Weight

[Phoenix]

I don't know whether we need to put Dylan on a diet or reduce his food intake. He's 6.5kg at last weighing :? and a heavy boy :shock: Try picking him up and it feels like he weighs a ton! :shock:

When he's having his food, he looks like he's got an overweight backside! :lol: :shock:

He has a bowl of dried go cat down for him all day and he has an eigth of a tin of wet food twice a day (shops own brand) which has a lot of meat in it.

I don't really know how we can reduce his food intake, but I'm not sure if he's overweight (he doesn't like getting picked up very much - panics) so I can't judge by holding him very easily.

[pinklizzy]

Does he have an obvious waist? If you can't weigh him easily, try and look at his Body Condition Score (BCS)
http://www.pdsa.org.uk/File/22727_body_shape_poster_cats_v4.pdf
In order to help him lose weight (if he needs to) it's best to try and get an accurate weight then put him onto a complete, calorie-controlled diet, rather than simply cutting down his intake. Reducing the amount of a normal maintenance diet will also reduce the essential nutrients he's taking in.
You could also try and increase his exercise levels-using activity feeders, playing with toys etc.

[Phoenix]

Does he have an obvious waist? If you can't weigh him easily, try and look at his Body Condition Score (BCS)
http://www.pdsa.org.uk/File/22727_body_shape_poster_cats_v4.pdf
In order to help him lose weight (if he needs to) it's best to try and get an accurate weight then put him onto a complete, calorie-controlled diet, rather than simply cutting down his intake. Reducing the amount of a normal maintenance diet will also reduce the essential nutrients he's taking in.
You could also try and increase his exercise levels-using activity feeders, playing with toys etc.

The website won't show :?

I won't try to find his waist at the moment, he's curled up fast asleep. For the past few days he's been very lazy - about the most activity he's chosen to do is catching a rat and bringing it to us then eating most of it!

[pinklizzy]

Sorry about the link, it worked for me :? The best way to look at his waist is from above, you should be able to see where it goes inwards behin the rib cage.

[pinklizzy]

http://www.pdsa.org.uk/obesity.html

If you go to the PDSA site you can download a condition scoring leaflet for cats.

[Phoenix]

Sorry about the link, it worked for me :? The best way to look at his waist is from above, you should be able to see where it goes inwards behin the rib cage.

I've got it working now! Had to go onto the pdsa's website and find it from there.

Had a feel of Dylan's sides - can't feel the ribs at all (there again Dylan hunched up when I was trying to find them so I wouldn't have felt them :oops:

Dylan's curled up again now, so I'll have to try tomorrow when Dylan's awake.

[cats' staff]

The only way to weigh him is to pick him up when he is calm and stand on some scales holding him. Then put him down and weigh yourself and take the first from the second to get his weight.

[Phoenix]

The only way to weigh him is to pick him up when he is calm and stand on some scales holding him. Then put him down and weigh yourself and take the first from the second to get his weight.

It isn't weighing him that's the problem, we weigh him using his carrier!

I've had a look and I don't think he needs a diet. He will do if he gets any fatter though :oops: :roll:

[angieh]

It's a good thing to be aware of RCR - easier to help him maintain a healthy weight than to get him to lose it when he's too heavy. Difficult to tell, I know, but he doesn't look too big in his photos.

[Phoenix]

It's a good thing to be aware of RCR - easier to help him maintain a healthy weight than to get him to lose it when he's too heavy. Difficult to tell, I know, but he doesn't look too big in his photos.

From the looks of him he's borderline too heavy - if he puts any more weight on then he'll be too podgy (don't tell him I said that!!!)

I agree that it's a good thing to be aware of, if more people were aware of it there wouldn't be so many obese pets! (not having a go at anyone by the way - just saying)

[Wilki31]

We took our cat Katie for an MOT yesterday, which she passed with flying colours, except for her weight!

She's 9 and weighs 6.01Kg. Our vet suggested introducing mince fish or chicken (all raw) as a substitue for senior cat food and to include chicken bones as well. I can see the fish going down a treat but I'm not sure about the chicken.

We give her some Go Cat biscuits on a night but the vet says this does contain quite a bit of salt and fat, so we're cutting back.

The experiment starts tonight, I'm not sure she'll take to it but we'll weight, err, wait and see!

[yola]

Good luck with Katie, changing an older cat's diet can be quite tricky. Small changes rather than wholesale swapping of feeds is the key.

RCR - I hope Dylan's not overeating :D

[LorrH]

Hi

Went to the vet with Cactus for a check-up this a.m as she was quite poorly yesterday. Anyhow, she is nearly 6kg and vet said she is overweight and needs to loose 1kg. They can tell by the obvious; weighing, also feeling from the back around the tummy, apparently you should be able to feel their rib cage, also no saggy belly, that Cactus has. So, the vet was worried as being an overweight cat can obviously bring lots of health risks. Cactus is on the Royal Canin obesity diet of dry and wet food (vet has recommended how much to give and I've got a list). Also lots of excercise as Cactus doesn't much like going outside, although she's gots lots of lovely fields etc. to explore, so I have to work on her in the summer in being a bit more of an outdoor cat.

[Phoenix]

Good luck with Katie, changing an older cat's diet can be quite tricky. Small changes rather than wholesale swapping of feeds is the key.

RCR - I hope Dylan's not overeating :D

I'm not sure if he is or not - I know he eats his food too much too fast sometimes so brings it up again :roll: :oops:

[Tanya]

Ooops, I think Oli may be slightly over weight! He weights 6.3kg. He has a saggy tummy, thats for sure. ;)

We will be moving soon and Oli will have a much bigger house and he will also have his own run in the garden. Hopefully that will prevent him from piling on anymore weight.

[Phoenix]

Dylan's now down to 5kg, got him excercising more! :-D

[dandysmom]

I suspect Leia's a bit overweight, she's 14 pounds (6.5 kilograms), but she is a BIG cat, long and tall! Big bones? :-D But the vet didn't say anything the last time he saw and weighed her.