Okay, that's unfair to the cat -

[kyburg]

But I have to cave and admit to some schaudenfreude at my cat's expense.

The one that cost us $70 at the vet last pay period only to be told she was too fat to clean her own butt. (We hadn't actually seen this in practice, just noticed she had a stinky, messy behind.)

Well, we saw it last night.

Damn cat rolled around like a roly-poly Weeble, maybe hitting the mark a few times. Not for lack of trying, y'understand!

Poor thing was so confused.

They are SO not getting any more gushy food for the forseeable. I can see I'm going to be measuring progress by how much bottom she can reach.

Comments

[n6vfp.livejournal.com]

so, it truly is a 'fat cat'?

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Truly, truly.

[yasha-chan.livejournal.com]

One of our cats is a fatty too, when presented with something new his first thing is to check if he can eat it. For a while there he was pretty sick because of it, but he's been getting better. Just the other day fatty managed to take himself and his rolls and jump over the other cat. I was impressed by his fat surging abilities.

[turandot.livejournal.com]

There's a few things you can do to help the cat lose that fat.

- Play with her. Really. Unlike other cats, a human who is determined enough can make their cat run around. Mine gets to chase shit 2-3 times a day, and I only stop when he is tired. He sleeps better though the night too.
- Get food that has more protein in them, and less corn. Humans process grains just about as well as protein. Not so cats and dogs. They're more likely to benefit from an all protein diet whenever possible.
- Make them work for food. You know doggie kongs? They make something like that for cats. My cat has treat dispensers. Sometimes we put food in there too, so he has to roll the dispenser around the apartment to get his food. Other creative approaches: put food up on shelves that the cat is allowed on, so that to eat she'll have to jump up and down. This means that she'll either jump a lot more than she used to, therefore getting her fatass working a lot more, or she'll think twice about eating out of boredom alone.

You might try her on non-cat food

[the-resa.livejournal.com]

Back in December 2006 or so, we read about the contaminated cat foods, and just to be safe, took our extremely fat kitty off her Weight Control Iams cat food.

It took a bit of fussing, but we figured it was safer. Fed her various things, since initially she was quite determined to get back to that bag of food. Cooked chicken, tuna, some raw chicken, cooked pork -- as well as various stewed vegetables as she would take them.

After a bit she began to eat fairly normally, though every three days or so she'd go on strike for a day in an attempt to get that bag of food back.

We noted two things. When she ate Iams, she wanted to eat ALL THE TIME. On the regular food, she ate a little more than a lb or so of food a day. She also lost a huge amount of weight. Then, about five months in, stabilized and held what she had.

She went from a kitty that only lay around the house and ate food, back to one that climbed trees, played a bit, and could clean her butt again (yeah, this had been a problem with us too).

I'm not sure what this means. We've begun reintroducing cat food, but after seeing what we have, we're trying the more expensive Blue Buffalo and Wellness brands. If she starts gaining that weight back, she's going back on the human foods.

I have no idea what to make of this. So I won't speculate. But that is what happened. Our cat is still pudgy -- but she's no longer a basketball.

Re: You might try her on non-cat food

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

I tried to give these guys a bite or two of leftover turkey this last week.

I found it still in dishes a day later. NONE of them would touch it.

Food snobs. Honestly!

[elfwench.livejournal.com]

Here is the sage advice given to me by conscience:
http://elfwench.livejournal.com/1336465.html?thread=2355601

EDIT: Basically, feed twice a day with good food. A quarter cup good dry in the morning (she feeds Natural Balance, which I will, too, once I'm employed) and an 1/8 cup dry mixed with a quarter cup canned and some water to make a "stew" (They need the extra liquid for their kidneys.) Free feeding will lead to fat kitties. *nods*

[kiyone.livejournal.com]

Free feeding will lead to fat kitties. *nods*

Not true, my cats are skinny/healthy weights and they always have access to food. The bowl is always kept full, they don't have feeding times (we don't have time for that). But we also don't feed them soft food because they don't like it, so that might be the difference.

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

Our fattie is on Science Diet's WD (and by default, so are the other two). The WD helps keep the weight from going on, but since it's a prescription diet, it does get pricey.

One vet highly recommended feeding overweight cats melon (honey dew). Some cats love it. Alas for poor Oliver, he won't touch it. But maybe your cat might like it?

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

The biggest problem we will have with set feeding schedules is the youngest one, who is frankly, a black hole when it comes to food and a total thief. Trying to feed the other three while this one is roaming might as well be free-feeding her. She'll push the other three out of the way, going dish to dish. I've seen it.

Now - we can control her by putting her in a carrier while the others eat...but if they don't eat when it's put in front of them? How long do I allow that?

Grr. And that youngest *screams* for food every time we go into the kitchen.

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

We don't have timed feedings either, although we used to. Just the prescription diet.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

My older cat likes to inhale his food, then go and attack the younger cat's dish. Gurney is a chow-cat, and Pixel is a dainty girl.

In the morning, I separate them, and feed Pix where I can see her and am able to shoo Gurney away when she's eating.

In the evening, they're fairly evenly matched food-wise, so they eat together. Sometimes Gurney snags some of Pixel's food when she steps away, but he's usually too busy with his slightly larger serving of WD dry that he doesn't get after Pixel's food at all.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

I second the use of WD- I slimmed my 23 lb. "Sumo" cat down to a much healthier 12 lbs by using 1/4 cup servings of the dry, and 1/3 can of the wet once a day. (Wet in morning, dry at night.) No treats, people food- none of that. It took a while, but it worked.

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

Forgot to add, our cats eat dry food only. Wet food not only adds to the weight issue, but does really bad things to their teeth. I've had no fewer than 3 vets recommend staying away from wet food. Also, since Oliver has had a history of being blocked, we have to stay off the wet stuff.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

We've stopped buying the wet stuff entirely - I may keep a can of sardines on hand for special occasions (pills, probably), but that's it. IT.

[dame-of-dames.livejournal.com]

I feed both my cats twice a day, but I have to use separate foods, because the boy is big and the girl is little. I also have to put her food up on the chest of drawers in my bedroom so he can't get to it.

I feel bad that I don't play with my cats enough, even though they chase each other around the apartment plenty.

I have noticed that the boy sometimes is dirty, but I've seen him groom, so I know he can reach behind. I'm not too sure why he's like that, sometimes.

[amanda-nye.livejournal.com]

ok, that's fucking hilarious, and I can picture it, too.... and the following expression of confusion