Choice of 3 diet cat foods

**tomkatzid** · 09-07-2009, 02:32 PM

We now own (as of April) a FAT cat, 17.5 lbs. She is 3 yrs old, at 1 yr she was 9 lbs. Vet said feed DM or MD, one is Hills 1/3 X 2 and one is Purina 1/3 X 2. We now feed Iams diet, 1/4 X 2. Anyone feeding either of these? They are carried by the vet, so I'm sure there are other good diet foods out there not carried by our vet. Pandee is indoor only and does not run around much. We have her food on a table, so she needs to jump up and she has to jump over baby gates to get to the food room. Other than that she looks out the window at the birds !! Our cat before her, Kelcee was only 6 lbs, so she is an arm full compared to her.
We want to feed dry only, knowing weight loss by canned is faster. But we need to keep her on dry only.
Thanks in advance for your input.
Katz

**Catty1** · 09-07-2009, 06:01 PM

I use grain-free food. Even a vet at my clinic said that was fantastic...I said maybe one day vet pet food would be grain free?

She said, "I only wish!"

Vet food has a lot of starchy fillers...I'd go with a grain free like Innova Evo. Check around at a few pet stores - there are others, like Blue Buffalo (I think).

Why do you need to keep her on dry food? Just wondering if your vet said that, that's all.

**kb2yjx** · 09-07-2009, 06:08 PM

I have to agree with Catty1. Our Hope Simone has eaten EVO canned food since she was six months old. Hope is one very lean kitty machine!!!! AND it is very good good!!!

**tomkatzid** · 09-07-2009, 06:46 PM

We want to feed her only dry, the vet said canned would make her loose weight faster. If she is going to loose at all. But canned does not fit in with our time frame for working ect... I will check into grain free diet foods next time we are at the pet store. Hills was my last choice of those two, but Iams isn't any better, it's just what she grew up on. I will do a search on line and see what I come up with too.
Thanks for you info, Katz.

**kb2yjx** · 09-07-2009, 06:52 PM

Merrick makes BG(Before Grain). My allergy boy eats the canned and dry. Your vet is very correct. The dry food adds on the carbs and that is why the cat gains weight. Perhaps you need to re evaluate your schedule. We feed 8 cats before we leave for work....If you have only one cat it should be easy to do. Good luck...

**tomkatzid** · 09-07-2009, 07:57 PM

It would be nice if we could re evaluate our schedules but we can't so that is why we are looking for dry diet food. Something other than Iams. We just can't do canned, there is no way. So the vet said use dry and one of the two mentioned, but I like the idea of grain free. I've been looking on the internet and found most grain free dry foods are not diet so they are about 100 calories per cup more. So back to searching for dry diet.
Thanks again, Katz

Originally Posted by kb2yjx

Merrick makes BG(Before Grain). My allergy boy eats the canned and dry. Your vet is very correct. The dry food adds on the carbs and that is why the cat gains weight. Perhaps you need to re evaluate your schedule. We feed 8 cats before we leave for work....If you have only one cat it should be easy to do. Good luck...

**tomkatzid** · 09-07-2009, 08:06 PM

Anyone feeding this:
http://www.royalcanin.us/guidelines/...ht_40_info.pdf
it has grain but very low in calories.
Katz

**krazyaboutkatz** · 09-07-2009, 08:28 PM

Yes, it's true that the grain free cat foods are high in calories but they are also high in protein so you don't need to feed your cat as much each day. I've also been feeding all of my cats Innova Evo dry and canned for several years now and they've all lost some weight on it. None of them were obese but now they're all at much better weights especially since they're indoor only.

I feed them 4 small feedings a day which would amount to no more than 1/2 cup of dry a day. Storms gets 2 helpings of canned a day and the others get small helpings of canned at night. Sunny has to have canned and dry mixed together or he won't eat. He's such a picky boy.

Since you only have one cat, I'd measure out half of her feeding in the morning and then the other half at night. If this isn't doable then maybe you could buy a food timer and put her food in this for the day. I've never tried this because it wouldn't work for me but I've heard of others doing this and it worked out great.

It is true that you don't want her to lose her weight too fast because this can cause her to become sick. I hope that you'll be able to find a food that will work and that she'll also love to eat. Good luck.

**Catty1** · 09-07-2009, 10:03 PM

Just one thing about wet food - I just give my cats a little bit in the morning. I don't use it to substitute for dry food - not at all! I get the little flat cans, slice the food into 8ths (8 pieces). I use 1/8 for two cats - mash up with a little hot water, add the Omega 3-6 oil, and put it down for them. That way if they don't eat it all, NP. You don't even have to add the hot water...just makes it nice. I use the vet wet food, Royal Canin...but the other non-vet brands will have wet food too. Again, the wet is a little add-on - it is not the main diet at all!

Good luck with your girl! Please keep us posted - and if you have any pictures of her, would be great to "meet" her.

**katladyd** · 09-07-2009, 11:25 PM

My cats have tried Hills S/D, Purina, and several others. My thin cat loses weight on all of them. My fat cat doesn't lose an ounce. My fat cat needs to lose weight, but we've tried just about everything and he stays plump. I can't feed any less, my slender cat is now underweight! I feel your pain.