Cats. I guess they're ALL going on a diet.

[Bertha Venation]

Some of you know that we have ten cats. If you're curious, ask; I'll tell you how we got ten cats.

We free feed two kinds of kibble. We also split four 5.5-oz cans of Friskies between them at 4:00 in the afternoon.

One of our youngest cats, O'Malley, is morbidly obese. She eats constantly, it seems. Our vet recommended feeding her canned food AM and PM -- and no kibble.

The only way we're going to be able to accomplish this is to put them all on the same diet. We'll know within a couple of weeks whether it's too hard on the other kids.

Your thoughts?

This is O'Malley, before she gained weight.

[In_The_Wind]

1. Good luck!

[Bertha Venation]

6. Thanks, Wind.

[Sanity Claws]

2. Is the morbidly obese one too fat to jump?

If she is, you can put the dry food in a place where the other cats can get it but she can't.

I have a diabetic cat who can't eat dry food but the other cats like the stuff. (It's also lots cheaper than the canned food.) I put the dry food on a kitchen counter where the old diabetic cat can't jump. The others can still access the food.

[Bertha Venation]

5. No, she can jump.

I suspect she has diabetes because she drinks almost as constantly as she eats. Never had her tested, though. I'm going to see how she does over the first couple of weeks.

[Sanity Claws]

8. She sounds pre-diabetic

Change her to canned food asap. Friskies is not high quality food but I guess when you are feeding 10 cats, you have a budget in mind.

Can you isolate her from the others while they eat and give her better quality food?

I had to switch my diabetic cat to the expensive stuff and he still needs insulin, 2.5 units twice a day. The expensive food is still cheaper than the treatment for diabetes.

[Bertha Venation]

9. Wow.

I feel O'Malley's obesity is close to animal abuse, and I am quite ashamed.

Our inability to say "no" has led to this situation (10 cats). I will try to figure a way to get better quality food, at least for her. I just figured out that feeding them for the next 27 days on wet food only, even on Friskies, will cost $5.67 per day. OUCH.

[ballardgirl]

10. If she is diabetic

raw food is the best way to go. I had a guy who was behaving the same as your girl and he was diagnosed diabetic. I did the insulin and blood sugar checks for a couple weeks but also changed his diet to raw chicken (bought at the pet store). In 2 weeks, his blood sugar was normal and his energy level increased. If your cat(s) is sensitive to chicken (as many are) there are other raw foods such as rabbit. The dry food is really the worst thing for them. Good luck. We only had two cats at the time and the second did not like the raw food so it worked out ok.

[Loryn]

3. My vet says to only feed dry food.

Sophie is my indoor cat, she needs to lose about a pound. Dexter is outside/inside, and he's a fine healthy boy. I've stopped the canned food, and we go to back next week and will see if Sophie has lost her pound.

Good luck - With 10 cats it can't be easy.

[Bertha Venation]

4. Good luck with Sophie, Loryn.

Is that Sophie in your av? Kinda hard to see; looks like a fluffy b&w kitty.

[Arugula Latte]

7. Lately I've been hearing the complete opposite. My vet says wet food is best.

Cats need moisture, and also dry food tends to have way too many carbs for kitties. One of my kitties ate too much dry food and got fat. He developed liver cancer and died at age 10 (not sure if that was connected). Another kitty started going that way with the weight. We switched him to wet food only and not only did he lose weight, he looks so much healthier. His coat is shinier, he's more muscled, eyes seem brighter, etc.

[840high]

13. That's what my Vet says.

[Loryn]

14. What kind of canned food do you use?

Now I'm afraid I'm doing the wrong thing. Must do more research.

[ballardgirl]

11. Is that a special diet dry food?

Everything I have heard/read says that dry is more fattening than wet. Of course, some of the wet foods have questionable ingredients so reading the label is important. Good luck with Sophie!

[Sanity Claws]

12. Dry food is very high in carbs

If your vet is recommending it, he is very old school. Most vets recognize that dry food has too many carbs to be good for cats.

[Liberal Veteran]

15. It goes both ways. Too much wet food is bad for the teeth.

Too much dry food (unless it is good quality) without adequate hydration can cause kidney problems.

[LWolf]

16. Dry or wet,

if you can, go to a grain-free food. It will help.

Unfortunately, they tend to be pricey.

[Bertha Venation]

18. I looked up grain-free dry food

Prohibitively expensive, unfortunately.

[LWolf]

20. I've got my one cat on it;

I get it from the local feed, not pet store, and it's the lowest price grain-free I can find. You are able to feed less; without the bulk, they get the same nutrition in less food. Still, I couldn't do it for a bunch of cats.

I lost my old cat a year ago last April. She had numerous health problems her whole life, and died too young; 12 or 13. I didn't go looking for another cat, but, like always, a kitten found her way to me. Her litter was rescued when her feral mom was killed. After just losing a cat to health issues, I've been determined to keep this one healthy, so she's been grain-free since she got here a year ago.

It's just not very practical to try to feed one cat separately from the rest, but if you don't free feed dry food, it could be done. A morning and evening feed, with the dieting cat in the bathroom or something, wet food only?

My cat is eating this:

[LancetChick]

22. Heh, that's how I feed my cats.

One is in the bathroom, the other just outside. They are fed twice a day, a grain free dry food, which they love. They would be morbidly obese for sure if they were exposed to free feed. This way I can tailor the amount I feed to what each cat needs, which isn't always the same, despite being nearly identical litter mates. Fortunately, they eat quickly, leaving nothing, so it's an easy solution for my situation.

I hadn't heard that dry food is particularly fattening, but it doesn't surprise me. It takes just a few extra morsels of food per meal to see weight gain in just a few days with my cats.

[Flaxbee]

17. oy, same here. Novi is an anxious eater; we have 5 and the others pace themselves but Novi won't/

can't.

One vet told me 1/3 cup dry food per day, period (which seems drastic; I wouldn't do that to Novi cold-turkey in any event)
One vet said wet food only.

I'm just trying to reduce her intake of both, to feed only at certain times (not leave food out for grazing except for the two who sleep upstairs every night - they're both thin), remove food that isn't eaten after about 20 minutes, and buy low/no-grain dry (costs more, but lasts longer).

Of course Ivan, Novi's soulmate, will go grab Novi a fresh mouse if she whispers in his ear that she's starving (I swear that's what happens - he brings her mice a few times a week (he's under strict orders no birds, bunnies, chipmunks or squirrels)). But I figure fresh raw mousemeat can't be that fattening and probably is good for her anyway.

I am very motivated to help her lose weight, though, because I do not want her to develop diabetes.

Let me know how it works for you and O"Malley, Bertha. I'll let you know how the dieting goes at Casa Novi, too.

[Bertha Venation]

19. Ivan actually hunts for Novi? That is amazing.

I think you're right; the occasional mouse won't contribute to her problem.

I'll keep you up to date. Cross your fingers. We're starting this weekend.

[Flaxbee]

21. Yes, I love my tuxedo boy Ivan

He also got the girls out of a tree when they were wee kittens.
Brought MommaKitty (aka Novi) a dead rabbit and all kinds of other food when she first brought her kittens to me and was still nursing.

He's a shithead sometimes, bites, and is much stronger than he realizes (I have scars to prove it) but he's an amazing provider for his harem.

Here's to Kitty Weight Watchers! Founding members, O'Malley and Novi.