1/15 Monty: vet visit, tartar and overweight

[Tom & Monty]

Hey there. Monty had his annual vet visit today for immunisation boosters, worming and general health check-up. He's a diabetic in remission.

The vet highlighted a fewthings:

1. He weights 6kg, he needs to weigh 5.3kg
2. Tartar issues on teeth

For (2) the vet has reccommened he have this treated under general anaesthetic. I'm keen to book this in once London is out of lockdown. What can I do regularly to prevent build up of tartar - should I be brushing his teeth?

For (1), I already got him down from 6.2kg to 6kg over a period of a 1.5 months - is this pace safe to continue at? he currently eats 4 to 4.5 trays of Lily's Kitchen per day. My weight loss plan for him is to reduce this by half a tray, wait for his weight to stabilise lower, and reduce again if it didn't drop enough (he was previously eating 5 trays). Does that sound reasonable?

Monty is VERY food motivated so I don't expect the diet will be easy for him.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

I already got him down from 6.2kg to 6kg over a period of a 1.5 months

Hi Tom, waving from Surrey!

My diabetic girl, Bonbon, was very overweight when I adopted her two years ago. She lost weight and I got her into remission. After a year she came out of remission and she has put on a bit of weight in that time, so that may be a factor in her coming out of remission...
...So tackling the weight loss at this point sounds like a good idea for Monty. It may well help to keep him in remission for longer...

I started out with the advice from Dr Lisa Pierson in her catinfo site, where it suggests a weight loss of no more than 1 - 2% of current body weight per week. (And I 'aim' to keep it at not much more than 1% because she is a diabetic on insulin and I don't want her breaking down too much fat at any one time because of potential health issues).
I got a cheap (but effective!) baby scale from Amazon and weigh her once a week, adjusting her diet as necessary. Note: Dr Pierson actually recommends weighing every 3 - 4 days.
https://catinfo.org/feline-obesity-an-epidemic-of-fat-cats/#Safe_Rate_of_Weight_Loss

I find that adding water to the wet food helps a lot in helping Bonbon to feel fuller (rather like me eating soup when I'm on a diet... )
I've also found it helpful to feed small, more frequent meals, because Bonbon gets antsy if she goes more than a few hours without grub in her tum.
It seems to me that their wanting to eat can be just a 'habit', or even boredom, rather than hunger. And sometimes when I see those pleading eyes looking up at me, I sprinkle some catnip on one of her toys and she'll be happy with that instead, and seems to forget that she wanted grub just minutes earlier...

Eliz

 

[Tom & Monty]

Thanks! Sounds like the plan I proposed is reasonable. 1-2% per week, let's say roughly 5% per month means he can lose 300g per month so I can aim to get him from 6kg to 5.3kg over a period of 2.5 months.

 

[Bron and Sheba (GA)]

Brushing their teeth will certainly stop any tartar build up. Do you think Monty will let you brush his teeth?
I brush my current cat Harry’s teeth and he has beautiful white teeth and he’s 4. And he has no bad breath at all.
You need to use a cat toothpaste. Don’t use human toothpaste as it is poisonous to cats..
I use a baby toothbrush but you can buy a cat toothbrush as well.
You need to start off slowly. Try putting your fingers in his mouth and rubbing his teeth with a soft rag. It may take several weeks before he is comfortable with that. Gradually move to a toothbrush. I started by just doing a couple of seconds and never forcing the issue. Now he just lets me do it. My other cat, would never allow me near her teeth. I would be scratched all over.
Even if you didn’t get past the stage of using a soft rag on his teeth, that would help. I found a thin slime would form on Harry’s teeth after a few days of not brushing, so now I do it every night.

The other thing you could do is feed him bones a couple of times a week.....a chicken neck for example.

 

[tiffmaxee]

I helped a friend with her obese following Dr.Lisa’s advice and it worked. Slow weight loss is very important as cats can get fatty liver if they lose quickly.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

let's say roughly 5% per month means he can lose 300g per month

Just remember that the amount of weight he will lose will reduce a bit as time goes on, because it's always 1 - 2% of current body weight per week. And the 'current body weight' will be reducing over that period...
So, when starting out you weigh your cat to get the current body weight. Then a week later you weigh again and see what percentage of that weight has been lost, and adjust the diet up or down. That weighing also gives you the revised 'current body weight', and so on, and so on...