fat kitty

[eclipseisafatty]

My cat is 3.5 years old and we got her from the SPCA when she was 3 and she was 11 lbs. Now, she's almost 13 lbs on weight control (Iams, yes i heard it doesn't work) so we've switched brands. If we try to limit her eating she gorges and the pukes up the food. If we let her self-feed, then she doesn't puke and everything is fine. How can i control her eating without the gorging? She's getting pretty fat, pretty fast.

[Fallon]

Well I think you should continue to let her self feed beause yes, that does seem to make kitties happier. Maybe you could try not leaving as much out though?

[Karen]

Has she been to the vet? The gorging then puking seems weird - like a bulimic person. If the vet says she's healthy otherwise, is there any hope of getting her more exercise which might help with her weight?

In any case, good luck controlling her feeding, poor kitty! She probably wouldn't take celery as a substitute food, huh? ;)

[eclipseisafatty]

Yes, she has been to the vet but the vet said she was perfectly normal. I'll just keep leaving her food out as it is but i don't need a 25lb kitty!!!!

[PayItForward]

Try feeding Yarrah or Burns as Iams is full of fat and tested on animals.

What about exercise ?

Either walking her with a harness and lead or just playing a chase me, catch me game in the garden.

Invest in a laser pointer and new toys anything to get her moving for 30 minutes a day.

Or better still adopted a similar aged feline friend will encourage her to play more.

Good Luck. :D

[ScoobyDoo-Doo]

Sounds like the cat had a hard time or was raised around multiple cats at one time. Kind of the "Waltons" syndrom for food at the table. Maybe was the runt.
Anyways, it may take some time but self-feeding and limiting the portions is a good effort. Letting the cat know it can get food when it wants may get it to eat slower preventing the gorging. Even in the shelter food was limited so the cat got used to eating as fast and as much as it could at one setting.
Let the cat start gaining trust and knowledge that it can take its time in eating and the food isn't going away. The weight should start coming off once the new behavior has set in.
Feeding once a day is a good thing but may need to start with smaller bowl fulls throughout the day until limited to one.
God Bless you for adopted the kitty! Take care!

[eclipseisafatty]

She's quite the lazy kitty when it comes to playing. She'll play for a little bit and then roll on her back and just watch. I took her out on the harness once (she was a little scared) but her daddy was too embarrassed because people just don't 'walk' their cats. I think she was on a harness before because when i pick it up to move it, she stares at me and meows like, "come on mommy, take me out." I dunno. She's eating light food but i learned from iams that means nothing. She does seem to eat slower with her self-feeding dishes. By the way, you guys are SOOO nice and helpful!!!! Thanks for your input.

[eclipseisafatty]

here is a pic of the big fatty...but doesn't it make her more cute?

[PayItForward]

She doesn't look over weight ...men ;)

She looks fine, just love her.

[Denyce]

She looks just about right to me! :)

I am assuming she is the only cat in the household? Just go by the amount it says they should have and then split that into two feedings. Probably a 1/4 C in the morning and then in the evening. When she finishes it don't let her have more till the next feeding time.

My other suggestion is this.....my Katiebug is a eat and puker...I put her on Royal Canin's food for Sensitive stomachs. It has cut down the amount of throwing up she does by more than half. And they really really like it. It also has 3 different shapes for finicky eaters and has really good quality ingredients. You can usually find it at most pet stores...our Petco has it. But that has helped her bulimic tendencies more than anything else I have ever tried.

Denyce

[eclipseisafatty]

Never heard of Petco...do they have that in canada??? Half of these brands you're talking about i have NEVER seen in pet stores. And she is a little bit chubby...but i just don't want it to get out of hand. My parents have a kitty that i miss SOOOO much....anyway...he's over 20lbs!!!! I don't want Eclipse to end up like that.

[CatMama78]

She's FINE!

13lbs is not fat for a cat. She looks lovely to me in the photo, very very cute.

Sounds like maybe you are being a bit TOO cautious, espescially if she's been to the vet and the vet says she's fine too.

[eclipseisafatty]

The vet didn't say she was fine....I was reprimanded by the vet for not feeding her the right food. The vet was telling me that I have to stop it now before it became terminal. That is why i'm worrying about it so much.

[CatMama78]

Ohh sorry, I misunderstood.

Science Diet is what I feed mine, Science Diet light. Do they have that brand where you are?

[krazyaboutkatz]

Eclipse is gorgeous.:)
I have 4 male cats and 2 of them love to eat and were becoming too heavy. Now I feed them 1/4 cup of dry food 2 times a day. They hated the routine at first but have now gotten used to it. I feed 3 of them a mixture of Nutro Complete Care Weight Management Formula and Nutro Max Cat Lite. My Cirrus is on special food and gets Hills Prescription c/d diet. So far they've been able to maintain their weight and Cirrus lost a pound.

I'd switch her food to another brand of lite formula and feed her several small meals a day. Since you live in Canada, I don't know what brands are available to you. Good luck and please keep us updated.:)

[carole]

Firstly a very warm welcome to PT, and secondly wow that pic took a long time to download, but it was well worth the wait,what a gorgeous cat you have, and those eyes, beautiful.

kitty looks well covered, but not really fat, my Ash(see in Sig) is about the same weight, he was a big muscular cat, and can carry a bit extra, but I do consider him to be a bit on the chubby side myself, he is getting on now and seems to have arthritis, so he sure could do with loosing a few pounds, he is like your kitty , gorges himself and then pukes almost immediately, he had furballs, and I now have him on a good diet that helps that, I also control his feeding now, little and often and that has cut down on the puking, he just ate too much at once, he also never chews his meat much and so it does not digest and he pukes it up, so i just hand feed him a little at a time when he gets red meat, which is only like once a week.

This has helped him quite a bit, but I guess the best advice is to try some of the light formula's out there, maybe one with a furball remedy in it, your kitty looks pretty furry, so maybe has the same problem as my Ash.

Good luck, and we hope to see more of your precious kitty and hear all about you and your family and furbabies.:)