Overweight cat always wanting more!!!

My cat is almost 6 years old and weighs 17 lbs. She is chewing on things
and meowing to wake me up in the morning so that I feed her. Because of her
weight problem, I feed her two 1/4 cup servings of IAMS dry weight control
cat food.

She is an inside cat, so she's not that active, but she has a little sister
cat, who is now 3 years old and they chase each other around. Her little
sister cat is now also is looking overweight and weighs around 15.5 lbs.,
and I've been feeding them both the same food and the same amount of food
for over 3 years now, and no results. Just lack of sleep for me!

I tried giving them more food so I could sleep, but then they looked like
they gained even more weight.

I have taken them to vet and asked him for advice, so he gave me Hills
Prescription Diet r/d and I tried that for a few months and there really
wasn't a change, so I went back to the IAMS weight control. My vet said
there isn't anything really wrong unless they both gain alot of weight fast.

What am I doing wrong? What should I do?

Please Help. Natalie

"natski13" wrote in message
...
My cat is almost 6 years old and weighs 17 lbs. She is chewing on things
and meowing to wake me up in the morning so that I feed her. Because of
her
weight problem, I feed her two 1/4 cup servings of IAMS dry weight control
cat food.


Get her off that stuff! My Boo got up to 18 lbs eating that stuff, although,
it is
true that I free fed her.

Your cat is frantic for food because you are feeding her grain and she needs
meat.

I switched to canned food, and on the advice of my vet, reduced her
quantity by 1/4 until she had attained her healthy weight (8 lbs).

See your vet to get the okay, then buy quality canned food (I define
this as real meat as the first ingredient, and by that I mean chicken,
turkey,
beef, salmon, or liver--NOT "byproducts"--and no wheat gluten or corn
meal. Don't go by labels, go by ingredients. I feed the varieties of Fancy
Feast that have meat as a first ingredient--Tender Beef Feast, Gourmet
Chicken, Tender Liver and Chicken and some of the sliced varieties.

Ask your vet, but I would start out feeding her three cans of FF (9 oz)
divided into two portions every 12 hours. So 1.5 cans twice a day. You
can also get larger cans in other brands--two of those are a bit over 10 oz
I think. She will keep bothering you for food but not as much and you will
see her coat get glossy and her energy improve.

cybercat wrote:
"natski13" wrote in message
...
My cat is almost 6 years old and weighs 17 lbs. She is chewing on things
and meowing to wake me up in the morning so that I feed her. Because of
her
weight problem, I feed her two 1/4 cup servings of IAMS dry weight control
cat food.


Get her off that stuff! My Boo got up to 18 lbs eating that stuff, although,
it is
true that I free fed her.

Your cat is frantic for food because you are feeding her grain and she needs
meat.

I switched to canned food, and on the advice of my vet, reduced her
quantity by 1/4 until she had attained her healthy weight (8 lbs).

See your vet to get the okay, then buy quality canned food (I define
this as real meat as the first ingredient, and by that I mean chicken,
turkey,
beef, salmon, or liver--NOT "byproducts"--and no wheat gluten or corn
meal. Don't go by labels, go by ingredients. I feed the varieties of Fancy
Feast that have meat as a first ingredient--Tender Beef Feast, Gourmet
Chicken, Tender Liver and Chicken and some of the sliced varieties.

Ask your vet, but I would start out feeding her three cans of FF (9 oz)
divided into two portions every 12 hours. So 1.5 cans twice a day. You
can also get larger cans in other brands--two of those are a bit over 10 oz
I think. She will keep bothering you for food but not as much and you will
see her coat get glossy and her energy improve.

What if a cat will not eat canned food? When we put down canned food
for our 15#, 2yr old cat, she licks the juice, and takes a bite and
then, looks for her dry food? Also, the canned food is terribly
expensive on a regular basis vs the dry food? Any suggestions? She
even prefers the lesser grade dry to the fancier grade dry? We started
her on "ONE" but she prefers other named lesser brand named foods if
they were in bowls side by side. Same with canned vs dry. The vet did
not mention "overweight" when she was counted at 15", but she is very
long too. How, do you know for sure when a cat is obese or big-boned
and normal for her particular structure? She runs constantly and jumps
and plays rough in our apartment and her coat is slick and shiny.
However, she does look "pregnant" though spayed.

When I adopted our 4 year old kitty from the shelter last year, I
talked to his former owners who fed him nothing but hard food. If you
read more on this list, you will see that most of us feel that it is
better to feed canned because the cats get more moisture that way and
avoid kidney problems. I fed our kitty canned food from the get go and
haven't had a problem. If you don't offer anything else, or don't cave
it they will eat it. I, too, use Fancy Feast and always have for the
past 30 years or so. My cats live to be 20. Once in a while I will
sprinkle some hard food on the top, but he will eat the canned food
first and leave the hard food until he is hungry and I am not around.
He weighs 11 pounds - the vet would like him to weigh 10.5. He is a
Maine Coon [I think he was the runt of the litter as his bones aren't
as big as most Maine Coons]. I think they say that if you can't feel a
cats ribs, they are over weight. Having an over weight cat will only
bring on more health issues down the line.

Bttngl wrote:
cybercat wrote:
"natski13" wrote in message
...
My cat is almost 6 years old and weighs 17 lbs. She is chewing on things
and meowing to wake me up in the morning so that I feed her. Because of
her
weight problem, I feed her two 1/4 cup servings of IAMS dry weight control
cat food.


Get her off that stuff! My Boo got up to 18 lbs eating that stuff, although,
it is
true that I free fed her.

Your cat is frantic for food because you are feeding her grain and she needs
meat.

I switched to canned food, and on the advice of my vet, reduced her
quantity by 1/4 until she had attained her healthy weight (8 lbs).

See your vet to get the okay, then buy quality canned food (I define
this as real meat as the first ingredient, and by that I mean chicken,
turkey,
beef, salmon, or liver--NOT "byproducts"--and no wheat gluten or corn
meal. Don't go by labels, go by ingredients. I feed the varieties of Fancy
Feast that have meat as a first ingredient--Tender Beef Feast, Gourmet
Chicken, Tender Liver and Chicken and some of the sliced varieties.

Ask your vet, but I would start out feeding her three cans of FF (9 oz)
divided into two portions every 12 hours. So 1.5 cans twice a day. You
can also get larger cans in other brands--two of those are a bit over 10 oz
I think. She will keep bothering you for food but not as much and you will
see her coat get glossy and her energy improve.

What if a cat will not eat canned food? When we put down canned food
for our 15#, 2yr old cat, she licks the juice, and takes a bite and
then, looks for her dry food? Also, the canned food is terribly
expensive on a regular basis vs the dry food? Any suggestions? She
even prefers the lesser grade dry to the fancier grade dry? We started
her on "ONE" but she prefers other named lesser brand named foods if
they were in bowls side by side. Same with canned vs dry. The vet did
not mention "overweight" when she was counted at 15", but she is very
long too. How, do you know for sure when a cat is obese or big-boned
and normal for her particular structure? She runs constantly and jumps
and plays rough in our apartment and her coat is slick and shiny.
However, she does look "pregnant" though spayed.

I forgot to mention - I feed my cat a can of Fancy Feast in the morning
and one at night with maybe a tablespoon of hard food for hairball
control. He doesn't beg for food. He seems content with this amount.
He is an inside kitty, but we do play a lot and he runs up and down the
stairs and though the house when his imaginary goblin is chasing him!


Bttngl wrote:
cybercat wrote:
"natski13" wrote in message
...
My cat is almost 6 years old and weighs 17 lbs. She is chewing on things
and meowing to wake me up in the morning so that I feed her. Because of
her
weight problem, I feed her two 1/4 cup servings of IAMS dry weight control
cat food.


Get her off that stuff! My Boo got up to 18 lbs eating that stuff, although,
it is
true that I free fed her.

Your cat is frantic for food because you are feeding her grain and she needs
meat.

I switched to canned food, and on the advice of my vet, reduced her
quantity by 1/4 until she had attained her healthy weight (8 lbs).

See your vet to get the okay, then buy quality canned food (I define
this as real meat as the first ingredient, and by that I mean chicken,
turkey,
beef, salmon, or liver--NOT "byproducts"--and no wheat gluten or corn
meal. Don't go by labels, go by ingredients. I feed the varieties of Fancy
Feast that have meat as a first ingredient--Tender Beef Feast, Gourmet
Chicken, Tender Liver and Chicken and some of the sliced varieties.

Ask your vet, but I would start out feeding her three cans of FF (9 oz)
divided into two portions every 12 hours. So 1.5 cans twice a day. You
can also get larger cans in other brands--two of those are a bit over 10 oz
I think. She will keep bothering you for food but not as much and you will
see her coat get glossy and her energy improve.

What if a cat will not eat canned food? When we put down canned food
for our 15#, 2yr old cat, she licks the juice, and takes a bite and
then, looks for her dry food? Also, the canned food is terribly
expensive on a regular basis vs the dry food? Any suggestions? She
even prefers the lesser grade dry to the fancier grade dry? We started
her on "ONE" but she prefers other named lesser brand named foods if
they were in bowls side by side. Same with canned vs dry. The vet did
not mention "overweight" when she was counted at 15", but she is very
long too. How, do you know for sure when a cat is obese or big-boned
and normal for her particular structure? She runs constantly and jumps
and plays rough in our apartment and her coat is slick and shiny.
However, she does look "pregnant" though spayed.

Tomorrow, I will take up my cat's dry food and try, as you suggest one
Fancy Feast morning and night and hold off of hard food only if she
wants something in between. You say it helps with hairballs and she
does have problems with that. We take up all food at night in an effort
to help with her weight problem as it is. She has adjusted to that -
just attacks us at 5:30 am with extreme purpose in mind. lol

Buddy wrote:
I forgot to mention - I feed my cat a can of Fancy Feast in the morning
and one at night with maybe a tablespoon of hard food for hairball
control. He doesn't beg for food. He seems content with this amount.
He is an inside kitty, but we do play a lot and he runs up and down the
stairs and though the house when his imaginary goblin is chasing him!


Bttngl wrote:
cybercat wrote:
"natski13" wrote in message
...
My cat is almost 6 years old and weighs 17 lbs. She is chewing on things
and meowing to wake me up in the morning so that I feed her. Because of
her
weight problem, I feed her two 1/4 cup servings of IAMS dry weight control
cat food.


Get her off that stuff! My Boo got up to 18 lbs eating that stuff, although,
it is
true that I free fed her.

Your cat is frantic for food because you are feeding her grain and she needs
meat.

I switched to canned food, and on the advice of my vet, reduced her
quantity by 1/4 until she had attained her healthy weight (8 lbs).

See your vet to get the okay, then buy quality canned food (I define
this as real meat as the first ingredient, and by that I mean chicken,
turkey,
beef, salmon, or liver--NOT "byproducts"--and no wheat gluten or corn
meal. Don't go by labels, go by ingredients. I feed the varieties of Fancy
Feast that have meat as a first ingredient--Tender Beef Feast, Gourmet
Chicken, Tender Liver and Chicken and some of the sliced varieties.

Ask your vet, but I would start out feeding her three cans of FF (9 oz)
divided into two portions every 12 hours. So 1.5 cans twice a day. You
can also get larger cans in other brands--two of those are a bit over 10 oz
I think. She will keep bothering you for food but not as much and you will
see her coat get glossy and her energy improve.

What if a cat will not eat canned food? When we put down canned food
for our 15#, 2yr old cat, she licks the juice, and takes a bite and
then, looks for her dry food? Also, the canned food is terribly
expensive on a regular basis vs the dry food? Any suggestions? She
even prefers the lesser grade dry to the fancier grade dry? We started
her on "ONE" but she prefers other named lesser brand named foods if
they were in bowls side by side. Same with canned vs dry. The vet did
not mention "overweight" when she was counted at 15", but she is very
long too. How, do you know for sure when a cat is obese or big-boned
and normal for her particular structure? She runs constantly and jumps
and plays rough in our apartment and her coat is slick and shiny.
However, she does look "pregnant" though spayed.

I use the Royal Canin [sp] for indoor kitties that is supposed to help
with hairballs - and I only give about a tablespoon per day., Now my
kitty may have been trying to win me over coming from the shelter - so
it may take yours a little longer. I do think you will find a
difference if you are able to hold out long enough to win her over!
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. I also only have fresh
water available - no milk. My kitty stays in bed AFTER the alarm goes
off - I have to move him so I can get up!!! He is the purrrfect
kitty!!!



Bttngl wrote:
Tomorrow, I will take up my cat's dry food and try, as you suggest one
Fancy Feast morning and night and hold off of hard food only if she
wants something in between. You say it helps with hairballs and she
does have problems with that. We take up all food at night in an effort
to help with her weight problem as it is. She has adjusted to that -
just attacks us at 5:30 am with extreme purpose in mind. lol

Buddy wrote:
I forgot to mention - I feed my cat a can of Fancy Feast in the morning
and one at night with maybe a tablespoon of hard food for hairball
control. He doesn't beg for food. He seems content with this amount.
He is an inside kitty, but we do play a lot and he runs up and down the
stairs and though the house when his imaginary goblin is chasing him!


Bttngl wrote:
cybercat wrote:
"natski13" wrote in message
...
My cat is almost 6 years old and weighs 17 lbs. She is chewing on things
and meowing to wake me up in the morning so that I feed her. Because of
her
weight problem, I feed her two 1/4 cup servings of IAMS dry weight control
cat food.


Get her off that stuff! My Boo got up to 18 lbs eating that stuff, although,
it is
true that I free fed her.

Your cat is frantic for food because you are feeding her grain and she needs
meat.

I switched to canned food, and on the advice of my vet, reduced her
quantity by 1/4 until she had attained her healthy weight (8 lbs).

See your vet to get the okay, then buy quality canned food (I define
this as real meat as the first ingredient, and by that I mean chicken,
turkey,
beef, salmon, or liver--NOT "byproducts"--and no wheat gluten or corn
meal. Don't go by labels, go by ingredients. I feed the varieties of Fancy
Feast that have meat as a first ingredient--Tender Beef Feast, Gourmet
Chicken, Tender Liver and Chicken and some of the sliced varieties.

Ask your vet, but I would start out feeding her three cans of FF (9 oz)
divided into two portions every 12 hours. So 1.5 cans twice a day. You
can also get larger cans in other brands--two of those are a bit over 10 oz
I think. She will keep bothering you for food but not as much and you will
see her coat get glossy and her energy improve.

What if a cat will not eat canned food? When we put down canned food
for our 15#, 2yr old cat, she licks the juice, and takes a bite and
then, looks for her dry food? Also, the canned food is terribly
expensive on a regular basis vs the dry food? Any suggestions? She
even prefers the lesser grade dry to the fancier grade dry? We started
her on "ONE" but she prefers other named lesser brand named foods if
they were in bowls side by side. Same with canned vs dry. The vet did
not mention "overweight" when she was counted at 15", but she is very
long too. How, do you know for sure when a cat is obese or big-boned
and normal for her particular structure? She runs constantly and jumps
and plays rough in our apartment and her coat is slick and shiny.
However, she does look "pregnant" though spayed.

Thank you! I will try feeding some canned food. my other cat is a fussy
eater, but she's not the one who has an eating problem. My over weight cat
will eat anything! I'll try the wet FF food and see if it helps!

thanks again!

"cybercat" wrote in message
...

"natski13" wrote in message
...
My cat is almost 6 years old and weighs 17 lbs. She is chewing on things
and meowing to wake me up in the morning so that I feed her. Because of
her
weight problem, I feed her two 1/4 cup servings of IAMS dry weight
control
cat food.


Get her off that stuff! My Boo got up to 18 lbs eating that stuff,
although,
it is
true that I free fed her.

Your cat is frantic for food because you are feeding her grain and she
needs
meat.

I switched to canned food, and on the advice of my vet, reduced her
quantity by 1/4 until she had attained her healthy weight (8 lbs).

See your vet to get the okay, then buy quality canned food (I define
this as real meat as the first ingredient, and by that I mean chicken,
turkey,
beef, salmon, or liver--NOT "byproducts"--and no wheat gluten or corn
meal. Don't go by labels, go by ingredients. I feed the varieties of Fancy
Feast that have meat as a first ingredient--Tender Beef Feast, Gourmet
Chicken, Tender Liver and Chicken and some of the sliced varieties.

Ask your vet, but I would start out feeding her three cans of FF (9 oz)
divided into two portions every 12 hours. So 1.5 cans twice a day. You
can also get larger cans in other brands--two of those are a bit over 10
oz
I think. She will keep bothering you for food but not as much and you will
see her coat get glossy and her energy improve.

Thank for the advice. I'll try the wet food! At least if she looses weight
and is more
energetic that's what I care about! Just want her to be happy, and for me to
get some sleep.
Closing the bedroom door doesn't always help because then she'll just bang
on it until
I open it! cats are very persistent.

Thank you again!

"cybercat" wrote in message
...

"natski13" wrote in message
...
My cat is almost 6 years old and weighs 17 lbs. She is chewing on things
and meowing to wake me up in the morning so that I feed her. Because of
her
weight problem, I feed her two 1/4 cup servings of IAMS dry weight
control
cat food.


Get her off that stuff! My Boo got up to 18 lbs eating that stuff,
although,
it is
true that I free fed her.

Your cat is frantic for food because you are feeding her grain and she
needs
meat.

I switched to canned food, and on the advice of my vet, reduced her
quantity by 1/4 until she had attained her healthy weight (8 lbs).

See your vet to get the okay, then buy quality canned food (I define
this as real meat as the first ingredient, and by that I mean chicken,
turkey,
beef, salmon, or liver--NOT "byproducts"--and no wheat gluten or corn
meal. Don't go by labels, go by ingredients. I feed the varieties of Fancy
Feast that have meat as a first ingredient--Tender Beef Feast, Gourmet
Chicken, Tender Liver and Chicken and some of the sliced varieties.

Ask your vet, but I would start out feeding her three cans of FF (9 oz)
divided into two portions every 12 hours. So 1.5 cans twice a day. You
can also get larger cans in other brands--two of those are a bit over 10
oz
I think. She will keep bothering you for food but not as much and you will
see her coat get glossy and her energy improve.

"natski13" wrote in message
...
Thank for the advice. I'll try the wet food! At least if she looses weight
and is more
energetic that's what I care about! Just want her to be happy, and for me
to
get some sleep.
Closing the bedroom door doesn't always help because then she'll just bang
on it until
I open it! cats are very persistent.

Thank you again!



I think you will be pleased with the results! If she is really interfering
with your sleep, you might think about shutting her in a room as far
as possible from you and investing in a hepa filter to keep near you
while you sleep. The "white noise" of the filter drowns out most sounds.
Good luck, I hope kitty loses weight.