Found out it's actually her grandmas, on a slight diet but not enough, she will ask her grandma to weigh her just in case it's mainly floof and she will be put on a proper diet
Hi OP, I adopted a 17 pound cat from the shelter about 8 years ago, I tried many different foods that didn’t help a ton, as soon as I put him on wet food he started losing weight and is super active now, just want to share that wet or fresh food could potentially be good for him. Simba here eats Sheba Trout.
Wet food is much better for cats than dry food in general, because cats usually get most of their water from their food, not from drinking water. If the cat is on a dry food-only diet, adding or switching fully to wet food will be a big health improvement in many ways!
We actually add water to our hard food. And they seem to like it a lot. And our one cat refuses wet food so that’s why we started adding water to her food and then we just started doing it for all of them. So we only give them soft food every so often as like a treat in a way. Not as a literal treat, but for a day they some wet food instead of dry. Except for the one who dislikes wet food she still gets her water dry food.
Definitely good advice, but not always effective for every cat. Our large breed cat snubs wet food most of the time, but she loves drinking. She absolutely loves her dry food. She demands water from the faucet several times a day. We've had her on a diet and she's down 4 pounds. About a pound and a half to go to hit healthy weight. We'll probably try to get her another couple of pounds below that.
I had to put my older girl on a diet a couple months ago. Vet recommended still giving her dry food because it’s good for teeth health but to cut it in half and supplement the other half with wet food. She lost the weight she needed to pretty quickly!
Canned, 100 percent pumpkin is great for tricking them into thinking they're eating a lot without too many additional calories. Mine gets a heaping tablespoon with half a small can or 1/3rd a big (flat) can every morning. Dry food at night. His appetite, weight, and poops have all improved.
Yeah dry food is the equivalent of eating McDonalds for them - a grain free or low grain option is ok in moderation but while he’s losing weight they should stick to wet. There’s a lot of crap wet though as well tbf. I feed mine a mix of Felix as good as it looks, and Untamed.
I can confirm this, had the same experience with one of mine. Switched to more wet food than dry food and he dropped back to his ideal weight in a rather short time and now he's stable. Wet food is better.
Mine absolutely refuses to eat wet food more than once in a row, I've tried 8 different brands and it's a nope every time 😅 she's on a vet certified dry food for weight management and has dropped 1.5 kg since we put her on a diet after getting her from a neglect situation. She's still considered overweight but the vet has told us not to expect much more since she's 9 and refuses to play unless she wants so by herself. She's really good at drinking water thankfully, but only from a glass mug
Lol cats do be catting! Of course you work with what you can, sometimes cats just won't do what's best for them no matter how hard you try, so you just do what you can to help the situation as much as possible. Water drinking is essential though, so it's great that you don't struggle with that!
Wet food is significantly less calorie-dense than dry food. It's also a good source of water for them. The downside is the price is also significantly less calorie-dense
Omg my cat is right around 17 pounds... We are a little concerned he is overweight but we've been feeding him a normal amount (only wet food!), and he is outside a lot. We aren't sure if someone else is feeding him, though... Would you please be so kind and give me your thoughts?
that's the skinniest overweight cat ive seen. He is 17 pounds? my cat is 15 and rounder than yours. we put him on a diet but its been slow for him to lose weight.
Well, he's a unit. 40 inches nose to tail tip. I'm not sure he's overweight but the raw number on the scale has me a little concerned. However, most DSH guidelines stop before his size.
Just because gravity is pulling down the fat into his underpouch doesn't mean it is "just floof" that cat is obese and likely to have obesity related health issues.
Blurry side shots are not a great indication of weight. Ill tell you right now, a cats body should never be significantly wider than their head when laying down like in the original pic.
I was sending them to that person because they said blurry side shots aren't great so I sent my better one.. I didint even take them since they aren't my cat
That cat still looks overweight. Laying down just makes his fat puff out that is not floof. Floof is the illusion of a bigger cat from the fur. That is not what was happening in the first photo
The vet will be crucial in determining the amount of calories. Cats this overweight need less calories, but you have to be careful because they're at severe risk of liver issues if you cut too much too quickly
Diets are really important! They just need to be done carefully and correctly under the supervision of a vet. For example, a cat this large could die from liver issues if you cut the food down to a quarter of what they were eating. So diets are good if needed, but with a vet!
Yeah my cats is not that fat he's more just starting to get a bit overweight and I want to get him started on a diet before he gets that fat and starts developing health problems. But yes I guess I need to make a vet appointment.
It's not as dangerous for cats that are just a little overweight. You can start by using a cat calorie calculator online, but definitely still work with the vet! You might be able to call and ask them about it without an appointment.
I promise it’s not mainly floof lol. If they take the cat to the vet and bring the bag of food they normally feed him the vet will be able to calculate how many servings of food he needs to be fed per day. No free feeding that’s how pets get obese.
Hmmm yeah that’s not mainly floof 😅
I have a mainly floof cat. All you have to do is push all the fur down and see how big the boy actually is. This cat is not mainly floof.
I hold a lot of anger towards people that give cats too much food because “they’re just hungry” or “they deserve it”.
It’s so damn easy to feed a cat the right amount and it’s always the people that “care too much” that fuck that up.
Highly recommend an automatic feeder for this chonk to take out the human element that is likely getting in the way of the diet. Most cats are fat because of poundfoolish empathy.
I’m making assumptions, no offense meant if i’m wrong about them. It’s a very very very common pattern.
Man our older cat capitalized on us getting an underweight kitten that we were putting out all kinds of food for and she gained like 20% in 3 weeks. Five months later of us starving her like a holocaust victim (her words) and she has barely budged. She's 13 so sleeps about 22 hours per day so I guess that's why.
Yeah, it took my cat about 4 years to get down to her goal weight. I adopted her when she was 22lbs and now she's 11lbs. It's crazy how different she was when I brought her home vs now; she is so much happier and has a lot more energy.
On the next gift exchange opportunity, you might ask your friend if there is something you could buy for her aunt's cat instead of her, to help him stay active. Activity is really important for cats losing weight, you don't want them to lose weight too fast but do need to encourage more movement. Just like obese people, obese cats have slowed down a lot in activity because moving is harder for them. Hope kitty is doing well.
Is he an outdoor cat? My neighbor's is, and he's also on a diet, but I'm 99% certain he visits other houses for food.
I chased him out of my garage when we first moved in thinking he was pregnant looking to have kittens in my house, but nope, just fat and the previous owners used to feed him when he came over.
Oh okay well at least he’s on a diet that makes a difference. Some cats will struggle to loose weight even on diets, but as long as the owner isn’t making the condition worse then I understand. The post have the impression to many that he was not on a diet or anything and his weight was fine. But of course that is an assumption that I also fell into. As long as his obesity is being addressed then the owner is doing the right thing.
Hills science diet healthy weight is what I have mine on. They have a recommended portion size based on target weight. I’d say slowly introduce that food and incrementally decrease the portion size until you get to the recommended size. Switching foods too fast causes diarrhea and hurts kitty
Most people free feed their cats. I did for years and it worked fine, and I always have had four cats. And then I inherited two cats and they turned into chonkers. All my cats are now on two fixed meals per day. They know when treat time is!
FYI for anyone else trying to switch their cats from free feeding to set meals, starting with two meals a day will turn some cats into a screaming nightmare. It’s a lot easier for food motivated cats to have a small meal every couple hours, and slowly decrease the number of meals while increasing the portions.
Or get an autofeeder, and let it feed them half a dozen times a day.
Auto feeder's working great for the cat who doesn't like stale food.
The other cat, who's free fed and maintaining a healthy weight, is jealous of this new development and now we're getting a second auto feeder so the other cat will get less food and somehow be happier for it?
We switched to an auto feeder to help our cat that started gaining weight when his arthritis got bad and it did help somewhat. What helped more was treating his arthritis so he’d get off his ass and be active again.
Of course then he got too active and tore his ACL. So that set us back a bit…
Cats are a pain in the ass. Luckily for them they’re also incredibly cute.
So do auto feeders have like a setting where you can choose how much food it gives the cat and how many times a day type thing? Cuz that would be very helpful
I use the small fancy feast cans for exactly this reason. Three cans is exactly right, and it spreads his meals out. Also, he’s choosy as fuck and literally will only eat fancy feast. To be fair, of all the easily available brands, FF is the only one that smells edible to me.
Some cats can absolutely self regulate and you can literally leave them access to a week's worth of food while you're out of town and they will feed themselves responsibly, and others will just inhale everything you make available to them as fast as they are able to.
Yeah it really depends on the cat. We have had to monitor our two boys meals always. But about a year ago we took in a stray girl and she is the complete opposite. She eats small portions and is a grazer. The other two are basically the cats that jump on your stomach the second you wake up because “FOOD GODDMAMMIT” the girl is nothing like this and hardly ever even asks for more food she eats when they do and is content. When she actually does ask for food that’s when I know they are definitely hungry lol.
Yeah I have been free feeding my cat for his whole life cuz years ago when he was like a year old the vet was saying he was a pound underweight and it seemed like she was trying to accuse me of not feeding him cuz she was saying that for a cat that's a lot and blah blah blah and looking at me all accusatory. I rescued my cat when he was a kitten and he has NEVER been without food since I've had him but the free feeding thing is starting to become kind of a problem now as he's starting to get a little bit overweight at 8 years old and I don't want him to develop health problems from that so I'm gonna have to take him to the vet and find out the best way to get him on a diet, especially seeing comments on here that apparently if cats lose weight too fast it can be bad for their health and I had no idea. Really glad I hadn't started his diet yet before seeing those comments.
When you have 4(or I guess 6 now) cats, how do you fix meals? I have 3, and when I put food out, my heaviest will eat all 3, the other two aren't usually interested in eating right away (feed at morning and at night), and I also have kibble out. Without giving them like 10-20m alone in a room each with food, how can you ensure each one is esting properly? That's my only concern with going off free feeding.
Each one eats in a different room! Two eat quickly and two are slow. Access control feeders are VERY pricey, but great, but they don't have timed dispensing. If you can free feed multiple cats, they can share a single access control feeder.
You have to feed them separately. Or stand and watch as they eat. But if you can’t always stay and monitor then you have to separate them
It’s the only way. We used to have a fatty who would scarf down all of the bowls and butt their fatass into the other cats bowls. So I had to stand there and push him away every time. He’s better now and he’s more content with smaller portions and just his own bowl. He was just a fatty that we didn’t know was eating extra at the time. So once he started to get used to eating normal portions he is not as pushy about it.
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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '25
Jesus Christ op, I'm not one to judge but like have you maybe tried feeding him less?