Can a cat get overweight on low carb canned food?

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Bethany and Willy (GA)

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I thought they self limited what they ate on low carb canned? Our almost 9 month old kitten is just starting to seem a little chunky, like I don't notice an obvious waist when looking from above. Or does she just seem chunky because our 17 year old is underweight? She has always been fed FF gluten free varieties.
 
Back when I used to go to Weight Watchers our instructor used to tell us you can get fat eating anything, if you eat enough of it. She had clients who used to down multiple bags of baby carrots because they were a "point free" vegetable. Some of them gained weight entirely because of the fact they were eating over 1lb of carrots a day in addition to their usual food allotment and those calories were enough to do it. They also turned orange but thats not really relevent.

So yes - if your kitten is eating more food then it needs, it can gain weight regardless of what its eating.
 
can they, yes.

But ECID, and your kitten might just be a little rounder as a normal. I have eight cats all eating raw. seven are "normal" sized, but Muffin is a chunky and always has been.

Connie

I r not chunky, I jus fluffy! - Muffin
 
I would say yes, but I would also say that 9 months might be a touch young to be restricting food. A 6 month old kitten I got 13 months ago also looked a tad chunky (actually, he had a big butt) at around 9 months. I let it go because he was still a baby. After he was a year old, his appetite began subsiding and his butt starting looking more like it belonged to the front of his body.

Yep, I'm feeding low carb FF to all cats.
 
Some cats do have a very "square" build, so you have to respect that. Do check the fat content of the food, though, and make sure it's not too high. In my opinion, cat food shouldn't have more than about 50% of calories from fat (pity the manufacturers don't listen to me! :lol: )

-- Janet
 
After all I learned here about food and such, I was obsessed with feeding our new cat, Barclay, the right stuff and the right amount.

We got him on raw and went from there. Because he was a kitten of 5.5 months when we got him, I was told he could eat 50% more than the amount served to an adult cat of his weight - at the time 7lbs. So, as he grew, I calculated his weight and the amounts he should eat for that weight and increase... but after a few months it was clear that he wanted/needed much more than that... he was in fact getting almost twice as much. But he was super active so I let him have it. By the time he was 10 months old, he was a bit pudgy. But since he was active and still what I considered a baby, I kept on feeding him what he would eat - almost 1/2 lb of food each day!

I was told that his appetite would subside after a year... well, it did by about 13 months... and he started to trim down - or stretch out... but he still needed or wanted more food than recommended. Since he had trimmed or stretched (whatever it was, he was not looking fat), I let him have a bit more. From that point on, 13 months, he's not looked fat at all. He's solid muscle, no belly... a bit of a waist and still super active.

He's now 18 months old and just starting to eat what is normal for his weight. Some days he doesn't eat even the recommended amount. If he were still heavy now (well he's heavy at 14 lbs but not overweight), I'd have restricted a bit of food to get him to a proper weight. But in my opinion, they don't stop growing until sometime in their second year so we have to be aware of activity level and whether or not they are growing. I fully expect to see Barclay have at least one more growth spurt where he needs more food for a week or two before he turns two years old.

If you check what Janet has suggested and you feel he's getting the right amount of food, I wouldn't worry about him having some baby fat at this point. Obviously, if he gets fatter, not just bigger, you'll have to feed less... but I'd expect you'll see him stretch out in the next month or two. Like kids, they seem to grow out and then up (or long).
 
Gina & Yittle said:
Back when I used to go to Weight Watchers our instructor used to tell us you can get fat eating anything, if you eat enough of it.
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Absolutely true.

I just saw one of my adoptees who is only 8 months old and is WAY too fat! I have lectured the adopters about instituting portion control now....not later.

At 8 months of age he weighs 10.75 pounds and is not a large-boned cat.

My Calvin is a bit chubby and he eats raw but is not one to expend very many calories so....yes...any living creature can pack on the fat pounds if calories in are greater than calories out.

When a cat is still growing, I am more careful when restricting calories but I will still do it as long as I am feeding a reasonably high quality diet.

I am going to try to find the time to work on my Feline Obesity page because when I first wrote it, I did not focus heavily enough on percentage of calories from protein versus fat and Janet is so right....there is far too much fat in many of the 'higher end' diets.

Dr. Zoran just came out with an Obesity article where she really pushed for at least 45% of calories from protein.

That said, I have had/seen many cats lose weight successfully (defined as slow weight loss while maintaining muscle mass and energy level) on canned Wellness which is only 30-37% protein.

Keep in mind that you can bump up the protein calories with plain, lean meat (chicken or turkey but chicken tends to be lower in fat than turkey) but make sure that it does not comprise more than 15% of the total calories since plain meat is unbalanced....ie....there is no calcium in it, to speak of.

If you feed this lean meat in the form of chunks, you will be helping their oral health also.
 
Lisa dvm said:
Dr. Zoran just came out with an Obesity article where she really pushed for at least 45% of calories from protein.
Click to expand...

So cool! I've been advocating this for some time, so it's nice to know that what was basically a gut feeling on my part is validated by an expert.

-- Janet
 
[quote="Janet & Binky
So cool! I've been advocating this for some time, so it's nice to know that what was basically a gut feeling on my part is validated by an expert.[/quote]

Let's say "another expert" since I do consider YOU an expert in this field.
 
Janet & Binky (GA) said:
I appreciate that sentiment, but I'm not. Nutrition is only my hobby.
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Well....then some of the nutritionists that you and I have dealt with should make it THEIR "hobby".....if it would provide them with your level of knowledge and common sense.
 
Thanks for all the replies. She was on mix of NV raw and FF, but when I ran out and went back to the store, they were out of the least expensive variety and I was not about to pay $27 for a bag of rabbit or venison medallions. :shock: I'll have to check out pricing online, but I would imagine shipping something frozen is going to add to the cost.

She is not a large cat, and in my inaccurate method of weighing by stepping on the scale while holding her, then weighing myself without her, she is around 9 lbs. I'll keep an eye on her to make sure she is not getting any rounder.

It will be difficult to restrict calories if it comes to that. We have two cats, and one is underweight. I fear that if I restrict Scouts food, she will just go an eat Rusty's food. Rusty is a grazer, so he does not finish his food right away.
 
Breed also matters. Nika and Astrophe are round, but they are aupposed to be round cats! If you look up "Chartreux" in the cat books, you see round grey kitties, with round heads, no necks, round bodies ... someone once said a Chartreux should look like a "potato on toothpicks". :lol:

Kizzy, who eats exactly what the others do, is long and lean and sleek. She looks like a Bengal mix, walks like a jungle panther, and has a totally different body shape.
 
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