My Overweight Cat needs help

[snowshoe2]

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.

[Emeraldgreen]

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.

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

[Catty1]

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.

[krazyaboutkatz]

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.

[Catlady711]

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

[snowshoe2]

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.

[Catlady711]

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.

[Moesha]

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!

[emily_the_spoiled]

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?

[snowshoe2]

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.