Answers to Everyday Questions : How do you make an fat cat lose weight?

How do you make an fat cat lose weight?

11 Responses to “How do you make an fat cat lose weight?”

1. mike b said :
   October 31st, 2010 at 8:12 am

   do not feed it so much food only give it half of what you have benn giving your cat
2. peace_love_granola said :
   October 31st, 2010 at 8:47 am

   Actually, you will want to reduce her intake of DRY food. Do give her more wet food. Dry food is full of carbohydrates, which cats don’t really need. Cats are Carnivores so they need a higher protein diet and that is what wet food is. Protein.

   So take away or minimize the dry food, increase the wet food and she will slim down.
3. Brittnee said :
   October 31st, 2010 at 9:40 am

   Get her Science Diet food. They have special food for overweight cats. Also feed her small amounts more times a day, not many though. If you dont take care of this soon. She may get diabetes, which is a pain because you would have to give her insulin everyday.
4. bymyshoes said :
   October 31st, 2010 at 10:24 am

   Keeping her active is very important. If she is obese at this stage of her life, she is going to have a sad, short life. I know this from firsthand experience. Limit her wet food to one of those smaller portion cans. Make sure you are giving her the healthiest food possible. I would also make my vet a partner in her diet. They make low calorie pet food, but since she is so young I would discuss it with a vet first.
5. burlingtony said :
   October 31st, 2010 at 10:39 am

   Feed her an allotted amount of food and that is it —- 1 cup a day …. whatever works. A fat cat is an unhealthy cat …..
6. Vandy* said :
   October 31st, 2010 at 10:59 am

   Just stop giving her the wet food. I promise you, she won’t starve to death. She holds out for the wet food because she knows she’ll get it. I had a cat like that. No one likes to keep things from their pets that they love, but sometimes you have to. My cat was skinny though, so I kept giving him wet food hoping he’d gain weight. The cats I have now… wow. One of them looks just like Garfield.
7. Jenn said :
   October 31st, 2010 at 11:14 am

   Your cat is smart!

   Keep giving the wet food and slowly decrease the dry food. Dry food is largely composed of carbohydrates that cats do not need. Since they are not able to metabolize them very well, they are just stored as fat. Which is precisely why cats that eat dry food only tend to become overweight. The “weight loss” dry formulas are a joke. Used to feed my cat IAMS weight control and she gained weight! She had portioned meals, too.

   It’s also very important that cats eat a good amount of canned food to help with water intake. Cats are descendant from desert animals, and their bodies adjusted by getting all the water they needed from their prey. As such, they do not have very strong thirst drives. Canned food has a lot of water in it – a big reason why people say NOT to buy it – but it’s rather beneficial to the cat. No matter how much extra water they might drink, they are always in some stage of dehydration on a dry only diet.

   If you feed your cat a quality canned food, such as: Innova, Wellness, California Natural, Eagle Pack, Solid Gold, etc, than you will see a decrease in her weight. I guarantee it.
8. Greg said :
   October 31st, 2010 at 12:00 pm

   Stop feeding her wet and dry food together. Give her the dry food only and no scraps from the table. She will lose the weight slowly which is good.
9. jekyllhyde1783 said :
   October 31st, 2010 at 12:13 pm

   give her a tapeworm
10. Phoebhart said :
    October 31st, 2010 at 12:26 pm

    OK. Here’s what you can try:
    1. Chuck out the dry food – no matter how “high quality” it is, dry cat food still contains much too much carbohydrates. Cats do not need carbohydrates; they used the calories from animal proteins and fat… carbohydrates just gets stored in their bodies as fat.

    2. Feed your cat on high quality canned cat food that is low low low on carbohydrates and high on animal protein. Carbohydrates are derived primarily from grains and grain products used in many cat foods. You’ll be able to spot this by reading the label’s ingredients list. It should contain NO corn, wheat, soy, rice or any other grain. It sould also list an animal source protein as its first and even second ingredients. An example of a high quality, no grain canned cat food is Natural Balance “Chircken and Liver Pate Formula” The ingredient list reads as follows:

    Chicken, Poultry Liver, Chicken Broth, Carrots, Eggs, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Lecithin, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Guar Gum, Taurine, Carrageenan, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Niacin Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Pantothenate, Calcium Iodate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin, Vitamin A Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin K1 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement.

    NOtice that it has no grains (corn, corn gluten, wheat, wheat gluten, soy, rice, rice flour, soy, etc) and it has four animal source proteins in the first five ingredients (Chicken, Poultry Liver, Chicken Broth, Eggs). Becuase it has no grains, you can be sure this food is low low in carbohydrates

    3. Exercise your cat. Encourage him to walk, run, jump, climb, chase and play. Buy him toys, a cat tree, walk him on a leash, make him follow you around the house as usin his food dish as a lure… so many thins you can do to encourage your cat to be more active and thus burn calories!

    4. NEVER “crash diet” your cat by witholdin food from him for more than 12 – 14 hours. He could develop “fatty liver disease” if you do that. Instead, if the manufacturer’s recommended feeding says “Feed 1 can per 8 lbs of body weight,” reduce that to 3/4 can. Bear in mind too that Cat food manufacturers tend to overstate their feeding guidelines. For example, my adult cat is satisfied with 1/2 to 2/3 can (6oz) of Natural Balance per day.

    5. Divide the cat’s daily ration into 3 to 4 servings mixed with a little water and given at different times of the day (morning, noon and night). This tactic helps the “food addict” cat go through the day on a restricted diet.

    6. Finally, weigh your cat and set a target weight for him to achieve. Does he need to lose 2 lbs? 3 lbs? 4? You may need your vet’s advice on this. Ideally (and safely), a weight loss program for a cat should target a weight loss of 1/2 lb per month.

    Good luck!
11. Juego Comunio said :
    October 26th, 2011 at 3:57 pm

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