? 11/10 Figaro AMPS 132 - intentional weight loss while descending dosing ladder?

[Figaro's Liz]

Prev condo

Hellooooo all! I could use some advice on my current challenge.

Figaro needs to lose a little weight, just under one pound. I'm doing my best to trim his calories but I've had to actually feed him extra many days, to keep him from the sharks (a lot extra on those days ) or to keep him surfing safely (just a little extra) because he has been taking steps down the dosing ladder.

My general schedule is to feed:
1.6oz shot time
0.7oz +3
0.6oz +5:30/+6
0.4oz +9 (this prevents him puking bile on an empty tummy)

That twice a day means ~244 kcal per day with his food. I'd estimate... 10kcal per day in treats. So that is an overall caloric intake of ~255 kcal per day. My vet calculated 285 daily for weight loss or 342 for maintenance, so those guidelines are not very helpful.

He eats Hound and Gatos duck which is ~1.7% carb. He is 14.5 lb this morning but should be closer to 13.5.

When Figaro hits lime, I'm not worrying about his weight. He gets food! But overall I don't want the extra weight hanging around to contribute to insulin resistance.

Just wondering if anyone has dealt with this before and what worked for you?

 

[Sue and Luci]

I wish I had some advice for you ... Fig is beautiful and we all love him just the way he is...but I understand about the weight issue...don't want to let him get too far gone to help him. Do you weigh his food? I've seen where some members here do that - in order to portion it out more accurately - perhaps they'll comment on how much is 'just the right amount'. Does Fig get an exercise?

I recall seeing on FB a cat that was apparently working out on a treadmill...but he didn't look like he was enjoying that much - as he only had one paw on the moving belt - I would think playing with the laser would be more fun than that...it looked like the poor fellow was miserable to me...

And I agree, numbers that are too low must be treated with extra food...not to worry at that point about weight management...hope he visits the lagoon again today.

Have a great day Liz!

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

A couple of thoughts...

The Hounds & Gatos looks like a great brand of cat food so I'm reticent to suggest looking to see if there's a food that's lower in calories. The Tiki Cat line has several chicken varieties that are low in calories and carbs. If you're able to find a food that's low in calories but higher in carbs, you would need less food to bring up Figaro's numbers when they drop low.

I don't know if this would be the same or a lower calorie way to bring numbers up but using a drop or two of corn syrup (i.e., Karo) or honey may work. This is a method that works well if you have a gluten intolerant cat since. most of the gravy type of foods contain gluten.

Just like with people, the other component of weight loss is exercise. You may need to play some active games with Figaro. Ostensibly, a treat ball may also be a way to get him to play if you have some low calorie treats.

 

[Figaro's Liz]

I wish I had some advice for you ... Fig is beautiful and we all love him just the way he is...but I understand about the weight issue...don't want to let him get too far gone to help him. Do you weigh his food? I've seen where some members here do that - in order to portion it out more accurately - perhaps they'll comment on how much is 'just the right amount'. Does Fig get an exercise?

I recall seeing on FB a cat that was apparently working out on a treadmill...but he didn't look like he was enjoying that much - as he only had one paw on the moving belt - I would think playing with the laser would be more fun than that...it looked like the poor fellow was miserable to me...

And I agree, numbers that are too low must be treated with extra food...not to worry at that point about weight management...hope he visits the lagoon again today.

Have a great day Liz!

Thabks Sue! Omg... a treadmill, there's no way, I could just imagine Figaro's face I do exercise him multiple times per day. He has lost interest in the laser over time, but his favorite game of the moment is a cat version of fetch: I throw the toy, he runs for it, then i come pick it up and again and again. He also likes to climb and one of my projects underway is to build some shelves for him to climb on (we have a relatively small living space... gotta be creative!).

 

[Figaro's Liz]

A couple of thoughts...

The Hounds & Gatos looks like a great brand of cat food so I'm reticent to suggest looking to see if there's a food that's lower in calories. The Tiki Cat line has several chicken varieties that are low in calories and carbs. If you're able to find a food that's low in calories but higher in carbs, you would need less food to bring up Figaro's numbers when they drop low.

I don't know if this would be the same or a lower calorie way to bring numbers up but using a drop or two of corn syrup (i.e., Karo) or honey may work. This is a method that works well if you have a gluten intolerant cat since. most of the gravy type of foods contain gluten.

Just like with people, the other component of weight loss is exercise. You may need to play some active games with Figaro. Ostensibly, a treat ball may also be a way to get him to play if you have some low calorie treats.

Thanks Sienne! I tried Tiki cat a few times and always with the same result, diarrhea I'm not sure what it is about it. The H&G is high calorie, but I wanted to find a single protein to see if it helped with some digestive comfort issues he seemed to be having, and it seems to be working pretty well for that!

Maybe the Karo is something to try rather than gravy, since that would be a more concentrated hit of carbs without added fats, proteins. Plus then there wouldn't be the addition of the other proteins, even if it is pretty small amounts.

 

[StephandSebastian]

Prev condo

Hellooooo all! I could use some advice on my current challenge.

Figaro needs to lose a little weight, just under one pound. I'm doing my best to trim his calories but I've had to actually feed him extra many days, to keep him from the sharks (a lot extra on those days ) or to keep him surfing safely (just a little extra) because he has been taking steps down the dosing ladder.

My general schedule is to feed:
1.6oz shot time
0.7oz +3
0.6oz +5:30/+6
0.4oz +9 (this prevents him puking bile on an empty tummy)

That twice a day means ~244 kcal per day with his food. I'd estimate... 10kcal per day in treats. So that is an overall caloric intake of ~255 kcal per day. My vet calculated 285 daily for weight loss or 342 for maintenance, so those guidelines are not very helpful.

He eats Hound and Gatos duck which is ~1.7% carb. He is 14.5 lb this morning but should be closer to 13.5.

When Figaro hits lime, I'm not worrying about his weight. He gets food! But overall I don't want the extra weight hanging around to contribute to insulin resistance.

Just wondering if anyone has dealt with this before and what worked for you?[/QUOT