Cat gaining weight

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SammyM

SammyM

Member Since 2014
I've had my Sammy (now 5.5 yrs. old) on YoungAgain, Zero Mature, since I got him 3 years ago. He loves to eat, but unfortunately he regurgitates his food almost immediately because he eats too fast, which makes free-feeding impossible. I've had to resort to putting about 15-20 kibbles at a time in a big glass Pyrex pie plate so he's forced to grab a piece with his paw and thus eat more slowly, and for the most part it works great.

But because he loves to eat, he's constantly begging me for more which is extremely disturbing during the middle of the night; he starts knocking things off whatever to the ground until I have to get up. I finally shut him out of my room (which I really don't want to do) at around 5:00 am just so I can get some uninterrupted sleep.

In addition, about 5 months ago I heard about a new food made from a company called "The Cat Person" which seemed pretty all natural and healthy. He goes bonkers for this food and loves it so much. I didn't get this to replace YoungAgain, but rather the Fancy Feast I was giving him as a treat: 1/4 of a small can twice/day. He started to get bored with it and would leave most of it, except the juice, in the dish. The Cat Person individual containers are the same size as the FF so he gets about the same amt of that, but he scarfs every bit of it up.

I weighed him today and he had gained about a pound since the last time I weighed him 3 or 4 months ago. He was 15.4 lbs., up from 13.5 lbs. about 3 years ago. He still has a bit of an indentation at the hips when I look down on him from above, but I can tell he's a bit overweight.

So my questions are... how difficult is it to put a cat on a diet where it doesn't disturb your own life too much; and has anyone else heard of The Cat Person food? I was beginning to think there was something in this food that's causing him to want to eat more; is there such a thing? [Does anyone see a red flag in the ingredients I should be concerned about?] (I was going to upload a pic of the packaging, but it won't let me. Says I don't have permission to perform this action.)

Should I be concerned about anything else? His 5 Ps (Playing, Preening, Pooping, Peeing, and Purring) are great.

Sorry this was so long and TIA for any and all suggestions and help.
 
Is Sammy diabetic? I don't see a link to his spreadsheet in your signature. If his glucose levels are not under control that will cause the excessive hunger. One thing you could try is using a timed feeder at night to give him an extra meal during the night. That may help him stop giving you the early wake up calls to be fed.
 
Lisa and Witn (GA) said:
Is Sammy diabetic? I don't see a link to his spreadsheet in your signature. If his glucose levels are not under control that will cause the excessive hunger. One thing you could try is using a timed feeder at night to give him an extra meal during the night. That may help him stop giving you the early wake up calls to be fed.
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No, to my knowledge, Sammy is not diabetic; he's been on Zero Mature for the last 3 years because it was the food I gave my other cat before him, Elvis, who died 3 years ago. It reversed Elvis' diabetes so I figured it couldn't hurt to start Sammy on it. I can't seem to edit or change the info in my profile other than the Name which is why it shows my cat to be 20; but Sammy is 5-1/2. I don't have or needed a spreadsheet on him as I did for Elvis though.

Timed feeders are quite expensive. Can they drop just 15 kibbles at a time? Seems a bit extravagant for just that. I think I'm the one who created the monster because I catered to his whims too often.

I appreciate the info nonetheless, but I'd really like to know of a good way to put a cat on a diet, and also if anyone ever heard of or knows anything about The Cat Person food? Thank you.
 
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