Hey! I found this subreddit trying to find ways to help my cat saber tooth lose 7 pounds. She's 17 pounds right now, I'm going to find a feeding schedule that works for her and eventually I want to get her a timed auto feeder bowl. Do any of you guys have advice or tricks that worked for your cats?
Hello! This is Milky, my 7 year old Burmese. She was free fed a lot with my mom, and consequently became significantly more spherical than her brother. She started at 13lb and is now 12.4, and I am wondering if I judged her initial BCS 7 as too high when starting due to her generally orb-like nature, squishy cheeks, and primordial pouch, or if I am just second-guessing myself because I am noticing the changes of the weight loss. It doesn't help that Burmese cat habitus is more muscle-dense/atypical.
In particular, the side photo of her has lighting that shows an abdominal "tuck" beneath her pouch, and I am not sure whether to use that, or where her belly skin is hanging down to. As for her ribs, they are faintly palpable with firm pressure, but not visible and I certainly can't feel individual ribs.
Last picture is from several years ago for comparison. Thank you!
We will be going out of town for a couple days, and wondering if we don't restrict our dechonking cat's food during those days (or at least not as much), would that set him back a lot?
Just trying to be realistic, that we won't have someone available to feed him as often we do, and he can be very cranky breaking into the other cats bowls when out of food.
My cat currently sits at 10.4 kg. Was down 500g from 10.9kg in a month. Have cut down on his kibbles intake but would really appreciate any other tips 🥹
My cat is overweight. Should I switch him to a lower-calorie food? I'm worried he won't like the taste as much. Anyone been through this?
My boy, Moon, was hanging out around 12.6-12.8 lbs but he's a pretty small-boned cat (and therefore body condition score was not good) so the vet recommended we get down to around 10lbs and see what his body condition looked like.
We tried different types of food (high protein, different protein types, prescription weight loss food) and different feeding styles (fewer meals, more meals, meals more concentrated at night vs morning) and nothing worked, but ultimately what cracked the case was wet food! We switched about a third of his calories from dry to wet food (originally it was ~1/8 of his calories) and he started making progress!
We're now at 10.8 lbs after five months! He's become much more playful and active and his body condition looks pretty good (more of a 6 than the 8 he was when we started), but we'll see what the vet says in terms of any more weight loss.
The best thing about this is that now he can spend time in his catio during the summer! I was a bit nervous about letting him be out there in the heat when he was so overweight, just because I didn't know if he'd really be able to judge when he needed to cool down inside.
Ralph was a feral that I tamed, TNR then he decided to move in! He has lots of food anxiety, no snacks or people food. He currently eats Purina one and one TBS of wet food in the AM. Then 1/4 cup at night. I have to put up all the other cat’s bowls up, so he does not eat extra. He has lost one pound but it has been a struggle. Should I put him on diet food? Any suggestions? He is the best boy, won a modeling contest for a rescue calendar, loves playing and chilling out.
My girls have started their diet of less dry food. Grey girl Leia is 7yo with arthritis so it’s hard for her to play and move around. Void cat Merrin is 2 and was a stray and has food obsession that’s slowly getting better.
Leia was 13.3 and now 13.0
Merrin was 12.2 and now 12.0
It’s slow and small progress but we have all the time to try and get them closer to 11.
Any tips to help my Arthritis cat? She’s on gabapentin and uses joint supplements. Some days are easier than others so we take it slow and if she gets the zoomies then I encourage it with toys.
This is Koo, my 7-year-old, tail-less, big kitty! We are starting our weightless journey and would love some tips. He's been eating Weight Control Blue Tastefuls food. Has anyone found success with that brand? I've seen tons of comments about wet food being great for weight loss, but he loves dry food. We have also been separating him during mealtime because we have multiple cats. We feed them all twice a day.
so i have an 11f spayed tortie that weighs around 12lbs. vet said shes not too worried bc she can feel her ribs, kitty is breathing fine, can still jump, and clean herself, and weight is stagnant. vet said it would be beneficial to lose a pound or two, though, bc of possible upcoming arthritis in older age.
for the past ... MANY years, we've been giving her less food and encouraging play, but she is a lazy bean! we defs arent overfeeding, so imo its an exercise issue, ig.
something tho that idk is worth bringing up with the vet: 1) her primordial pouch is pretty... swingy lol. idk if she loses weight, does she lose weight in the pouch too? bc afaik, its not the same fat as the rest of the body. 2) she is a bigger cat in general, even if she lost 1-2 lbs shes large in general. and 3) she was the only kitten in her "litter". no siblings. therefore... more room to grow in womb?
is it worth to bring these up with the vet?
This is Oscar Mayer! Just had a vet appointment to discuss his dechonking. Wish us luck on his journey! He's gonna hate me lmao
I thought I would share our dechonked boy! This is Benadryl (Benny). He was about 14lbs when we first got him March 2024 (first 3 pics), and is now down to a healthy 11lbs (last 3 pics)! We think his previous owners were just free feeding him, so we just portioned his food and made sure he didn’t steal too much from his sister, we also try our best to play with him (he is very lazy). But not only has he lost weight, but he has also come out of his shell so much from the shy boy he was when we adopted him. I am so proud of our Big Ben🩶
This is Beignet (Benny) and he turns four today! He was rescued from the streets so is very food motivated and is getting tooooo big. I don’t over feed him but he is territorial over food so always eats his sisters’s and is therefore over eating. How do I calculate how much he should be eating in a day to help him start losing weight?
Dechonking in progress, she’s 16lbs atm down from 18+. Taking a walk on the deck!
Coucou à tous !
J'ai juste besoin qu'on me dise que je suis pas exactement une mauvaise maman. Je le suis, mais j'ai besoin d'être rassurée juste et de savoir si y'a d'autre chats comme ça...
On a déménagé en novembre. On a deux chats. Mon cadet se nourrissait quasi plus suite à ce changement. Gros stress, ce qui est normal !! Mais quand même en janvier rdv chez le veto qui nous explique qu'il doit forcément manger vu qu'il a pris du poids.
Elle nous rappelle qu'en plus il faut bien plusieurs mois pour s'adapter à un nouveau lieu. Veto trop mignonne, pro, bonne diagnosticienne, et elle adore notre bébé parce qu'il se laisse faire dans toutes les manip. Un vrai petit bébé. (vraiment elle l'adore, un rdv elle nous a même pas fait payer, pour vous dire à quel point c'est le chat parfait...)
Contexte : chez nous les croquettes c'est Royal canin, hills Science plan ou Ultima Nature ni grain en libre service toujours. En pâtée c'est Royal canin Urinary parce que mon aîné a des problèmes de cristaux dans les reins. Ou alors Hills Science plan perfect weight pour le plus jeune. On avait une fontaine CatIt qui nous a lâché.
On donne aussi des bonbons *junk* *food* au plus grand (comparez ça à un macdo : Whiskas, Catisfaction, et Vitacraft Liquid Snack et son préféré Marly & Dan saumon). On donne aussi Babinette et Applaws On essaie d'en donner au petit mais il ne mange AUCUN treats. Sauf de temps en temps les Marly et San. Et encore...
Ma mère a été famille d'accueil pour chats et j'en ai vu passer, je m'en suis occupé. Par rapport au chat randomxpoint positif je sais que nos chats s'hydratent vachement.
Voilà mon problème. Mon aîné garde un beau pelage, un poids de forme, une agilité digne d'un félin de la jungle, une acuité visuelle et auditive sans pareille... Mais l'autre m'inquiète.
La veto à proposé de mettre des courgettes dans sa pâtée pour le rassasier, ce que l'on a fait.
Rien n'y fait. Il mange peu, dort beaucoup, joue quand il veut, mais son poids ne fait que monter.
J'ai rdv mercredi à 14h50 et j'ai demandé à ma maman de m'accompagner. C'est elle qui est famille d'accueil pour chat (mais c'est surtout elle qui les gérait, ainsi que leur chambre, sociabilité etc) moi j'ai juste adoré et grandit avec. Elle me dit que c'est la réaction au déménagement... MAIS 7 mois plus tard je trouve ça inquiétant.
Bref. Rassurez-moi svp. Dites moi que c'est le déménagement.
Ou faites part d'un petit trick qui a permis à votre chat d'aller mieux. On a feliway, deux litières, un gros arbre à chat, des griffoirs partout,...
Je sais pas je veux juste pas être une mauvaise maman.
The first four pictures are of our chonky, food motivated 8 month old boy. We were too liberal with free feeding as kittens and he blew up. The vet gave him a BCS 6 at 14.5 lbs. We took it seriously and started counting calories. We bought microchip feeders so he couldn’t steal his brother’s food. We found a wet food with few additives that didn’t give them diarrhea and increased their wet food diet. We started doing more “hunt catch kill eat groom sleep” by having structured playtime before scheduled meals. Over time our orange menace lost a whole pound of body fat and looks so much better - he has such a lovely shape from above. The last 4 photos are at his more ideal weight. He will always have a jungle pouch so we monitor his silhouette from above and by feeling his ribs. So happy with his progress! He was never super chonky from the start but I think it’s good to see examples of owners taking weight seriously. He is our most precious angel with the biggest personality and we want him around for a long, long time. Thanks for reading!
My bengal also eats a lot but just doesn't gain weight because he is busy.