Weight Management

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CatCouple

CatCouple

Member Since 2015
Our latest fur baby (Roo Ella) who joined us in June of this year at age 7 is a big cat! She gained weight since joining us and now weights 15lbs 15 oz. We want to continue her on a wet food diet to lose weight to decrease her risk of becoming diabetic. We have been feeding her Friskies pates in an amount for a 12 pound cat using the guidelines on the can. However, she gained over two pounds.

Does anyone have any recommendations for weight management food?

Thanking you.
 
the "recommended" amounts on the labels will almost always guarantee a fat cat

The best thing you can do is reduce the amount she's being fed.....Increase the amount of exercise too

Weigh her once a week and adjust how much you're feeding based on that, not what the label says.

Ideally, you want her to lose no more than 2% a week.....more than that can cause other problems like hepatic lipidosis
 
The "weight management" and diet foods (like W/D that vets seem to push) are awful....they are very high in carbs and the ingredients are total junk, including something they call "powdered cellulous".....that's a fancy way of saying to contains sawdust!! (which is why animals will lose weight on it....if you were eating sawdust, you'd lose weight too!)

It really is a matter of reducing the calories and increasing the exercise.....just like us humans who are trying to lose weight.

Adding water to the canned food can help because the water will help fill her up some. Finding a toy that will get her moving will help (what worked for China was Da Bird and the Ground Prey toy). You can also try getting her used to wearing a harness and taking her out for walks.
 
Chris has given you good advice. Add water to the food, reduce the serving size, maybe break it up into small meals throughout the day to avoid hunger pangs, provide stimulation to keep from eating out of boredom or anxiety. Cats often gain weight from carbs, so making sure she isn't getting carbs from sneaking another pet's food or from treats. The fancy pet food store around here doesn't sell diet foods because as Chris mentioned, they are full of things you really don't want to feed your cat. They recommend Rad Cat most often for weight management because it's species appropriate and doesn't have extras that can cause weight gain.
 
Thanks Djamila and Chris again. I have reduced amounts and am adding water to what I do give Roo Ella.

I am trying out a Purina product called ProPlan Focus (wet food) instead of her usual Friskies pates. It is advertised as a weight management product but does not have "powdered cellulous" on the label. Do you have any comments or experience on this product?

Thanking you.
 
A lot of it depends on how active your kitty is and their metabolism. Recommended feeding amounts never worked on my kitty so I had to go by his weight and what I was feeding him. You can check the calorie count in each can of food so you know how many calories he's getting a day. The Rad Cat is worth looking into.
I'm kind of suspicious of 'weight management' labeled food because even though the ingredients may look ok there has got to be something somewhere that causes them to lose weight and still feel full.
Something added like extra carbs, extra veges, extra fiber (what kind)? etc. I think I am extra cautious due to my kitty having IBD and previous transient diabetes in which I am pretty sure was partially or fully caused by his inappropriate diet he was on most of his life. He's doing great now though!
 
CatCouple said:
Do you have any comments or experience on this product?
Click to expand...

If it's the "Focus Weight Management Turkey & Rice", it's on Dr. Lisa's food chart as 9% carbs (so on the high end of the <10% we shoot for, but fine) and each 3oz can is 79 calories (fairly low)

If you want to have a starting point for calories per day, Dr. Lisa's site has a formula

[13.5 x weight in lbs.] + 70

If that amount of calories doesn't achieve the results you want (a weight loss of 1-2% per week), adjust as needed
 
Thank you all for the good advice. Here is what I am doing for Roo Ella, our 15 lb 15 oz seven year old bundle of joy.

First I figured the caloric intake for her desired reduced weight of 12 pounds. I came up with 187 calories per day to achieve a weight of 12 lbs over time. I used this formula substituting 12 pounds for the 15 in the example:

Figure your kitty’s weight in kilograms by dividing her weight in pounds by 2.2. So for example, if your cat weighs 15 pounds, her weight in kilograms
is 15 divided by 2.2, or 6.82 kilograms. Multiply your cat’s weight in kilograms by 30 and then add 70 to that result: 6.82 kilos x 30 = 205 + 70 = 275.
Now multiply that result by 0.8: 275 x 0.8 = 220. Your cat needs 220 calories in a day to maintain her 15-pound weight.
​
I am feeding Roo Ella half her daily calories in the morning, one quarter of her daily calories at 4:00 pm and the final quarter of her daily calories at 9:00 pm I am feeding her Fancy Feast Classic pates (no gravy!). I am also putting two tablespoons of water in her meals. I am staying away from weight management foods and just counting calories instead. Still having a hard time increasing her activity level.

How does this approach sound? Any comments? @Chris & China I am concerned that I may be being too aggressive with a 187 per day caloric limit.


Thanking you!
 
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