Fat cat -- what (if anything) to do?

Tweaker has gotten pretty fat. Not disgustingly fat, but quite plump.
He seems to be the picture of health and contentment, but he's an
indoor cat with not much inclination to physical exertion.

I give him two small handfuls of urinary-tract-health kibbles each
day, and I rarely give him food treats of any kind.

Any suggestions?

Charlie

"Charlie Wilkes" wrote in message

|| Tweaker has gotten pretty fat. Not disgustingly fat, but quite
|| plump. He seems to be the picture of health and contentment, but
|| he's an indoor cat with not much inclination to physical exertion.
||
|| I give him two small handfuls of urinary-tract-health kibbles each
|| day, and I rarely give him food treats of any kind.
||
|| Any suggestions?
||
|| Charlie

If you are so inclined you can build muscle on a cat simply by being a bit
rough with it (not hurtful)
When stroking a cat on your lap or where ever put a bit of force in it
pushing cat away

Usually cats like this when they have had enough they usually let you know
(ouch) or walk away. Often coming back for similar treatment

Get a good cat brush. My favourite is a hand held scrubbing brush made of
wood and straw cheap enough to throw away and do not seem to create static
electricity

I also advocate a feeding supplement called Yakult from your grocery store a
teaspoon mixed with food and you drink the rest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakult
I'm told not available in USa but I suspect it or equivalent would be sold
under another name. This bacteria will survive the stomach cleaning both
upper and lower intestinal tract (basically it gives you and cat a good
number two)

--

Petzl
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on Thu, 02 Nov 2006 02:42:52 GMT, Charlie Wilkes
wrote:

Tweaker has gotten pretty fat. Not disgustingly fat, but quite plump.
He seems to be the picture of health and contentment, but he's an
indoor cat with not much inclination to physical exertion.

I give him two small handfuls of urinary-tract-health kibbles each
day, and I rarely give him food treats of any kind.

Any suggestions?

Charlie


engage him him play! Tease him with toys and get him chasing them. He
needs exercise, but since he is an indoor cat, you need to get him moving
with some fun.

--
Lynne

"Charlie Wilkes" wrote in message
...
Tweaker has gotten pretty fat. Not disgustingly fat, but quite plump.
He seems to be the picture of health and contentment, but he's an
indoor cat with not much inclination to physical exertion.

I give him two small handfuls of urinary-tract-health kibbles each
day, and I rarely give him food treats of any kind.

Any suggestions?


Canned food, every 12 hours, reduce it by 1/4 until he reaches
optimal weight. My vet's suggestion, and our cat went from 18
pounds to nine pounds. She is 12 now and staying at 8.5-9
pounds. She gets some dry treats every now and then. She is
a much happier cat. She zips around instead of lumbering.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Canned food, every 12 hours, reduce it by 1/4 until he reaches
optimal weight. My vet's suggestion, and our cat went from 18
pounds to nine pounds. She is 12 now and staying at 8.5-9
pounds. She gets some dry treats every now and then. She is
a much happier cat. She zips around instead of lumbering.

I second this. My cat lost weight the same way. Remember, it's
important for a cat to lose weight slowly. For more info, see Tucker's
weight loss web page:
http://community-2.webtv.net/getcathelp/tucker/

"Rene S." wrote:

Remember, it's
important for a cat to lose weight slowly. For more info, see Tucker's
weight loss web page:
http://community-2.webtv.net/getcathelp/tucker/


Excellent point. I forgot to mention, it took Boo about a year
to lose the nine pounds. And--it was only good for her to lose
that much because he is a petite, small-boned female.

Also--her fur is shinier, and her energy is better. She is
a tuxedo cat, with black fur, and she used to have dandruff
but that stopped when I got her off dry and onto canned food.
She looks forward to meal time more than she used to (if that
is possible, lol) and it is obvious that the canned food is more
satisfying. I wish I had done this years ago.

cybercat wrote:
"Rene S." wrote:

Remember, it's
important for a cat to lose weight slowly. For more info, see Tucker's
weight loss web page:
http://community-2.webtv.net/getcathelp/tucker/


Excellent point. I forgot to mention, it took Boo about a year
to lose the nine pounds. And--it was only good for her to lose
that much because he is a petite, small-boned female.

Also--her fur is shinier, and her energy is better. She is
a tuxedo cat, with black fur, and she used to have dandruff
but that stopped when I got her off dry and onto canned food.
She looks forward to meal time more than she used to (if that
is possible, lol) and it is obvious that the canned food is more
satisfying. I wish I had done this years ago.

Yes, I can also attest to better overall health, plus oddly enough,
Tucker has not had a single hairball since switching to canned (though
I have since switched him to Nature's Variety raw, still no hairballs).
He has more energy and his fur is beautiful. If I'd have known canned
was so great, I'd have never used dry.

"cybercat" wrote in message

Canned food, every 12 hours, reduce it by 1/4 until he reaches
optimal weight. My vet's suggestion, and our cat went from 18
pounds to nine pounds. She is 12 now and staying at 8.5-9
pounds. She gets some dry treats every now and then. She is
a much happier cat. She zips around instead of lumbering.

I have four cats, all littermates, age 7. Two are fat and two are normal
weight. How do I get the chubbettes to lose weight without starving the
skinny ones? I don't think they'll jump on the treadmill.

Thanks for all your ideas.

Tweaker actually is quite playful but perhaps I could try to play with
him more. He spends a lot of time underfoot or in my lap, and I tend
to give him a vigorous massage quite often, which he likes.

Canned food... it doesn't seem to agree with him (diarrhea &
vomiting). I suppose I could try other brands, but I've gone through
quite a few. He drinks a lot of water, which I assume mitigates the
health risks of dry food.

For now, I am giving him smaller rations of kibbles, which he seems to
tolerate fine. He's probably about 3 pounds overweight. Mostly I
just don't want him to keep getting fatter. I seem to have noticed a
spike in his weight in the last couple of months. During the summer,
I allowed him outside for supervised walks, which works fine with him
as he tags along closely. But now the weather is too cold and wet,
and he wants to stay inside.

Charlie

cat wrote:

I have four cats, all littermates, age 7. Two are fat and two are normal
weight. How do I get the chubbettes to lose weight without starving the
skinny ones? I don't think they'll jump on the treadmill.

That's always been our problem too. We have some that are almost too
skinny and a couple that are definitely chubby.

I think the only way to do it is feed them separately. I haven't quite
figured out how to do that without adding a lot of complications to the
day. The skinny ones tend to be the nibblers who eat throughout the day.

Rhonda