Diet Update

Sammy has now lost 15 ounces - just a few more and she'll be at her desired
weight. She's more active too (I know how even a little bit of excess
weight "weighs" me down, so I think she's just feeling springier). Jessie's
lost 6 ounces and she too is now at her desired weight. Demi has stayed the
same weight (she was already purr-fect ;). Ozzy has put on 5 ounces and
Archer put on 3 (they'll be a year old at the end of April, so I'm not
worried about the small gain - I think they needed it for another growth
spurt).

All the cats seem healthier and happier, so I guess I'm doing it right. I'm
still giving them about a fourth of a cup of dry food in the evenings (I
can't help it, I worry that they'll get hungry during the night even though
they don't eat all of their canned). I do eventually want to stop the dry
food altogether, so when what I already have runs out I just won't buy any
more.

--

Hugs,

CatNipped

See all my masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

In article ,
CatNipped wrote:
Sammy has now lost 15 ounces - just a few more and she'll be at her desired
weight. She's more active too (I know how even a little bit of excess
weight "weighs" me down, so I think she's just feeling springier). Jessie's
lost 6 ounces and she too is now at her desired weight. Demi has stayed the
same weight (she was already purr-fect ;). Ozzy has put on 5 ounces and
Archer put on 3 (they'll be a year old at the end of April, so I'm not
worried about the small gain - I think they needed it for another growth
spurt).

All the cats seem healthier and happier, so I guess I'm doing it right. I'm
still giving them about a fourth of a cup of dry food in the evenings (I
can't help it, I worry that they'll get hungry during the night even though
they don't eat all of their canned). I do eventually want to stop the dry
food altogether, so when what I already have runs out I just won't buy any
more.

--


Great news.

Bubba is gradually shrinking a bit as well, with a similar effect.

I've completely (almost) cut him off human food and cut his
BubbaChow ration slightly.

I haven't weighed him lately. I guess I should.

He *is* more insistent that I get up in the morning ( 5:00AM, ick.)
to feed him but it's worth it if it makes him any healthier.

Actually, at this very moment he is letting on that it would be
perfectly acceptable to him if I left the computer and dealt
with the empty food dish. So I guess I will.

:^)

"Claude V. Lucas" wrote in message
...
In article ,
CatNipped wrote:
Sammy has now lost 15 ounces - just a few more and she'll be at her
desired
weight. She's more active too (I know how even a little bit of excess
weight "weighs" me down, so I think she's just feeling springier).
Jessie's
lost 6 ounces and she too is now at her desired weight. Demi has stayed
the
same weight (she was already purr-fect ;). Ozzy has put on 5 ounces and
Archer put on 3 (they'll be a year old at the end of April, so I'm not
worried about the small gain - I think they needed it for another growth
spurt).

All the cats seem healthier and happier, so I guess I'm doing it right.
I'm
still giving them about a fourth of a cup of dry food in the evenings (I
can't help it, I worry that they'll get hungry during the night even
though
they don't eat all of their canned). I do eventually want to stop the dry
food altogether, so when what I already have runs out I just won't buy any
more.

--


Great news.

Bubba is gradually shrinking a bit as well, with a similar effect.

I've completely (almost) cut him off human food and cut his
BubbaChow ration slightly.

I haven't weighed him lately. I guess I should.

He *is* more insistent that I get up in the morning ( 5:00AM, ick.)
to feed him but it's worth it if it makes him any healthier.

Actually, at this very moment he is letting on that it would be
perfectly acceptable to him if I left the computer and dealt
with the empty food dish. So I guess I will.

:^)

LOL! Maine Coons do love their dinner to be served on time! Does Bubba
like for you to hang around while he eats? Sammy will take a few bites,
look up to make sure I'm still there, then chow down again. I've read that
Maine Coons like constant companionship and Sammy proves that point.

Hugs,

CatNipped

wrote in message
...

On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 19:53:17 -0600, "CatNipped"
wrote:

All the cats seem healthier and happier, so I guess I'm doing it right.
I'm
still giving them about a fourth of a cup of dry food in the evenings (I
can't help it, I worry that they'll get hungry during the night even
though
they don't eat all of their canned). I do eventually want to stop the dry
food altogether, so when what I already have runs out I just won't buy any
more.

If you have non-carpeted floors, you can try the trick we use for Five.
We
throw her kibble down the hall a piece at a time and have her chase it.
Her
TED checkup & shots are this week and our tubby tabby is 10 lb 4 oz, down
from 10 lb 12 oz a couple of months back. Her weight fluctuates on how
many treats she can beg for from her daddy

We just got her a new toy that she's enjoying. It's a small bird that has
a
motion / shock sensor in it to trigger its sound chip - plays a chirping
bird sound. It has a Velcro pouch for stuffing in some catnip. Five
ignored the bird until I laced it with that kitty cannabis - I heard her
playing with it when no one else was in the room Then she gets the
zoomies and that helps burn some cals.

Kewl deal! I was thinking about getting one of those balls that they have
to bat around in order to get treats. One of Da Boyz is an expert treat
theif (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okCx7gWxZK0), so I have to lock up the
can of treat in the kitchen cubbard.

They all like catnip, so I'm going to look for the bird toy next time I go
to PetsMart.

Hugs,

CatNipped

--
mers
Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl
"One way that you can tell that 'Mythbusters' has been in the area
is to look for shrapnel in the trees." - Jamie Hyneman

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 4 Mar 2008 09:34:01 -0600, "CatNipped"
wrote:

We just got her a new toy that she's enjoying. It's a small bird that
has
a
motion / shock sensor in it to trigger its sound chip - plays a chirping
bird sound. It has a Velcro pouch for stuffing in some catnip. Five
ignored the bird until I laced it with that kitty cannabis - I heard her
playing with it when no one else was in the room Then she gets the
zoomies and that helps burn some cals.

Kewl deal! I was thinking about getting one of those balls that they have
to bat around in order to get treats. One of Da Boyz is an expert treat
theif (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okCx7gWxZK0), so I have to lock up
the
can of treat in the kitchen cubbard.

They all like catnip, so I'm going to look for the bird toy next time I go
to PetsMart.

I don't know if they have it at PetsMart, but I got this one at Wal*Mart.
Here's a web link from the manufacturer:
http://www.worldwise.com/chickchirp.html

I checked their product locator page for shops by my ZIP code and they all
seem to be Wal*Mart or Target carried products. Here's the locator page
for
you so you can see where they are by you. Select the "SmartyKat Chickadee
Chirp" from the product list.

http://www.worldwise.com/storelocator.html
--
mers
Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl
"One way that you can tell that 'Mythbusters' has been in the area
is to look for shrapnel in the trees." - Jamie Hyneman

THANKS! I'm always at Wally World - I'll check for it next time I'm there.
Looks really cute!

Hugs,

CatNipped

"Matthew" wrote in message
...

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
On Tue, 4 Mar 2008 09:34:01 -0600, "CatNipped"
wrote:

We just got her a new toy that she's enjoying. It's a small bird that
has
a
motion / shock sensor in it to trigger its sound chip - plays a
chirping
bird sound. It has a Velcro pouch for stuffing in some catnip. Five
ignored the bird until I laced it with that kitty cannabis - I heard
her
playing with it when no one else was in the room Then she gets the
zoomies and that helps burn some cals.

Kewl deal! I was thinking about getting one of those balls that they
have
to bat around in order to get treats. One of Da Boyz is an expert treat
theif (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okCx7gWxZK0), so I have to lock up
the
can of treat in the kitchen cubbard.

They all like catnip, so I'm going to look for the bird toy next time I
go
to PetsMart.

I don't know if they have it at PetsMart, but I got this one at
Wal*Mart.
Here's a web link from the manufacturer:
http://www.worldwise.com/chickchirp.html

I checked their product locator page for shops by my ZIP code and they
all
seem to be Wal*Mart or Target carried products. Here's the locator page
for
you so you can see where they are by you. Select the "SmartyKat
Chickadee
Chirp" from the product list.

http://www.worldwise.com/storelocator.html
--
mers
Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl
"One way that you can tell that 'Mythbusters' has been in the area
is to look for shrapnel in the trees." - Jamie Hyneman

THANKS! I'm always at Wally World - I'll check for it next time I'm
there. Looks really cute!

Hugs,

CatNipped
I had one of those and got rid of it the first night after 3 am all you
heard was chirp chirp chirp gets annoying after awhile like having a
Elmo doll; evil things they are


LOL! Da Boyz can achieve awakeness of mommy without a mere toy - they
freight-train me all night long! ;

Hugs,

CatNipped

On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 19:53:17 -0600, "CatNipped"
wrote:

Sammy has now lost 15 ounces - just a few more and she'll be at her desired
weight. She's more active too (I know how even a little bit of excess
weight "weighs" me down, so I think she's just feeling springier). Jessie's
lost 6 ounces and she too is now at her desired weight. Demi has stayed the
same weight (she was already purr-fect ;). Ozzy has put on 5 ounces and
Archer put on 3 (they'll be a year old at the end of April, so I'm not
worried about the small gain - I think they needed it for another growth
spurt).

All the cats seem healthier and happier, so I guess I'm doing it right. I'm
still giving them about a fourth of a cup of dry food in the evenings (I
can't help it, I worry that they'll get hungry during the night even though
they don't eat all of their canned). I do eventually want to stop the dry
food altogether, so when what I already have runs out I just won't buy any
more.


I just saw this conversation, sorry if I'm asking you to repeat old
information. What are you doing to get your cats to lose the weight?

I just had Onyx at the kitty doctor yesterday (he had an impacted
colon and had to have two enemas!) and the vet said that he needs to
lose some weight. He's very long and looks lean to me, but at 17
pounds he's a big boy. My other cat, Yoda, is much shorter and looks
fat (his belly sways back and forth and dusts the floor for me when he
walks). What's the secret to kitty weight loss without them crying
from being hungry all the time?

Thanks, Catnipped!

Zob


-----
Tact is for people who aren't witty enough to be sarcastic

"zob" zob@ cox.net wrote in message
...
On Sat, 1 Mar 2008 19:53:17 -0600, "CatNipped"
wrote:

Sammy has now lost 15 ounces - just a few more and she'll be at her
desired
weight. She's more active too (I know how even a little bit of excess
weight "weighs" me down, so I think she's just feeling springier).
Jessie's
lost 6 ounces and she too is now at her desired weight. Demi has stayed
the
same weight (she was already purr-fect ;). Ozzy has put on 5 ounces and
Archer put on 3 (they'll be a year old at the end of April, so I'm not
worried about the small gain - I think they needed it for another growth
spurt).

All the cats seem healthier and happier, so I guess I'm doing it right.
I'm
still giving them about a fourth of a cup of dry food in the evenings (I
can't help it, I worry that they'll get hungry during the night even
though
they don't eat all of their canned). I do eventually want to stop the dry
food altogether, so when what I already have runs out I just won't buy any
more.


I just saw this conversation, sorry if I'm asking you to repeat old
information. What are you doing to get your cats to lose the weight?

I just had Onyx at the kitty doctor yesterday (he had an impacted
colon and had to have two enemas!) and the vet said that he needs to
lose some weight. He's very long and looks lean to me, but at 17
pounds he's a big boy. My other cat, Yoda, is much shorter and looks
fat (his belly sways back and forth and dusts the floor for me when he
walks). What's the secret to kitty weight loss without them crying
from being hungry all the time?

Thanks, Catnipped!

Zob

Hey Zob! How's Yoda's weight? Could he stand to lose too or are you
dealing with just the one who needs to lose? I had that problem when Sammy
needed to lose a lot, Jessie needed to lose a little, Demi needed to stay
the same, and the two boys (under a year old) still had some developing to
do!!

Also, are both boys on an all dry food diet right now?

Sammy losing weight was only one issue I was worried about when I decided to
quit giving them dry food (my clowder of 5 were eating 8 cans of Fancy Feast
a day and about 2 cups of Science Diet dry). The main factor in me wanting
to switch to an all canned diet is that, for the first time I have boy cats
and I was worried about struvite crystals in their urine causing blockages
that are not only extremely painful, but could be fatal. The constipation
Onyx is experiencing could be helped by an all canned food diet if he's not
already.

What I did was really simple... I cut down their dry food to almost nothing
(they get less than a third of a cup for all 5 to share in the evenings so
they have a little something to snack on at night. When I drastically cut
back the dry food I added another can of Fancy Feast at each feeding (6AM
and 6PM), so now they're getting 10 cans of Fancy Feast a day. Just doing
that has got all of the on them right track - Jessie is now at her ideal
weight, Sammy still needs to lose a few ounces, Demi is the same, and both
boys have gained a few ounces.

Phil P. gave me the formula to use for determining how many calories each
should eat to maintain their weight: 16 k-calories per pound per day. Here
is the nutrition facts from Purina for Fancy Feast (you'd have to call or
write your pet food company to get this info if you're feeding them
something else): http://www.possibleplaces.com/Fancy%5FFeast%5FValues/.

Phil P. has a FANTASTIC web page on cat nutrition - he's spent years and
years researching this and has talked to many experts in cat nutrition:
http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm. In fact his entire web site
is a treasure trove of information about cats (he's a true blue
ailurophile): http://www.maxshouse.com/.

Hugs,

CatNipped



-----
Tact is for people who aren't witty enough to be sarcastic

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 6 Mar 2008 08:18:45 -0600, "CatNipped"
wrote:

What I did was really simple... I cut down their dry food to almost
nothing
(they get less than a third of a cup for all 5 to share in the evenings so
they have a little something to snack on at night. When I drastically cut
back the dry food I added another can of Fancy Feast at each feeding (6AM
and 6PM), so now they're getting 10 cans of Fancy Feast a day. Just doing
that has got all of the on them right track - Jessie is now at her ideal
weight, Sammy still needs to lose a few ounces, Demi is the same, and both
boys have gained a few ounces.

Congrats on the weight loss for your kitties. Five had her TED checkup &
annual shots today, and weighed in at 10 lb 2 oz - her lowest weight since
we adopted her on 3/24/04! She got as high as 12 lb several month after we
got her, mostly from free-feeding kibble (we rarely gave her human food).
Her first follow-up TED check told us she was heavier than we thought.

Congrats to you too! Exercise is the other thing I'm doing with Sammy,
playing with her with interactive toys and the laser pointer - although
getting Da Boyz has been the best exercise regimen I could have done for
her. They keep her running constantly (she always did love to play chase,
but with only older sisters for a while she had to settle for chasing and
being chased by mommy who is slow and tires out too quickly ;).


We also use an electronic timed talking feeder made by autopetfeeder.com
(http://autopetfeeder.com/p_8day.asp) to give her one-third of her food in
the morning (5:30 AM) and one-third in the afternoon (1:00 PM). She
doesn't
haunt us before we get up after her morning feeding. At night she gets
the
hand-tossed kibble for extra activity.

Have you thought about switching her to canned food? Cybercat experienced
the same kind of weight loss with her Boo as I did with Sammy just by
switching to canned. I was more concerned that my boys might develop
struvite crystals than I was with Sammy's weight loss, but that was an added
benefit.


Tonight we were at a "Fit or Fat" pet nutrition seminar at a local vet
clinic and picked up a bunch of info on nutrition, and contributed to the
group what worked for Five. It's surprising what human-healthy snacks were
also recommended for cats & dogs, including apples, melons and
cauliflower!
--

Hmmmm, Sammy always loved canteloupe, but doesn't much care for any other
human foods. I would think the fruits and vegetables would be OK for dogs,
but cats are obligate carnivores and I wouldn't want too much other than
meat in their diet. Are you sure they were recommending this for cats too
and not just dogs?

Hugs,

CatNipped

mers
Craig, Kathi & "Cat Five" the tabby girl
"One way that you can tell that 'Mythbusters' has been in the area
is to look for shrapnel in the trees." - Jamie Hyneman