Fatty Cat

[timber-]

Cheddar has been a HUGE food lover from very early on. I was told by everyone to feed him as much as he will eat, especially since I had him from so young. Well, I guess I inadvertently created a monster. He is all about food and every time I go into the kitchen or laundry room he's cutting me off thinking he's getting fed.

He was getting chunky so switched him to an adult cat food with less fat %. I also cut out down his afternoon feeding to a small meal, more like a snack.

He's still looks a bit chunky. It's not like he's obese where you can't feel his ribs at all. It's more like his belly hangs down low. I can feel his ribs when palpated and he's not rounded outwards at the abdomen/back.

I don't have a current profile pic so you can visually see what I mean. He looks a little bit like his mom, but not as saggy. Do you think this could be his body type or is he a fatty?

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ylKEzNFKSkM/VKGJSkTAfUI/AAAAAAAAeAU/W_hID36A0qc/w761-h506-no/DSC_0508.JPG

He kind of looks like these cats:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ScYlq3w8vRo/VN6D3iCMpFI/AAAAAAAAfAU/ZDuneGILDSY/w235-h214-no/untitled.png
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g-sLH5BUELo/VN6F8U8XGuI/AAAAAAAAfAo/H63w7jTOboI/w225-h170-no/orange_cat.jpg

[angieh]

I'm afraid the saggy tum happens to neutered cats to a greater or lesser degree. As he doesn't go outdoors, I would just cut down his portions at each meal and see if that helps.

[timber-]

Ever since I cut down on his food, he's been getting into trouble like jumping up on the kitchen counters looking for food. Is there anything I can add to his food that has no calories but will make him believe he's getting more. I know green beans can be added to dog's meal who need some filler to "feel" full but not sure if there's anything for cats.

[truthisouthere]

A good shot of protein will keep him feeling satisfied for longer, the issue with a lot of commercial cat foods is that they have a lot of carbohydrate in them (rice or potato), this can settle as fat on the body if the calories aren't used. Cats don't ordinarily eat carbs in the wild. Here's a couple of tricks to stave off the hunger:

1) Go buy some fresh chicken, cut it up and pop most of it in the freezer in portions, use an ice cube tray at first for little portions if he hasn't had raw chicken before. Cut the fresh chicken up immediately onto a plate and serve. Freeze the rest in the ice cube tray and take out a section the night before serving.

2) Make him work for his food, cats are 'snackers', geared for hunting little mammals, several times a night, by making him work for SOME of his food this will give him something to do and also make it more exciting for him. If Cheddar eats dry biscuits (kibbles), put some in the sections of and egg box, and semi close. Stand back and watch while he plays with his food. This worked for me with a foster cat who loved his food, he became happier and more playful too.

Aside from all of that, cats, like people can get hernias. I doubt it's this but next time he goes for his annual check up get the vet to have a good feel.

[truthisouthere]

,,and he's up to date on his worming. That's all I can think of for now.

[angieh]

I like the idea of getting him "hunting" for his food, works best with kibble. I have a little clear plastic ball that you can put kibble in and small amounts fall out when the cat bats the ball about, never predictably. This does work but I have to say that if no kibble pieces are "dispensed" for a while, my Pip looses interest.

[fecto's mum]

Can't really help Timber as all of my cats are quite chunky. I am a sucker for giving them treats and feeding them when they are 'hungry'. Fecto has been quite fat but he is also a big cat. He's lost weight now he is older, he's 13 iin June. Having seen pics of Cheddar, I personally don't think he is fat but that's just me. My cats eat more when the weather is colder.

[timber-]

Thank you for the ideas. I will try them out.

fecto's mum - my partner is always bugging me about my "fat cat" and makes fun of me because I am pretty strict with my dogs and keeping them at a healthy weight but a sucker for my kitties. :)

It's not that i'm over feeding them as I don't give treats all that often and reduced portions quite a bit (at least I don't think I do). Maybe it's because Cheddar has become a pretty lazy cat, especially compared to when he was younger, but again he's always been pretty chill too, good balance. I'm rambling now. :lol:

[Velvet]

The laser pens are great for burning off engery ive yet to find a cat that wont chase the beam. Five mins a day several time a day wil soon tone him up.

If his digestion allows it use a grain free food like Orijen - its a US food so im sure you can get it in Canada. Its a bit rich for some of our cats who are on a 'delicate' diet.

Some of ours like to gnaw, RAW chicken wings pre frozen & thawed will provide them with teeth exercising sameas a dog with a bone. When they finish, cats dont gnaw long, the dog is allowed to crunch up & eat whats left.

Ive three will eat raw meat, fish & poultry but only small amounts at a time. If offered the others look in disgust & walk off :)

[fecto's mum]

Timber, I am the same. OH feeds the dogs and keeps them quite fit. They are fed once a day on good quality food. I have dry food down all the time for the cats and they get treats in the morning. I feed them when they 'mither' for food, especially Fecto. They are all spoilt really although none of them are unhealthily fat, Huggins keeps them all on their toes. OH is always telling me I feed them too much.

[timber-]

I'm running into a problem, not sure if I should post here or in the behaviour section, even though food is tied in.

So, I've cut down the portions of food and switched to a grain free kibble. I mix wet with kibble since I can't afford all wet at the moment. I give half a chicken back at lunch time with skin removed.

The problem is that the boys are looking for food. I keep the canned food on top of the fridge. They have been getting up there and shredding the plastic wrap trying to get to the cans, and are acting ravenous during feeding time.

Cheddar needs to loose weight but it's making him act up, totally not like him as he's always been a non-destructive kitty.

[dinky]

Timber, if I were you, I would up your guys food intake. A cat that is hungry will not be a happy kitty. BUT at the same time, I would also up their exercise. The lazer light is great and my cats will chase that wee red light for hours. Also, a piece of string being held by you racing through the house will allow them to chase it. My kitties are all indoor cats like yours, but I spend time with them every evening encouraging them to run through the house. Ping pong balls are another great exercise toy. I could never bear to see my babies hungry - they still eat kitten food which is higher in fat - but they are encouraged to run and chase balls etc. Lots of luck with your two.

[fecto's mum]

Hi Timber. I agree with Dinky. Hungry cats aren't happy. I am an easy touch as regards food and feed all my cats when they 'ask'. They have dried food down all the time and I feed different cats different things. Big Fooze gets grain free, he's on Encore and Cosma at the mo. Fecto eats ANYTHING!! Barnes eats only dry, Inky east Felix AGAIL and Swirl eats both wet and dry. Huggins eats with whoever is eating at the time! Both Cheddar and Devon are young cats and probably still growing and filling out so I wouldn't restrict their food. Have you tried the internet for cheaper food, I get great deals. Huggins keeps all our on their toes although they are lazy. Personally I wouldn't be too worried about their weight unless the vet says it is damaging their health.

[timber-]

Will do. Thank you guys.

[timber-]

I'm finally finished school, now on the hunt for work. Hopefully I find something soon that will enable me to have my cats on wet food.

I was wondering how much canned food you feed your cats daily. I know every cat is different, just want an idea of how much is needed. I was also wondering if anyone knows if wet or dry food is more fattening.

[fecto's mum]

Personally I find it hard to say how many tins as only Fecto eats tinned food, he eats a tin to himself spread throughout the day. Inky will eat 2 pouches a day, Big Fooze has 2 70g tins a day. Huggins, Swirl and Barnes are hard to calculate because they eat small amounts all the time. I did have a big tom cat who ate 2 tins a day to himself and hoovered any leftovers, he also went out and caught rabbits to eat as well.

I think dried food is more fattening as it has a higher protein content. Before Fecto lost all his teeth he ate a lot of dried food and he got quite fat.

[Kirsten]

I've just read Your Cat by Elizabeth Hodgkins who is an American vet who specialised in treating cats before she retired, particularly seriously overweight and/or diabetic cats. She's not advocating raw food, although she says it's good for cats, but she is advocating wet food.

Her reasoning is that the majority of dry food is made predominantly of carbohydrate, plant sources coated in fat and flavour to make it palatable to cats. But cats' natural diet is protein and fat from killed animals, with very little plant material or other carbs, and dry food doesn't replicate it at all. She says that wet food is much more suitable for cats and replicates their natural diet better.

She gives multiple case studies throughout the book of overweight and/or diabetic cats who were fed predominantly on dry food, including "diet" or "light" food. She reports that switching the cats to wet food facilitated much better weight loss and in most cases, got their diabetes under control so well the cats no longer needed insulin, and when they did still need it, their blood sugars were more stable and they needed lower doses.

I've lent the book to a friend so I can't give more detail, but it's worth a read if you're interested in cat diets. It's convinced me to switch Pete from dry breakfasts and wet dinners to two wet meals with a small amount of high protein dry food in his activity feeder.

It's also worth looking at the calorie and nutritional content of dry food compared to wet. I emailed Iams, Purina, Pets at Home and Go Cat about the calorie content of their food (which isn't on the packaging) and even the diet stuff is over 300 kcal per 100g, with protein content of under 30% for most of them. On the other hand, Thrive 90% chicken dry food is 186 kcal per 100g and has a protein content of over 80%. The wet foods I've investigated - Felix, Kitekat, Iams, Whiskas and Tesco - are all between 70-95 kcal per 100g pouch, with well over 80% protein.

As far as raw food goes, she says that many people worry about food poisoning for cats who eat raw diets, but she points out that cats who would otherwise be killing live prey and eating it, perhaps caching a large kill and eating it over several days, are unlikely to get food poisoning from meat.

The book made sense to me, and I'm comfortable that a wet food diet with a small amount of dry is the right thing for Pete. I've also scrapped the Dreamies after I saw him gagging on the dryness of one but still desperately trying to eat it, and his treats now are Thrive freeze-dried meat and fish pieces.

[timber-]

Thank you so much for the info. I will see if I can find the book.

[angieh]

Thank you Kirsten for your post - most informative.