Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose weight

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oscarandlucy

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Oscar has been OTJ just over two years. We had a strange health scare last week, but nothing wrong could be found. The emerg vet said he has to lose weight. He weighs 13.8 pounds! But she said not to change anything for a week to see how he's feeling. He's doing extremely well with no signs of being unwell again.

So, his diet starts Tuesday! And so does mine - I have a wedding dress to fit into in July :cool:

What should I feed him? He eats mostly Evo95% but I note that the charts say 70% fat :shock: That might explain the weight gain! He loves Go! Natural (we are in Canada) but I can't seem to figure out the fat content. Merrick seems more balanced. But I'm at a loss.

Does anyone have any experience with weight loss in an OTJ cat using low carb food? What would you recommend? Thank you so much in advance.
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

most folks would use fancy feast lo carb and according to DR. Lisa. a cat really needs no more than 6 oz food/day. that is equivalent of 2 FF cans/day/ if cat too fat, feed less. too skinny, feed more.
I have a foster cat that came to me at darn close to 19#. I fed (initially) FF and 1 1/2 cans a day. it took over a year but he is now 12# and looks,acts and feels great.
personally, unless your cat is of very small frame, that weight does not sound too bad at all.
just cutting out the evo dry (if that is what you are feeding) should also help. going with all lo carb wet will /should help as ling as not over fed. you can gain weight ( as we hoomans know all to well) even on diet food if you over indulge.
hope this helps some
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

Hi Dian,
Sorry not to be clear. Oscar only eats canned food. He has some wheezy breathing which seems to get worse on Fancy Feast so I can't feed him that.

The vet's thinking is that while he isn't obese (he's a large framed cat), he is on the edge of becoming diabetic again. His BG's spiked well into the diabetic range while he was admitted to the emerg. So, her thinking is that losing weight now will help keep him off the juice and will probably also help his breathing.

Thanks for your help!
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

sorry for mis understanding. I am sure there are lower carbs out there. check janet and binky chart and see what is available in your area. any cat that is/was diabetic can always end up being back on insulin. higher BG at er or vet is understandable due to stress. also, as I am sure you know, any type of infection can also raise BG . happened to me. my cat was OTJ and a bad tooth infection threw him back to diabetic numbers and I have not been able to get him. back into remission. so it is always a possibility that remission could be lost even if you do things right.
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

Do you have access to Merrick? Cowboy Cookout is excellent, provided your kitty doesn't have a sensitivity to beef. If beef is out, Grammie's Pot Pie (chicken based) is the next best in carb count, if I recall correctly.

One of mine (civvie) gets bad asthma flareups from beef, but Wellness Chicken or Turkey are fine, in fact, almost magical in their effect on the asthma. The cats all do some "musical bowls" after they have eaten - seems that each one misses some crumbs that the others find delectable! So I have to pick food for all that won't make anybody sick. The upshot is that I feed my borderline/intermittent diabetic Grammie's Pot Pie. She does gain weight from higher-fat food, as well as having other digestive upsets from the excess fat (although it doesn't bother my other cats, who eat Wellness Chicken or Turkey just fine).

I also have a baby scale and weigh all the cats maybe once a week, so that I can see right away if anybody is gaining or losing weight.

At one point when I was trying to get Megan to lose a little weight, I had to cut her amount of food *way* down. Then brought it back up a little when she got to a good weight. Of course, I weighed her much more frequently when I was feeding her so little, to avoid having her lose too much weight too fast.
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

Thanks for the suggestions.

Larry - I've been weighing his food to get a sense of how much I feed him and how much he eats at baseline. Although the rule of thumb I've seen here and on Dr. Lisa's website is about 20 cals/pound, he eats closer to 190-200 than 260 calories/day. I will be taking him down starting today by about 10-15%

Jean - I can get Merrick's and I seem to recall that he likes it, not really sure. Hopefully he does because I think the 70% fat in Evo 95% is to blame for the weight gain.
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

Sorry, I didn't have time to check the charts to compare, but both my cats lost weight on Friskies. It's the best I can afford to feed fully canned for two cats (we feed Liver & Chicken dinner and Turkey & Giblets). Max is down about 2lbs from his pre-FD weight (was at 16-ish and now at 14-ish) and Truman lost about 1 lb (was 10-ish, now 9-ish). Both are happy and sprightly. Max should probably be about 12-ish lbs, but the vet doesn't seem too concerned. He IS a big framed kitty, and he is doing quite well now that he's OTJ. My boys share a bowl, so to cut Max's intake, I'd have to feed separately, and we've never done that. Truman would be too thin if we cut his food. Kinda hard to separate them with all the chaos at breakfast/dinner times with two little kids running around. Oh, and we feed a 13oz can per day, half in the morning and half in the evening.
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

It's amazing what a pound or two overweight can do. Bandit's ideal weight is about 11.5 lbs, and he weighed 13 last year. I reduced his food from 3 cans fancy feast to 2.5 cans fancy feast, and he dropped the pound and a half easily. His BG also dropped when he lost the weight, and he went OTJ because of it.

I used Dr. Lisa's formula to calculate food requirements. Here's how many calories a day your cat needs:

[ideal weight x 13.6] + 70

You then can compare that to the Janet & Binky food charts and figure out how many oz you should be feeding. You can have Oscar lose weight on the EVO he's already eating, you just have to reduce the amount to the correct portion.

I found adding water and feeding more frequently helped transition him to the lesser amount of food.
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

The formula is a good starting point, but you still have to see if the cat is gaining or losing (or staying the same) on that amount of food and adjust accordingly. Caloric requirements vary according to a lot more than just ideal weight. My 9-pound kitty needs *far* fewer calories than her 10-pound "brother" (same age but not related). My 7 1/2-pound kitty eats closer to the amount the 10-pounder needs than what the 9-pounder needs. All the cats are at what the vet says is their correct weight.
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

Jean and Megan said:
The formula is a good starting point, but you still have to see if the cat is gaining or losing (or staying the same) on that amount of food and adjust accordingly. Caloric requirements vary according to a lot more than just ideal weight. My 9-pound kitty needs *far* fewer calories than her 10-pound "brother" (same age but not related). My 7 1/2-pound kitty eats closer to the amount the 10-pounder needs than what the 9-pounder needs. All the cats are at what the vet says is their correct weight.
Click to expand...

This is true. I didn't mention that I was also weighing Bandit to check his progress (my Wii Fit was great for this). As it was, the formula happened to be exactly right for him, but there are some cats that might need adjustments for more or less food.
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

When I switched everyone over to WalMart Special Kitty Turkey and Giblets dinner, about 5% calories from carb and somewhat even between protein and fat calories, 2 overweight civvies lost about 2-3 pounds each. And that was with free feeding everyone!

Foods with less fat calories and more protein calories, in the carb range you desire may work for weight loss. That shift alone, without changing the volume fed, may help him lose weight due to overall lower calorie concentration.
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

Thanks! I'll look into Friskies. (There isn't a Walmart near me so won't try that).

I do think that reducing fat content will be helpful to Oscar. The formula doesn't work for him. He eats considerably less than the formula would predict. So, down to 190ish calories for now and we'll see what happens.
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

Also, depending on how the cats tolerate it, adding a half can of water and making it more soupy increases the volume without increasing the calories, so he may eat less (and pee a bit more).
 
Re: Feeding suggestions for an OTJ cat that needs to lose we

He won't eat it if it is too watery but a tablespoon or two is usually OK. I'll try it and see.

Thanks!
 
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