can't imagine because she's not hungry you know, she eats what she gets, she mostly eats everything but sometimes leaves a bit... but she is not asking for more food you know....
 
Hi Ruby.
Had a good giggle reading this! Lol
My recommendation is a fishing pole - I don't know what you call them there it's a stick with elastic on it and feathers or a toy attached.
My cat loves them she goes into hunter mode. The light pens are great but I think they lose interest quickly because they never ever catch anything real to bite and hold onto.
I don't let her catch it every time because otherwise she gives up and goes away or flop down.

If you can't get one I would be happy to mail one over for her :)
 
Yes she can jump, she just doesn't want too! Hahaha but she can, and she also can run, there is nothing physically wrong with her she's just lazy as f*ck! :banghead::smuggrin:

And yes I would consider a tummy tuck if they would do that:D:p hahahahhaa! She really needs one, you see that her head is really small, but it doesn't fit right with her physic!
 
She is still beautiful, even if she is a bit on the rotund side. Any way you can come up to make her move would be good...even if she doesn't think so.
 
Well I will try as much as I can. I need to find a routine to play with her more frequently every day. Maybe the more I play the more she wants to play?
 
And yes I love her the way she is,, and if it all was healthy I wouldn't mind her being the way she is, but I want her to lose the weight because it's something that can make her die earlier or her diabetes can come back again, and we don't want that!
 
Ruby&Baco said:
Well I will try as much as I can. I need to find a routine to play with her more frequently every day. Maybe the more I play the more she wants to play?
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Once she gets started she may look forward to it. Too bad you couldn't take her for walks with a harness and leash. Although I know there is NO WAY I could get my two used to that.
 
Tuxedo Mom said:
Once she gets started she may look forward to it. Too bad you couldn't take her for walks with a harness and leash. Although I know there is NO WAY I could get my two used to that.
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No she wouldn't mind going outside though, she loves it but there are other cats walking on the streets here and a lot of dogs so I don't want to do that... She will get stressed and you know what stress can do... BG sky high.:blackeye: We also don't want that to happen! I though of going to a quit park with her but there are also dogs there you know, I don't want a dog seeing her, people here are crazy letting there dogs without a rope and then what would happen? Maybe attack her.
 
Baco must me realllllly tired from that 10 minute attempt of playing today:rolleyes::banghead:
This is basically her everyday..... Eating, peeing, pooping, sleeping. What a life!
And you know what the worst part is?
She snores:woot: haha well it's cute but sometimes when I try to sleep and she is next to me I can't sleep because of her snoring. So sometimes when i'm in bed and she decides to join my BF and me for a good night sleep, I first have to poke my darling BF to stop snoring, and then when he stops, BACO STARTS TO SNORE! Hahaha so sometimes that is really anoying:eek::rolleyes:
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LOL but seriously maybe you should try alternating her calories - one day low amount and the next day higher
If you consistently cut her calories too drastically, she is at risk for fatty liver (Murphy had that - the start of all his issues)
 
Well she can only get fatty liver from losing more than 1% body fat a week, that's what i've been by my vet?!
 
Mmm okay, well I will try this reducion for a week or 2. And if that doesn't help I will try what you are saying (on the Dutch forum they are also mentioning that, if this reduction doesn't do anything for her)
 
I know this is almost a serious thread, but I was cracking up LOL. I like the pic from post #13 - so cute on the floor.

Theresa wants to know how Baco got her name. It sounds like Bacon. Oh, and Leo snores too.

She does look chubby. Maybe a cat tree would help with exercise if you put a single treat up there. We tried the cat tree in our house last year. But Chinus and Scoobs literally had a pissing contest on it. We still miss him regardless.
 
Hi Ruby,

I've had many cats. The three I have now are numbers 7, 8 and 9. They've all been very different in size, weight, tendency to put on weight, etc. My first old girl lived to almost 22 and was never more than 3 kg her whole life. I had a small muscular male years ago who topped out at 4.5 kg (passed away at 18). I had a large, rotund female who weighed 8 kg and lived to be almost 18 (non diabetic too). Teasel is young, not overweight for his size - 6 kg - and is diabetic. He has a loose pouch on his lower belly. His brother is a muscular, large 7.6 kg bruiser who needs to lose weight and also has a large belly pouch. I've switched him to one 5.5 oz. can of Teasel's low carb diabetic per day because he should weigh about 6.5 kg. I think it's helping because he can now reach his backside when he's grooming. He's afraid of getting on my baby weighing scale though (bought it to track Teasel's weight). Their sister is a medium sized girl, not overweight at 5.6 kg.

I think that, like humans, some cats inherit tendencies toward obesity and will gain weight with very moderate meals. It's important to keep their weight down as much as possible while making sure the food intake is adequate to prevent hepatic lipidosis (I've dealt with that and the outcome was not good). You're already feeding Baco very low carb/high protein meals and trying to give her exercise. When mine were still receiving kibble as treats, I'd play the "throw" game with them. I'd throw a kibble and they would go run to get it. I live in a single floor apartment. I'd also go around my place and hide two or three kibbles in various locations and they'd have to go hunt for them.

You should keep doing what you're doing but don't get too stressed. Very small weight losses are beneficial and Baco might always be a little "curvy".
 
JeffJ said:
I know this is almost a serious thread
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It never is a serious thread when it comes to Baco,, hahaha!:p

JeffJ said:
Theresa wants to know how Baco got her name. It sounds like Bacon. Oh, and Leo snores too.
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Baco is short (in The Netherlands) for Bacardi and Coke. That used to be my favorite drink at the time I adopted her, so I was doubting what her name should be, it was or Diva or Baco and I choose Baco, but regret is sometimes because Diva was a better name because she lives up to it.. Although Baco also, because how ironic, Bacardi and Coke is the ultimate drink with all that sugar in it, soo being a diabetic, it also is a great name for her ;)

I got a scratch pool a real big one that she needs to climb to get up, she does that sometimes but prefers to use the TV cabinet to jump on to it….:banghead:
She loves making her live really comfortable, again, such a diva.:rolleyes:

JeffJ said:
We still miss him regardless.
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I'm sorry for your loss Jeff, it must have been hard. Although we sometimes are pissed at them, we can not live without those little furry friends. They become such a big part of your family....:bighug:

Hi @krisu
krisu said:
I think that, like humans, some cats inherit tendencies toward obesity and will gain weight with very moderate meals. It's important to keep their weight down as much as possible while making sure the food intake is adequate to prevent hepatic lipidosis (I've dealt with that and the outcome was not good). You're already feeding Baco very low carb/high protein meals and trying to give her exercise. When mine were still receiving kibble as treats, I'd play the "throw" game with them. I'd throw a kibble and they would go run to get it. I live in a single floor apartment. I'd also go around my place and hide two or three kibbles in various locations and they'd have to go hunt for them.
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I think they do indeed, Baco has been gaining weight since the moment she has been sterilized, the vet told me later that some cats (probably Baco) gain weight from that surgery...
I know I have to prevent hepatic lipdosis, but I learned that that can only happen when they loose weight too quick, more than 1% body fat a week, so she's good because she isn't loosing that... She is indeed getting raw food, what is low carb but high in protein (calories) so it is really nice healthy food for her but she does need to have a food reduction as of today again because she needs to loose the weight, I've been doing this diet since the beginning of May and she hasn't lost almost anything.
I will try to excerise with her every day for at least 10 minutes. So like this afternoon I did 10 minutes of playing, and just now I played 15 minutes with her. Will try to do that every day, and if that helps and she looses the weight I will give her some extra food again because then she will burn it off by herself.
Well I would like to do the throwing game, but first let me try this with playing and if she will loose some weight I will do the throwing game. For now every snack she gets she gains weight again so not really into that....yet. Although Baco would LOVEEEEEEEEEE that game:rolleyes: especially with those dry freezed snacks she has.

krisu said:
You should keep doing what you're doing but don't get too stressed. Very small weight losses are beneficial and Baco might always be a little "curvy".
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Well i'm not stressed, I'm just frustrated after doing it for almost 4 months and not a single gram/pound has come off you know... That is really frustrating.
I know the weight loss needs to be very small but if she would loose 1% body fat a week, what is good, she would have already been losing weight. For now she hasn't done that. She looses it during the week and then she gains it again.... :woot:
No problem if she would be a little curvy, but 7KG is just too much. She needs to come down to at least 5.5KG. That isn't too much to ask right? :rolleyes:
It's for her own good to be healthy and hopefully live a longer life. Also if she lost some weight I know for a fact she would be more energetic and more playfull. This must be heavy for her carrying all that extra body weight.
I sometimes see her front paws wiggle a bit when she is standing, that is all because (I think) the extra fat... and that's not good. And also she has 'trouble' grooming herself downstairs,, soooooo that's also not nice for her.
 
Oh and btw, the pictures you see, that is also the way she sleeps. She, I think, can not role into that well known ball anymore like normal cats do. Because her belly is in the way I think.. that's also something that i'm concerned about.
She really needs to come down as quick, but as safe, as possible.
 
Bacardi and Coke - mystery solved. Theresa will enjoy that. She looks very soft. Maybe some nicknames would be good. We always have nicknames for our cats.
 
Yes, I would be a little concerned in the sleeping position. If she rolls that could be a tumble to the floor. She looks too small for that perch. She sure does look comfortable.
 
JeffJ said:
Yes, I would be a little concerned in the sleeping position. If she rolls that could be a tumble to the floor. She looks too small for that perch. She sure does look comfortable.
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Well she managed to sleep like a human, she never falls off the bed haha!
My other kitty does, although he's always rolled up like other kitties do, normally. But he, and I don't understand why, always falls of the chair or something like that. I think he's always so fast a sleep that he doesn't know where he is or something like that and then falls on the floor. Poor thing!
 
Poor kitty, falling to the floor. Maybe he meant to do that.

Maybe to get Baco to play, get a toy attached to a string. Chinus and Scoobs always liked that kind best. Chinus just catches them and then does nothing. Scoobs used to catch it and try to kill it, so they didn't last long with him. But those are the good times for both human and pet that we always remember. And it's good for the kitty too.
 
Hi @JeffJ , did you see post #13? I've got that kind of toy, but like you can see, she only will lie on the floor and doesn't really chase it.
She only likes to play on 'her terms' lies down and I need to throw it into her paws :banghead:
So that's not helping. I've decided to play with her everyday starting since yesterday for at least 20 minutes a day. Maybe that will help her to find the energy to play again a little bit more.
 
We had accidentally had a ribbon in the house yesterday. Great to play with. But a person can't let the cat have it because they can swallow it.
 
Oliver was very heavy and excercise phobic. I did try one of those balls. You put a low carb treat inside and they have to roll it to get one out. Mind you, he only walked around and batted it (never ran) but at least he was up on all fours....
 
@JeffJ yes ribbons really do work, I'm trying to upload a video so you can all see how play time is being Baco........ haha! Will try to get it up tonight (it's night time in my timezone) otherwise I will do it tomorrow morning.

@Sue and Oliver (GA) The balls she doesn't like, even thought there is a treat in it, she really doesn't do anything with them hahaha
 
I'm talking about her weight loss in the video from today, let me explain btw:
She started with 15.47LBS yesterday and today has dropped too 15.29LBS.
So that's a 'big' weight loss so lets hope she doesn't lose that much this week anymore, if she does than the playing for 20 minutes a day is really effective and I need to bump up her calorie intake again.
 
She's so funny! What a Princess! Cats live life on their own terms for sure. You're doing a good job trying to balance calories in and calories out - not easy.
 
HA! She is going to be wiped out from that work out ! LOL That looks like Bubba when I would try a similar toy with him. Every blue moon, he will get running around. Have you tried a laser toy? Sometimes that will get him going.
Ruby&Baco said:
She started with 15.47LBS yesterday and today has dropped too 15.29LBS.
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Are you weighing at the same time of day? and how long ago did she lose any weight ? I found when I was weighing Bubba everyday it was making me crazy. He could vary as much as 1/2 of pound from day to day. So I stopped weighing him that often. Maybe just weigh once a week. Guess it depends if they drank a lot of water, did she poop? It can make you nuts.
 
Yes I've tried that, she does run sometimes after it but not that much.... She doesn't have the energy I think because all that weight must be heavy for her. So we will try this every day for 20 minutes and lets see if this is the trick for her to lose that extra weight!
Well yes I weigh her almost the same times each day, but indeed it can be poo or whatever but i'm not tracking that. I'm not home during the day due to work so I can't manage to track down who has or hasn't done a #2. It could also be Minnie.:rolleyes:
And the water intake is also not possible to track because Minnie also drinks from that. But they don't drink that often anymore because they both just get wetfood, no dry food anymore.
It does make me crazy but I don't want to quit doing it because i've not yet cracked the code of her losing weight..
so the combo with calorie intake and playing (since yesterday) is hopefully the thing that will help her lose the weight but therefore I need to weigh her everyday because she also may not lose more than 1% body weight a week.
So if like today, this trend will progress this week and I wouldn't weigh her untill Sunday then we have a problem because that can cause that liver problem so that's why I want to make sure there is a pattern in the weight loss.
And when I find it THEN I will just weigh her once a week.
 
Holy smokes! Baco joins Leo in the laziness of the month club. Very cute though.

I think Baco exerted a whole 2 or 3 calories there. What an effort! Ruby - you are probably getting more exercise than Baco. On the positive side, Baco looks incredibly fluffy and soft.
 
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