help with cat diets

Hello,

I have two cats -- one female DSH who is considered "geriatric" (~9
yrs) who is of normal weight, and one young adult male DSH (~4 yrs) who
is considered "obese". He weighs 15.5 lbs but is active, playful, and
his latest glucose levels (last month) appear within normal parameters.

Both of my cats are indoor-only, except for sometimes they go outside
to nibble on the grass under my supervision.

Here's the problem -- I *really* need my fat cat to lose weight, but
not at the expense of my not fat cat. The vet said to only feed them
twice a day, and currently they are both self-feeders (dry food only),
and obviously one of them exercises enough restraint to make that work.

Has anyone else run into this problem? If so, how did you resolve?
Have any of you used those timed dishes with the covers on them that
rotate and open at a specific time? I'm just afraid that if we have to
feed them separately, it won't work when -- for instance -- we go away
for the weekend. That's what's nice about the self-feeding.

Thanks in advance.

On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:03:52 -0700, boriskat wrote:

Hello,

I have two cats -- one female DSH who is considered "geriatric" (~9
yrs) who is of normal weight, and one young adult male DSH (~4 yrs) who
is considered "obese". He weighs 15.5 lbs but is active, playful, and
his latest glucose levels (last month) appear within normal parameters.

Both of my cats are indoor-only, except for sometimes they go outside
to nibble on the grass under my supervision.

Here's the problem -- I *really* need my fat cat to lose weight, but
not at the expense of my not fat cat. The vet said to only feed them
twice a day, and currently they are both self-feeders (dry food only),
and obviously one of them exercises enough restraint to make that work.

Has anyone else run into this problem? If so, how did you resolve?
Have any of you used those timed dishes with the covers on them that
rotate and open at a specific time? I'm just afraid that if we have to
feed them separately, it won't work when -- for instance -- we go away
for the weekend. That's what's nice about the self-feeding.

Thanks in advance.

http://tinyurl.com/fez9l
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.p...ce75857553785d

I fed the heavy cat separately from the other one and then take up the
dishes. That is the only way that I know that it will work.


boriskat wrote:
Hello,

I have two cats -- one female DSH who is considered "geriatric" (~9
yrs) who is of normal weight, and one young adult male DSH (~4 yrs) who
is considered "obese". He weighs 15.5 lbs but is active, playful, and
his latest glucose levels (last month) appear within normal parameters.

Both of my cats are indoor-only, except for sometimes they go outside
to nibble on the grass under my supervision.

Here's the problem -- I *really* need my fat cat to lose weight, but
not at the expense of my not fat cat. The vet said to only feed them
twice a day, and currently they are both self-feeders (dry food only),
and obviously one of them exercises enough restraint to make that work.

Has anyone else run into this problem? If so, how did you resolve?
Have any of you used those timed dishes with the covers on them that
rotate and open at a specific time? I'm just afraid that if we have to
feed them separately, it won't work when -- for instance -- we go away
for the weekend. That's what's nice about the self-feeding.

Thanks in advance.

As long as you continue to free feed your cats, the overweight one will
not lose weight. The cat would be better off being fed twice a day,
and preferably a canned diet.