My Overweight Cat needs help

Cocoa is a purebred Snowshoe, 10 years old and 25 lbs! :eek:
During this past year he has gained weight despite having his molars and a top canine pulled. He just eats and eats.
We have 3 cats in the house and he goes from bowl to bowl. I have recently started picking up the others bowls when they are done eating. I also switched foods thinking that might help him get the protien he needs and make him less likely to gorge himself....didn't work.
They were previously eating Purina Indoor Formula almost exclusively. In December I switched them to Eagle Holistic Anchovy, Sardine & Salmon Meal Formula and also feed between the three of them 1 can of Eagle Holistic Canned Salmon & Shrimp Formula.
One thing I've noticed with the Eagle food is that there is quite a bit more fat in the ingredients. 20% compared to 9.5% in the Purina Indoor.
I've been studying different cat foods till I'm dizzy and only get more confused.

I've always read where the "high quality" foods are better, but they all seem to have higher fat contents. Can someone help explain if it is better fat or is fat, fat?

If anyone has had to deal with helping their cat lose weight, I'd sure like to hear about your experience as well as what you fed to help with weight loss.

Cocoa is even having a hard time walking and he is not active at all, mostly just lays around. I am taking him to vets tomorrow, so we'll see what they recommend too, but I'd sure like to hear from someone that has gone through this. Experience is the best teacher :)

Do you measure out the food your fatty kitty is getting each day? If not then you should be.

Most foods have a feeding scale on the side of the bag. Find out what your kitty should weigh (call your vet if necessary) then feed your kitty according to that weight listed on your bag. Break that measured feeding up like 2-3 times a day. That way kitty won't be quite so hungry as when they are fed once a day.

Keeping cats separated during every feeding, or supervising the feeding will help make sure fatty kitty isn't getting more food than he's supposed to get.

Lots of play time, even if it's just laying there rolling around after a toy, will help some.

Some of my cats would also be very large by now if I hadn't stopped free feeding. I now feed them 4 small meals a day and it seems to be working. I'm feeding all of them Innova Evo which is a very high protein grain free food. It also has a lot of calories so they don't need to eat much of it. They probably only eat about 1/2 cup or a bit less per day and one 15.4oz bag will last me about 1 month which isn't too bad considering that I have 6 cats. I also give them some of the Innova Evo wet food and some of Evanger's Organic Butternut Squash and Turkey Dinner wet food which are also grain free.

I hope that your cat will be able to start losing weight. You might also want to consider having his thyroid tested. I think that most bags of cat food also have a feeding amount for cats that are overweight so you should try to follow this. You don't want him to loose the weight too quickly though because this could cause some health problems. You might also want to buy a laser pointer to play with him. Most cats love these and will run and chase after them. Good luck.:)

MEASURE. That has worked for me! (and my furkids) :)

Measuring seems to work well but if it doesn't solve it, I might try one of thous diet dry foods, more kibbles for less calories.

We are back from the vets and Cocoa has gained 4 more pounds since September! He's now 28 lbs.
They did blood tests and all was fine except his Glucose was slightly elevated, but not high enough to worry yet according to vet. The big thing is to get him to lose weight, so he recommended Purina OM and that is what I will try. In my opinion the Eagle Pack was just too high of fat content and that is where the extra weight came on. I got OM canned, as well as dry and will feed mostly canned, and just put some dry in his bowl for over night
It's going to be tough trying to measure and keep him satisfied throughout the day, but I have to be tough, his life is depending on it.
Wish us good luck. I have to take him back in a month for a weighing and hopefully he will have lost.

My Archy is a bit "tubby" and we are trying to monitor his food intake while making sure his brother gets enough to eat (he's skinny, of course!).

What is Purina OM?

And, yes, we measure. :rolleyes:

In response to the above poster....

Purina OM = Overweight Management (a prescription diet for tubby pets)



In response to the original poster....

If the glucose is elevated then I can see why it is very important that your cat lose the weight. Chances for diabetes increases with excess weight.

Where I work at we've had good results with the Purina OM. Feed measured amounts at set feeding times as per your vet's reccomendations and you should see improvement at the 1 month weigh in.

Good luck.

Snoeshow2, I can sure relate. I have a cat who looks a bit like your Cocoa and he is also 10 and also over 20 lbs. He does the same thing your cat does, going from bowl to bowl, just a non stop eater. I'm constantly picking up and hiding bowls of food. I leave bowls out for my skinny cats but try to monitor Paddy to make sure he's not getting into them.
I'm going to try this Purina O/M food that you're trying and see if it helps my cat.
You might want to consider getting him a harness and walking him. My family sent me one (extra large) to use for Paddy but the weather has been non stop ugly so we haven't ventured out once yet! :( But I'm hoping the sun will start shining soon and then we're heading out. I'm pretty sure he's going to enjoy it. Might work for your guy?
I attached a pic of him in the harness. I'm guessing that finding a harness that will fit will be difficult, as it was for me. The one that was sent to me is actually for a dog but it's made in such a way that it's safe for a cat.
If you're interested in the harness, let me know and I'll give you the website for it. :)

[IMG]http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...k/IMG_3163.jpg

Thank you Catlady for the words of encouragment. I'm glad to know that you have seen good results from feeding Purina OM. Another board I posted on could only give me negative comments about the food since it contains high amounts of carbs. This whole cat food thing has me so confused, but I am going to follow my vets recommendation. Thats why I took Cocoa to the vet was for some help getting him to lose weight, because what I was doing wasn't working. I will measure the food I feed Cocoa and try to keep him out of the other cats bowls.

It's going to be hardest trying to get him to excerise. He isn't interested in playing at all anymore. We got a laser toy, feather toys and interactive toys we use to play with the cats, but Cocoa only sits and watches for a bit, then heads back out to the food bowl and just sits there by it even when it's empty. :(

Emeraldgreen your Paddy sure is a handsome guy. It doesn't look like he minds wearing his new harness. I'm sure he'll enjoy those outside walks. It's good to get started now with him to help him lose weight before he gets to the point Cocoa is at. Ask your vet about starting him on the Purina OM and let us know how it goes with Paddy. He and Cocoa can be diets buddies. :)
Our weather here is terrible too, snow or freezing rain for the past couple of weeks. In the summer I do take Cocoa and his brother out for walks in the yard, but I guess I wasn't doing it often enough. I would be interested in seeing the website for the harness, I've never seen one like that before.

One more thing, for those of you that measure, do you give several feedings throughout the day or just the measured amount all at once or what? I feed my cats about 4 or 5 times a day, just a little at a time, because they used to throw up alot if they ate too much at once and Cocoa's brother Bandit is a nibbler and eats very little at a time, so that is why I am going to have a hard time keeping them all happy. :confused:

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Originally Posted by snowshoe2

Emeraldgreen your Paddy sure is a handsome guy. It doesn't look like he minds wearing his new harness. I'm sure he'll enjoy those outside walks. It's good to get started now with him to help him lose weight before he gets to the point Cocoa is at. Ask your vet about starting him on the Purina OM and let us know how it goes with Paddy. He and Cocoa can be diets buddies. :)

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Thanks, your guy is too! Good idea! We could have monthly weigh ins! :)
I have the same thing going on here with the serious lack of interest in toys and the laser light. He will play, but once you get him going, he basically paws at a fuzzy ball or whatever once, possibly twice and then promptly rolls over on his side and starts rabbit kicking it. That is about the extent of his 'playtime'. So, I'm hoping regular walks will start to burn some calories and make him a bit more comfortable. He has trouble with the stairs and when he jumps up or down on stuff, you can see it's painful on his joints carrying all that extra weight and I have to help him. We adopted him a few months ago and we just love him to pieces.
I hope your weight loss program goes really well. I'll let ya know if we make some progess. :)
p.s. Here is the link for the Freedom Harness:
Gooby Fashions

I feed each of my two cats 3/4 c a day. Usually they get 1/2 c in the morning, and the other 1/4 to keep them through the night.

My vet told me night is when cats gorge.

Also, I added Omega 3-6 to their diet - and my older cat REALLY perked up and got playful! He got down to a perfect weight by his next checkup.

It can take several months - 1/2 lb loss is HUGE in a cat, so stick with it. I bet as Cocoa feels better and lighter, he will feel more like playing.

PS - in dollar stores, you can buy little laser lights - many cats go nuts chasing the red dot on the floor! I think it worked for one of Emeraldgreen's cats! Start out easy with him.

I hope that Cocoa's new diet will work for him. I have a friend who has an overweight female cat and she's tried many different diets and nothing has worked but she doesn't always watch her while she eats so I think she's been stealing food from her brothers bowls.

I also have a few cats with sensitive stomachs and if they eat too much too fast they'll just throw it back up. This is another reason why I feed them 4 small meals a day. I work long hours so I have to feed them 2 times in the morning and 2 more times at night. I'd love to be able to just feed them 2-3 times a day but they won't go for that. I also feed them some healthy treats that have a lot of fiber in them and this helps to fill them up too. The treats that I feed them are Vitakitty Chicken Breast.You can buy them at most of the independent pet stores and I'm able to buy them for only $2.99 per package. Good luck.:)

My kitties get fed 3-4 times a day depending on my work schedule. I measure out the food the night before and put it in little baggies with each cat's name on them. Then when I feed them I just take a bit of food out each time until the last of it is fed up at the late night meal. Makes it easier first thing in the morning to feed rather than trying to measure out food while I'm groggy. Plus I already have to do a complicated soft food routine because of kitty meds every morning I don't need more complications. LOL

Just an update on Cocoa.
On his return check up on March 5 he was diagnosed with diabetes. His blood sugar was 520! He was not doing well on the Purina OM and it probably just contributed to raising his blood sugar level due to the high carb content of that food. Why the vet put him on it in the first place knowing his glucose level was elevated is beyond me, but just reinforces everything I have been reading about most vets not knowing or caring much about feline nutrition, other than what the food companies tell them so they will push their products.
I am now giving him insulin twice a day,(this is not fun for him or me :( ) feeding him grain free canned food and hoping to someday be able to eliminate his need for insulin.
I have sure learned a valuable lesson about feeding cats food with high carb content and the negative effect it can have on them.

Sorry to hear Cocoa is a diabetic.

On a more positive note sometimes if the glucose gets stabalized they can go off insulin after a year or two, but not all cats can do this.

You'd said on your previous visit the glucose was elevated, did you vet happen to mention what the result was that time? If it wasn't elevated much then the vet probably saw no other red flags to assume that Cocoa was going to become diabetic, only that the weight could cause him to get that way.

Where I work they tend to go with OM when the weight is the greater problem, and DM when the glucose is the bigger problem. Sometimes neither helps and the wheels of diabetes have already been set in motion before that.

Sad to say there are some vets out there that don't go to seminars, and keep up with the latest research on pet health/nutrition. I hope your vet isn't one of them and simply chose the best choice based on lab results and his experience at the last visit. If you really do feel your vet is the former then maybe look into finding another vet you can have more confidence in?

Either way I really hope the insulin gets Cocoa's glucose stabalized and eventually he could be one of those cats that doesn't have to stay on it permenantly.

Keep us updated, and thank you for posting the updates so far.

I have a diabetic kitty, Morgan. He started at 8 units of insulin once a day and then went to 5 units twice a day. His food was changed to Purina DM (diabetic management). It took about 7 or 8 months, but gradually he was weaned off of the insulin. He's been off of it for over a year and a half now. I strictly regulate the amount of food he gets. In addition to the dry DM, he also gets a pinch of canned food in the morning and the evening. He always had his morning treat, but the evening was added when he started to get the insulin shots. He didn't mind the shots since he knew he was getting his canned food as well. In fact, he'd come and remind me when it was time. He still does. LOL I know that each cat is different, and Morgan's case isn't the norm, but I just wanted to let you know that diabetes can be managed. In fact, it's easier to do in cats than humans, because we can make sure they don't "cheat". :) Also, in case you haven't found it yet, here is a link with lots of helpful information about protein vs carbs in all different kinds of cat foods. Keep us posted!

I don't know where you are in IL, but maybe there is a vet college nearby that can provide you with some guidance about weight loss and diet?

Our vet is at a clinic and at the last few visits I made with Cocoa we didn't see our "regular" vet because she was on sick leave. It was one of the other vets on staff that was seeing us. The first time Cocoa's glucose was 280. He said it was on the high side, but not concerned. I stated at that time I would start feeding more canned and a dry with less carbs, but he insisted I feed the OM almost saying that if I didn't Cocoa would be in for numerous health problems which scared me. After all he was the vet and I thought he would know best. So I said I also wanted some OM canned, but even that has a higher carb content than some dry foods.
It wasn't until after this that I started researching feline obesity and how certain foods can contribute to it and diabetes.
On the follow up visit, luckily our original vet was back in and she has a diabetic cat herself. She pretty much confirmed what I have read about feeding a low carb food and said herself that OM was a bad choice for Cocoa. She also didn't push DM when I told her I was going to be feeding him a quality canned food and very limited dry.
Moesha, yes I have read the info at that site and also have been using Janet & Binky's Food Charts to compare different foods.
Cocoa seems to be doing ok, but he surely doesn't like the insulin shots. I'll be taking him back later this week for a re-check on his glucose. I hope it's stabilized.

Ahha I might be able to help since I just had a test over carbs, protein and fats today. :)

Carbs and protein both equal the same amount of energy. Fat equals 2.25 more energy than carbs or protein do. Excess fat in the diet gets stored in the muscle and liver and excess carbs gets stored in muscle whereas excess protein just gets flushed out of the system. I would obviously stick to the diet your vet prescribed, but typically you'd want a diet higher in fiber to help weight loss. At least, I hope I got all that right, otherwise I probably didn't do so hot on my test :o

But not all fat is bad. It is actually an essential nutrient for the body so don't always assume since theres more fat that it means it's unhealthier. Obviously there are exceptions to everything but typically it's more beneficial than not :)

Good luck getting him back down to a healthy weight!!! :)

I did not have time to read in details all the PTers' comments to your thread, so forgive me if I say something that has been said already.

One thing that could help your kitty not jumping on the food is to have him hunt for it: put some dry food in a ball that has a little hole and kitty will have to play and make the ball roll to get the food. The kibbles will go out one by one so kitty will eat slowly and will be busy "hunting" so he will eat less.
If I understood well you give him both wet and dry food. Cats have a satiety for dry food and a satiety for wet food. So, if you feed your cat with one type he will ask for the other type even if he is not hungry. If you want your kitty to efficiently lose weight you should give him dry food only.

Sonia59 thanks for your suggestion, but I have to disagree on your theory that dry food will help with weight loss. Canned food is much more like a felines natural diet and also provides much needed liquid. It also has fewer carbs. Funny how most people (including me) used to think that can food should only be given as a treat, when in reality it's dry food that should be limited and given only occasionally as a treat, if at all.
Here's an article that will help you understand feline nutrition.
FEEDING YOUR CAT

Cocoa goes to the vet today for his glucose check.

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Originally Posted by snowshoe2

Sonia59 thanks for your suggestion, but I have to disagree on your theory that dry food will help with weight loss. Canned food is much more like a felines natural diet and also provides much needed liquid. It also has fewer carbs. Funny how most people (including me) used to think that can food should only be given as a treat, when in reality it's dry food that should be limited and given only occasionally as a treat, if at all.
Here's an article that will help you understand feline nutrition.
FEEDING YOUR CAT

Cocoa goes to the vet today for his glucose check.

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But with wet food you have to be very careful to pay special attention to their dental care. I will always recommend dry food over wet food for many reasons, the main being dental care. But if your cat is REFUSING to eat dry food, you may want to look into reasons why -- are they in pain? Are their gums tender? Do they have a loose tooth? A broken tooth? Cavities? Those are reasons to feed wet food... also obviously it has more water, but even with dry or wet food kitties don't generally drink a lot of water so I would always recommend feeding dry food over wet food unless there is a medical reason for it, or you are very good at caring for their teeth. :)

I've just read this post, and I'm sorry Cocoa is having a tough time and has been diagnose with diabetes.
Excercise wise perhaps you could put 15 minutes a day (twice) aside to play with him (and the others if they join in too) things like ping pong balls, and string toys with feathers are excellent excerciser toys and stimulate natural stalking behaviour in cats.
I think if he had those active sessions it would be good for him and you and bring you closer together. Just persevere if he's not very active.

Sunny is not active at all, but we play with her every day before bed (this is when she actually wants to play and enjoys it) with a ball and also a mouse string toy, she loves the string and will jump up in the air to catch it.

Perhaps this would help with cocoa? and also I think getting a harness and seeing if he'll go out for a walk is a great idea. Jack had a harness and would go out for walks, he really liked it. Though obviously it's not for every cat. SO you'd have to see if he took to it.

Good luck and please keep us posted about him. He sure is a handsome fella.

Hi Snowshoe2, I'm so sorry to hear about Cocoa's diabetes and continued weight problem. I hate to say it but my Paddy is also still very overweight and I'm concerned about the possibility of diabetes if I don't get this under control. I'm REALLY interested in how Cocoa does on the wet food as it is something I might try with Paddy too. He LOVES his crumbles just a little too much. And, I've picked up a new food (yesterday) by Eagle Brand Holistic duck and oatmeal and it costs quite a bit so free feeding for everyone is done and scheduled bowls of kibble will be given in the a.m. and p.m. and I'll do my best to make sure Paddy just gets wet food.
My main goal right now is to get him to lose just a few pounds so I can at least get him into his harness so I can take him out for exercise. I was stunned when I went to put on his harness, that fit him in January, and found that it was now too small.
I'm praying that your beautiful Cocoa will lose weight and that his insulin will stabilze. Please keep us updated, we're all routing for him!! :)

Just catching up on all this. I am sorry about Cocoa being dignosed with diabetes, it is a lot to cope with and to learn all at once.

Just wondering if you are testing blood glucose at home with a glucometer?

There IS an on line pet diabetes forum, I've seen it mentioned here on Pet Talk as well as on other forums. You may find some good info from folks there? Here is the link, in case you are interested:

http://www.petdiabetes.net/


Here is the chat room on the above site: http://www.petdiabetes.net/chatroom/chatroom.html


From your posts, it sounds like the OM made things worse and by taking Cocoa off that, you may see a rapid improvement. I pray that happens!

I laughed when I read Sonia's post about 'hunting.' I bought one of those balls for my Sparkle when she was overweight. It took her less than half an hour to figure out that she could hold the ball poised with one paw, be LYING DOWN, and just rotate that paw to get the kibble to drop out in front of her! :rolleyes: They really CAN be amazingly smart; when you don't WANT them to be!!! :D

I have a cat on a prescription diet, cats on managed intake, and cats who can eat what they want. I use 3 bedrooms, a bathroom and a hallway at cat feeding times. Doors get closed. After a few days, the cats learned where their feeding station was and made a point of going to it. (Alright, have to admit one pudgy kitty kept insisting on entering with the free feeders then I had to pick him up and carry him to HIS room.)

I feed 3 times per day: when I get up in the morning about 7 AM, at 4 PM and just before I go to bed, usually about 10 PM. The cats on restricted diets have a set amount they can eat in a 24 hour period, and that just put out in small installments.

I hope you can find a method which works for you, Cocoa and the other household members!

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Originally Posted by Jessika

But with wet food you have to be very careful to pay special attention to their dental care. I will always recommend dry food over wet food for many reasons, the main being dental care. But if your cat is REFUSING to eat dry food, you may want to look into reasons why -- are they in pain? Are their gums tender? Do they have a loose tooth? A broken tooth? Cavities? Those are reasons to feed wet food... also obviously it has more water, but even with dry or wet food kitties don't generally drink a lot of water so I would always recommend feeding dry food over wet food unless there is a medical reason for it, or you are very good at caring for their teeth. :)

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Claims that cats have less dental disease when they are fed dry food versus canned food are grossly overrated, inaccurate, and are not supported by recent studies. Many veterinarians are coming to the realization that this is a myth that needs to be dispelled. First, dry food is hard, but brittle, and merely shatters with little to no abrasive effect on the teeth. Second, a cat's jaws and teeth are designed for shearing and tearing meat, and cats that eat dry food grind it in a way that it ends up between their teeth. There it ferments into sugar and acid, thereby causing dental problems. Third, many cats swallow the majority of their dry food whole and thus receive minimal benefit from chewing motion. There are many factors that contribute to dental disease in the cat such as genetics, viruses, and diet. There remain many unanswered questions concerning the impact of diet on dental health, but feeding a high carbohydrate, species-inappropriate dry kibble diet is a negative factor, not a positive one.

I can attest to this fact, because Cocoa was fed a dry only diet for his first 9 years and last year he had to have 4 teeth pulled due to severe dental disease. So the myth of dry food keeping teeth healthy is just that, a myth.

I have not started home testing Cocoa yet. I am just getting used to the fact of having to give him insulin injections twice a day, but perhaps in the future that will be something I will do.

I have been trying to get him to be more active, he has lost all interest in toys as it was becoming very hard for him to move much. He and his brother Bandit both never did go for the laser type toys. They figured that one out from the start. Why chase something when there's nothing there to catch, lol.
But he always did enjoy going out for walks on his leash. Hopefully the weather will start getting better and I can once again start taking him outside for a little each day.

Emeraldgreen I hope you are able to help your Paddy with his weight. Do you feed him canned food? If not, I highly recommend you give it a try. Eagle Pack Holistic makes a good canned food too. If you would like some help choosing some let me know and I'll help. Giving Cocoa canned food has greatly reduced his desire for his kibble and he was an kibble junkie before. In fact I am now feeding some canned to all my cats everyday and I can see positive results in them all.
Freedom, thanks for the links, I will read through them as I am on a mission to find all the help I can for Cocoa.

Thank you to everyone for your concern and support for me and Cocoa. I'll keep you posted on his progress.