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Old May 31st, 2012, 08:05 PM
Rob37w Rob37w is offline
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Fat cats

Ok let me start by saying I was very uneducated in cat nutrition until recently. I have had many cats in my life and non of my vets have ever given me proper advice on nutrition.

Current situation. I have 2 cats.

Jack - male - 2 years old - 18 pounds - indoor only

Reesie - female - 2.5 years old - 14 pounds - indoor only

As you can see both cats are overweight and need to drop pounds. They have been eating science diet dry 'indoor' formula by means on free feeding. I had a bowl out and they could eat as much as they wanted. Well that didn't work. So what do I do now.

I wanted to put them on a canned food diet and Jack was fine with it but after weeks of trying Reesie wouldn't even lick the food. I tried all different kinds and even tried adding treats in the food. See wouldn't even touch it.

So I am back to the dry food. Am feeding them portioned amounts of food to total 500 calories a day. In hopes that Jack eats 300 and Reesie 200.

I am debating on switching to a grain-free dry food as the more I read about it the better it sounds.

Any and all advise is welcome.
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Old May 31st, 2012, 08:11 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob37w View Post
Ok let me start by saying I was very uneducated in cat nutrition until recently. I have had many cats in my life and non of my vets have ever given me proper advice on nutrition.

Current situation. I have 2 cats.

Jack - male - 2 years old - 18 pounds - indoor only

Reesie - female - 2.5 years old - 14 pounds - indoor only

As you can see both cats are overweight and need to drop pounds. They have been eating science diet dry 'indoor' formula by means on free feeding. I had a bowl out and they could eat as much as they wanted. Well that didn't work. So what do I do now.

I wanted to put them on a canned food diet and Jack was fine with it but after weeks of trying Reesie wouldn't even lick the food. I tried all different kinds and even tried adding treats in the food. See wouldn't even touch it.

So I am back to the dry food. Am feeding them portioned amounts of food to total 500 calories a day. In hopes that Jack eats 300 and Reesie 200.

I am debating on switching to a grain-free dry food as the more I read about it the better it sounds.

Any and all advise is welcome.
I am wondering how do keep the cats from eating one another food? when I had two cats they got into one another food.
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Old May 31st, 2012, 08:20 PM
Rob37w Rob37w is offline
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Originally Posted by Barkingdog View Post
I am wondering how do keep the cats from eating one another food? when I had two cats they got into one another food.
I don't. I just see them both eating out of the same bowl. The male cat seems to eat more then the female cat.
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Old May 31st, 2012, 08:41 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Originally Posted by Rob37w View Post
I don't. I just see them both eating out of the same bowl. The male cat seems to eat more then the female cat.
Is there any way you feed the cats separately , you don't want your male cat getting way too fat this can lead to diabetes .
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Old May 31st, 2012, 08:48 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob37w View Post
I wanted to put them on a canned food diet and Jack was fine with it but after weeks of trying Reesie wouldn't even lick the food. I tried all different kinds and even tried adding treats in the food. See wouldn't even touch it.
What types of canned food did you try (brand and flavour)? Were you leaving dry food out while trying to transition to wet?

There is some great info in these 2 videos on how to convert a kibble addict that you should watch:
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites...et-part-1.aspx
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites...et-part-2.aspx
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Old May 31st, 2012, 08:50 PM
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LavenderRott LavenderRott is offline
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Well - you could put each cat (with their food) in a separate room and leave them in there with their food for a specific period of time. When the time is up, collect up the dishes and put them away for later. They should figure out that they only have so long to eat so they had better get on it. My cat gets fed twice a day.
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Old May 31st, 2012, 09:57 PM
Rob37w Rob37w is offline
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Originally Posted by sugarcatmom View Post
What types of canned food did you try (brand and flavour)? Were you leaving dry food out while trying to transition to wet?
A ton of kinds. Science diet many different flavors. Fancy feast, meow mix, friskes and many others. She wouldn't have anything to do with them.

Any ideas?
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Old May 31st, 2012, 11:15 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Originally Posted by Rob37w View Post
A ton of kinds.
Pate or chunky? How did you offer them to her? And again, were you also leaving dry food out at the time?

Those are all rather lousy brands of canned food so maybe Reese would prefer something with higher quality protein sources, like Wellness, Nature's Variety, Weruva, ZiwiPeak, etc.

Have you ever offered her fresh, *real* meat? Perhaps she'd be a good candidate for a raw diet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob37w View Post
Any ideas?
Yup, watch the videos.

And read the tips at this link: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Tips%20f...%201-14-11.pdf

I assure you that every cat can eventually be switched over to a better diet, it might just take more patience and perseverance with some. In the meantime, feed your kitties meals (wet food for Jack, measured grain-free portions of dry for Reese for now) and if they have to eat separately or you have to chaperone them, so be it. I would start with 3 or 4 meals a day if you can swing it.
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