vet advice - my cat is really fat

KSH - 2013-04-26 10:30 AM "What you looking at?" I have nothing to add on how to help the cat lose weight. That picture is a hoot!

As my son says, epic sit-up fail.

There is literally no place in the house he can't reach and no cabinet he can't open. He's pure alley cat.

She's not quite as agile, but she can get up on counters if there is an incentive. Like a tuna sandwich, for example.

You're going to have to separate their eating areas and give her less access to food ie the males food dish.  The separation will most likely be part of a new routine for you and something you'll have to do from now on.  We have cats that eat a lot faster than some others and if we just let them be, two would be very fat.

We also measure food and feed twice a day - one gets fed in our bedroom, one on the basement stairs and another in the bathroom.  All with the doors shut so the other two cant get at them.  Cats are adaptable to the routine and they wait were there feeding areas are.  It will only takes them a few extra minutes to eat everything so its not like they will be locked up for very long.

My cat's don't really cry for food or rush to eat. Even in the morning they will take a little nibble and then walk away, and it will take them hours to finish. When I have seen them eat fast, like if I feed them early and am gone overnight,  they barf.

DanielG - 2013-04-26 10:53 AM Could give this a try. http://www.invisiblefence.com/find-the-right-solution/avoidanceI've got my house divided with that setup. Some days I feel like Korea with the DMZ in the kitchen, though

Does it work with teenagers?

I have two dogs with different eating habits.  One is a eat everything he sees, when he sees it.

The other is a grazer.  So she get's a bite or two, and walks away and the other, bless him, finishes off her leftovers.

We finally had to take feeding them in separate locations.  If the girls doesn't finish it all, then I pick it up and make sure that when the fat boy finishes his, he doesn't migrate over to her bowl (he does EVERY TIME, so I have to just watch them).

I figure you might have to do the same?

Have you had the cat checked by a vet?  I've known several people with cats who have medical issues that have caused weight gain.  I hope that's not the case for you but I'd get her checked out.  Even if nothing's wrong the vet may suggest a different diet for her.

Yes, she's been to the vet, who had a pet nutritionist put her on a diet last year. She's not gaining weight, but she's not losing either. I try to get her to exercise using a laser pointer or toys, but she will only do it for a couple minutes and then watches her brother.

velocomp - 2013-04-26 10:22 AM Maybe see if there is a litterbox to mouse chase plan on BeginnerKitty.com???

Chase mouse, climb tree, paw at fish... 

Do you give the cats wet food only?  If so, try switching to dry, something your allergy cat can handle.  Of course they'll both have to get the dry to avoid having to figure out how to separate the meal times which seems almost impossible.

My cat needs to gain weight (he's a kidney cat) and switch from dry to wet does the trick.  Wet is notorious for better weight gain.

Dry only. They won't eat wet food. Oh, I very rarely give them people food. Maybe some liquid from a can of tuna, but that's like once a month.

My guy wasn't too big but after a couple of yearly visits he was gaining a pound a year so i started with doing portion control which was fine but the like your cat he was driving us BONKERS! Like two hours before meal times he'd be all over us and I thought both me and the hubby were going to lose it and murder the cat.  Because he also started scrounging on the counters and bugging us while we ate which he never did before.

We bought an automatic feeder.  It drops the food at specified interval and he bothers the feeder - not us.  He still scrounges on the counter a bit as we probably did have his meals a little too small for a while and then added a third small feeding on the feeder and he's been much better - but we also have 'ssssCat' thing mentioned in another thread to keep him from doing that.

Anyway, he's lost a bunch of weight and looks quite good for 10 year old cat and is much more active as  a skinnier kitty. 

To the OP, not sure if our experience is any help. But we love the auto-feeder.

I think it's really odd that she's eating pretty much the same stuff as the other guy and is that big.  A few pounds I could understand but that is one big kitty (not to say she's not just as beautiful as a smaller cat )

I may be over-thinking it but if it were a human so overweight on a moderate calorie diet with no concrete reason we would search to make sure there isn't a medical reason.  Second opinion perhaps?

I've done that. I'm wondering if this is fairly normal in spayed female cats? Do they become more sedentary?

Believe me, she's soft and sweet, and makes a great pillow, but I do want her to stay healthy.

It's not normal with spayed cats.  I've only owned spayed and neutered and weight gain is not something that is just expected.  I would put a little more pressure on the vet.  It took 6 months to figure out my little man had kidney disease and that's a fairly common diagnosis among cats.

My kitty sounds similar to yours. We adopted her six years ago as an adult cat at 23 pounds, and she has a rather small frame, so she was shockingly fat. She's also not a beggar and doesn't eat all that much -- she always leaves some food in her dish and doesn't come running for breakfast.

We've gotten her down to 17 pounds, and her vet is really happy with her progress. We feed her the smallest recommended amount of diet dry food, but most of our efforts have centered around exercise. We play with string and toys every evening when I get home from work. Our vet also recommended the following things that made us laugh hysterically in concept but actually have worked:

1. If she has a place where she particularly likes to nap or lounge, pick her up and carry her as far away from that spot as possible to force her to walk back.

2. If you have time while you feed her, give her the kibble bit by bit throughout the house, almost like a scavenger hunt, so she has to walk to eat.