Am i feeding my cat too much??
December 5, 2011 8:55 AM Subscribe
am i really over feeding my cat?
Ok, so my cat is getting heavier and heavier by the minute. We tried wet food early on but she would not digest or want to eat it.
So she is almost always eaten dry food. She is about a little older than 3 now.
In the last 2 years she put on 3 pounds! She is now 15lbs and 11 oz and was 15lbs 3 oz back in April..
We pretty much always fed them (i have 2, the other one is better weight wise) premium food such as wellness or blue buffalo.
Used to have her food out all day. Moved to twice a day about a month or 2 ago. They seemed fine with what I give them.
i have two cats, they get 1/4 cup each the morning and 1/4 cup at night of Avoderm wight control (314 calories/cup).
They usually finish but not always, so that is 1/2 cup each.
The bag tells me to feed them 1 1/3 cup a day! (which is double what i give them).
Now I know I am not supposed to feed them what is on the bag and that she does not move much all day, but I still feel it is weird she is putting on so much weight so quickly with that little calories/food intake
A lot of the food we have fed her over the years was also grain free.
I am currently trying to move them to wet food (wellness) again but they don't digest it and it is a nightmare. I might try again in a slower pace (started with a tablespoon a day for a few days then when to 1/4 of 3oz can for a couple days, then 1/2 can and the problems started)
Anything else I should be doing?
Ok, so my cat is getting heavier and heavier by the minute. We tried wet food early on but she would not digest or want to eat it.
So she is almost always eaten dry food. She is about a little older than 3 now.
In the last 2 years she put on 3 pounds! She is now 15lbs and 11 oz and was 15lbs 3 oz back in April..
We pretty much always fed them (i have 2, the other one is better weight wise) premium food such as wellness or blue buffalo.
Used to have her food out all day. Moved to twice a day about a month or 2 ago. They seemed fine with what I give them.
i have two cats, they get 1/4 cup each the morning and 1/4 cup at night of Avoderm wight control (314 calories/cup).
They usually finish but not always, so that is 1/2 cup each.
The bag tells me to feed them 1 1/3 cup a day! (which is double what i give them).
Now I know I am not supposed to feed them what is on the bag and that she does not move much all day, but I still feel it is weird she is putting on so much weight so quickly with that little calories/food intake
A lot of the food we have fed her over the years was also grain free.
I am currently trying to move them to wet food (wellness) again but they don't digest it and it is a nightmare. I might try again in a slower pace (started with a tablespoon a day for a few days then when to 1/4 of 3oz can for a couple days, then 1/2 can and the problems started)
Anything else I should be doing?
You need to visit your vet. If only one of your cats is having weight issues from what you feed, you may be dealing with thyroid or other issues in your fat cat. Get her an exam.
posted by freshwater at 8:58 AM on December 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by freshwater at 8:58 AM on December 5, 2011 [2 favorites]
Are you sure that the one that is gaining weight isn't eating more than its share?
posted by ArgentCorvid at 9:17 AM on December 5, 2011
posted by ArgentCorvid at 9:17 AM on December 5, 2011
Offhand, that's not a lot of food, but definitely see a vet. One of my cats gained a lot of weight at least in part to an undiagnosed kidney problem.
posted by mkultra at 9:34 AM on December 5, 2011
posted by mkultra at 9:34 AM on December 5, 2011
she does not move much all day
Why isn't she getting exercise? Try playing with her more in a way that gets her active.
posted by Obscure Reference at 9:44 AM on December 5, 2011
Why isn't she getting exercise? Try playing with her more in a way that gets her active.
posted by Obscure Reference at 9:44 AM on December 5, 2011
Maybe they'd do better with a less processed wet food? Our guy likes the Tiki Cat chicken flavors – they're mostly just shredded chicken.
posted by nicwolff at 9:52 AM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by nicwolff at 9:52 AM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
When you say that the cat doesn't move much all day it sounds like this is an indoors only cat--but if that's not the case, are you sure the cat isn't getting regular meals from a neighbor somewhere?
posted by yoink at 9:54 AM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by yoink at 9:54 AM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
We're trying to get one of our cats down to a healthy weight from 15lbs too (he's at 14.2 now), and the only thing that's helped is letting him outside to run around. But we're in a gated community with low traffic and a good courtyard in the back, so I felt it was a safe option. If that weren't possible for us, I'd just have to spend a lot more time keeping him active.
Our second cat is a little devil that doesn't stop burning calories. He will not sit still for more than a few minutes.
We talked to our vet to rule out any medical condition, and he gets weighed there every month to make sure he's doing alright. Vet's suggestion was a diet food if the exercise wasn't going to show much improvement, but it seems like chasing squirrels and birds did the trick.
We also bought this thing to encourage smaller dry portions, but our big cat seems to be either too stupid or too stubborn to figure it out..! So the little cat gets fed from there (he lost interest in the regular bowl once he discovered how fun that thing is), and big cat gets the bowl (and slightly smaller portions) to himself.
posted by Tequila Mockingbird at 9:58 AM on December 5, 2011
Our second cat is a little devil that doesn't stop burning calories. He will not sit still for more than a few minutes.
We talked to our vet to rule out any medical condition, and he gets weighed there every month to make sure he's doing alright. Vet's suggestion was a diet food if the exercise wasn't going to show much improvement, but it seems like chasing squirrels and birds did the trick.
We also bought this thing to encourage smaller dry portions, but our big cat seems to be either too stupid or too stubborn to figure it out..! So the little cat gets fed from there (he lost interest in the regular bowl once he discovered how fun that thing is), and big cat gets the bowl (and slightly smaller portions) to himself.
posted by Tequila Mockingbird at 9:58 AM on December 5, 2011
i found that my cats gained weight on weight-control formulas, and it turns out that they aren't as nutritionally dense, so the cats tend to eat more than they should.
definitely get the kitty checked out for medical issues - diabetes, thyroid, and kidney issues can all have weight-gain components.
figure out ways to get the kitty more activity, too. some cats are just plain resistant to movement (especially if they're having a secret territory war you know nothing about and they are trying to conserve "best spots" from another cat) and you have to do tricky things like lead them from room to room with a toy or treat they like more than being still. one of my least exercise-interested cats loved being put into a harness and allowed to roll around outside, but i understand that's pretty rare. still, maybe worth a try.
and the answer referenced above about cat food is excellent - i think it's even what led me to the research about the weight-control foods not working they way we'd expect.
posted by batmonkey at 10:27 AM on December 5, 2011
definitely get the kitty checked out for medical issues - diabetes, thyroid, and kidney issues can all have weight-gain components.
figure out ways to get the kitty more activity, too. some cats are just plain resistant to movement (especially if they're having a secret territory war you know nothing about and they are trying to conserve "best spots" from another cat) and you have to do tricky things like lead them from room to room with a toy or treat they like more than being still. one of my least exercise-interested cats loved being put into a harness and allowed to roll around outside, but i understand that's pretty rare. still, maybe worth a try.
and the answer referenced above about cat food is excellent - i think it's even what led me to the research about the weight-control foods not working they way we'd expect.
posted by batmonkey at 10:27 AM on December 5, 2011
She could be stealing the other cat's food, of course, but I'd take her to the vet because that seems like a lot of weight to gain, especially if the other cat isn't losing any poundage.
Also, maybe try again with different wet foods?
I'm convinced that my cats are both healthier now that they are on wet food. You can see it in their coats, activity level, pretty much everything. When I leave dry food out sometimes (if we are going to be away overnight, for example), my Maine Coon almost always ends up making himself sick and throwing it up; he never even has hairballs on the wet food.
I was buying mine expensive brands (like Wellness), but they prefer Fancy Feast, and it's still better than most dry foods, so I let them have it.
posted by misha at 11:07 AM on December 5, 2011
Also, maybe try again with different wet foods?
I'm convinced that my cats are both healthier now that they are on wet food. You can see it in their coats, activity level, pretty much everything. When I leave dry food out sometimes (if we are going to be away overnight, for example), my Maine Coon almost always ends up making himself sick and throwing it up; he never even has hairballs on the wet food.
I was buying mine expensive brands (like Wellness), but they prefer Fancy Feast, and it's still better than most dry foods, so I let them have it.
posted by misha at 11:07 AM on December 5, 2011
We've got 2 cats, one of which, Nefer, refuses to consider wet food (and people foods other than tuna, taco chips, and saltine crackers) to be food. She also porked up when we got a kitten and she discovered the kitten food.
Nefer didn't want to exercise and jump around chasing toys, so that wasn't going to be a perfect solution, but what worked was this cat feeder. They have to reach in and paw the kibble out, which meant that she stopped gorging herself on so much food and ate less. She gradually lost about a pound, pound and a half, and the vet likes her weight now. (She looks overweight because she's built really stocky - the vet says she's at a proper size for an indoor cat.)
Bonus: she stopped barfing so much, as gorging was causing a lot of that.
We tried those balls that you put food in and the cats have to bat at them to release kibble, but Nefer refused to touch it. She'd happily eat anything that fell out of it if *you* pushed it, but wouldn't do so herself.
We now feed them Felidae, because the Blue Buffalo was triggering crystal problems in the urine of Sora, the other cat. He gets Felidae wet food, and eats some of the dry while Nefer eats solely dry. We put out about 1/8-1/4 cup of food per cat each morning and each evening, but they rarely eat it all.
posted by telophase at 11:22 AM on December 5, 2011
Nefer didn't want to exercise and jump around chasing toys, so that wasn't going to be a perfect solution, but what worked was this cat feeder. They have to reach in and paw the kibble out, which meant that she stopped gorging herself on so much food and ate less. She gradually lost about a pound, pound and a half, and the vet likes her weight now. (She looks overweight because she's built really stocky - the vet says she's at a proper size for an indoor cat.)
Bonus: she stopped barfing so much, as gorging was causing a lot of that.
We tried those balls that you put food in and the cats have to bat at them to release kibble, but Nefer refused to touch it. She'd happily eat anything that fell out of it if *you* pushed it, but wouldn't do so herself.
We now feed them Felidae, because the Blue Buffalo was triggering crystal problems in the urine of Sora, the other cat. He gets Felidae wet food, and eats some of the dry while Nefer eats solely dry. We put out about 1/8-1/4 cup of food per cat each morning and each evening, but they rarely eat it all.
posted by telophase at 11:22 AM on December 5, 2011
I recently took my cat Roscoe to the vet for the same reason. He gained over 3 lbs in a matter of months. Check-up, bloodwork, x-ray, stool sample. Vet said that he's just fat. Feed him in a separate room from the other cats. That is not as easy as it sounds. And I feed them a quarter cup of dry and a tablespoon of wet food 2 x a day. My other cat Chico eats just as much and is skinny.
Please let us know what the vet says.
posted by mokeydraws at 11:54 AM on December 5, 2011
Please let us know what the vet says.
posted by mokeydraws at 11:54 AM on December 5, 2011
Take away 10% of whatever you feed her right now. See if there have been changes in two weeks. If none, take away another 5%. Continue doing this until you see a rate of (very slow) weight loss, then hold her food at that amount.
posted by Anonymous at 12:27 PM on December 5, 2011
posted by Anonymous at 12:27 PM on December 5, 2011
What kind of problems are you having with Wellness? I switched mine over recently from grocery store food and have been having...poop problems. I actually switched to grain-free food because of my fat cat's constipation problems and then ended up with the opposite problems. It took some time but I think they are adjusting to the food but I don't think my fat cat has lost any weight. I bought a variety of wet food - they love the Tiki sardines - and a couple of other types I got at the natural pet food store. Maybe that is the problem, but they mostly get Wellness now.
Another thing, I think the weight gain is a concern, but I think sometimes the vets are misguided. Mine says my fat cat(who weighs around 20lbs) should be 9lbs and I just don't see how that is possible. He is fat, but he is also a huge cat! If he weighed 9lbs he would be skin and bones. My other cat is the same size overall but not overweight, and he weighs around 15lbs. Both are indoor cats.
My cats also refuse to eat the weight control stuff. One of them actually acted insulted when I used to try to give it to him - he gave it a dismissive sniff and looked at me like I was trying to poison him.
posted by fromageball at 2:38 PM on December 5, 2011
Another thing, I think the weight gain is a concern, but I think sometimes the vets are misguided. Mine says my fat cat(who weighs around 20lbs) should be 9lbs and I just don't see how that is possible. He is fat, but he is also a huge cat! If he weighed 9lbs he would be skin and bones. My other cat is the same size overall but not overweight, and he weighs around 15lbs. Both are indoor cats.
My cats also refuse to eat the weight control stuff. One of them actually acted insulted when I used to try to give it to him - he gave it a dismissive sniff and looked at me like I was trying to poison him.
posted by fromageball at 2:38 PM on December 5, 2011
Response by poster: hi everyone, thanks for all the answers.. a little more info for you guys.. warning some tmi coming up!
The overweight cat is definitely overweight. She is a small build, has a big pouch around her stomach flabbing around when she moves, you can def. tell when she sits down as her head looks way too small for her body size.
They are both indoors, and can't go outside (no way to get them there).
She could be stealing food from her brother but I am not sure she does, since the other (leaner cat) is the domineering one and gets to eat first. He eats a good amount, but I will need to monitor that.
She is definitely a moody and sleepy cat, the other cat is quite playful/cudly and she hates it. We should try to play more with her, though it is tough as she is one of these cats that will often only play if she can stay lying down :)
she is a stessed cat, and has other issues: She has alopecia (licks and bite herself a lot) so she is almost bold on her entire underside. We have seen the vet many times about this and the food issue (we though the alopecia was food related, she always regurgitated a lot, now it seems now it is just cause she eats so much hair)
onto the TMI.. i am keeping tabs on them for the last week or so. We are seeing a pattern of vomitting due to hair balls (with bile) but also vomitting when eating the wet food.
The last couple feeding (last night and this morning) they did perfect and it was dry only.
then tonight I try .75 oz of wet mixed in with 1/8 cup of dry and she vomitted EVERYWHERE...
we are now feeding them in the bathroom only. I did give them hairball remedy too all week and will keep doing that daily.
I will try another wet food tomorrow (i have purina, which I know is not great but our income has also drastically changed). I have a vet appointment wednesday, i might ask to get blood work done or talk about all that. I will keep you posted
Now, the kitties are in a new home, we just moved and were stressed but it has been a week and they are doing fine now, coming out in the common area and being more social.
Regardless of what is going on, I will get an updated weight. She has been vomitting a lot so I am afraid that might sway the weight loss though but at least we will see how it has changed since a few weeks ago.
Overall, I only realized the weight gain once i got the vet's record since we moved. I am really surprised the vet did not say anything about it. She is obviously overweight, back at 13lbs in jan 2010, she was already labelled as obese on the vet's paperwork . Maybe they did not want to stress her more than she was already since (re: alopecia)?
I am pretty sure she needs to be a 11-12 lbs cat max.
posted by kirikara at 5:26 PM on December 5, 2011
The overweight cat is definitely overweight. She is a small build, has a big pouch around her stomach flabbing around when she moves, you can def. tell when she sits down as her head looks way too small for her body size.
They are both indoors, and can't go outside (no way to get them there).
She could be stealing food from her brother but I am not sure she does, since the other (leaner cat) is the domineering one and gets to eat first. He eats a good amount, but I will need to monitor that.
She is definitely a moody and sleepy cat, the other cat is quite playful/cudly and she hates it. We should try to play more with her, though it is tough as she is one of these cats that will often only play if she can stay lying down :)
she is a stessed cat, and has other issues: She has alopecia (licks and bite herself a lot) so she is almost bold on her entire underside. We have seen the vet many times about this and the food issue (we though the alopecia was food related, she always regurgitated a lot, now it seems now it is just cause she eats so much hair)
onto the TMI.. i am keeping tabs on them for the last week or so. We are seeing a pattern of vomitting due to hair balls (with bile) but also vomitting when eating the wet food.
The last couple feeding (last night and this morning) they did perfect and it was dry only.
then tonight I try .75 oz of wet mixed in with 1/8 cup of dry and she vomitted EVERYWHERE...
we are now feeding them in the bathroom only. I did give them hairball remedy too all week and will keep doing that daily.
I will try another wet food tomorrow (i have purina, which I know is not great but our income has also drastically changed). I have a vet appointment wednesday, i might ask to get blood work done or talk about all that. I will keep you posted
Now, the kitties are in a new home, we just moved and were stressed but it has been a week and they are doing fine now, coming out in the common area and being more social.
Regardless of what is going on, I will get an updated weight. She has been vomitting a lot so I am afraid that might sway the weight loss though but at least we will see how it has changed since a few weeks ago.
Overall, I only realized the weight gain once i got the vet's record since we moved. I am really surprised the vet did not say anything about it. She is obviously overweight, back at 13lbs in jan 2010, she was already labelled as obese on the vet's paperwork . Maybe they did not want to stress her more than she was already since (re: alopecia)?
I am pretty sure she needs to be a 11-12 lbs cat max.
posted by kirikara at 5:26 PM on December 5, 2011
Response by poster: adding that I had read the poste linked at the beginning of the thread. I agree is a MUST read...!
BElow is something that made me feel we were doing the right thing, at least if not doing wet food yet.
"If your cat won't make the change to canned food, consider feeding a high quality dry cat food where the first ingredient is *protein* and not corn, rice. etc. Also, gradually reduce the volume available to eat over a period of several weeks, your average cat should not be eating more than 1/4 to 1/3 a cup of dry cat food twice daily. No indoor cat should have access to food 24 hours a day unless it is a growing kitten."
then.. I went onto avoderm website for ingredients.. and I found Corn and RICE to be in the second and third place..! I stoppped looking at ingredients so much when we tried to switch to a lower cal food.
then i checked blue buffalo basics fish (the last I gave them) and it was better but second ingredients was rice again
then I checked blue buffalo indoor which is better but still has barley and rice..in the first 5
Vet recommended the Royal Canin MD rabbit dry food, but I have doubts about that brand but it sounds like there is no rice or corn in there.. just peas and rabbit. I have some.. thinking I should try switching them if wet food fails...
posted by kirikara at 5:37 PM on December 5, 2011
BElow is something that made me feel we were doing the right thing, at least if not doing wet food yet.
"If your cat won't make the change to canned food, consider feeding a high quality dry cat food where the first ingredient is *protein* and not corn, rice. etc. Also, gradually reduce the volume available to eat over a period of several weeks, your average cat should not be eating more than 1/4 to 1/3 a cup of dry cat food twice daily. No indoor cat should have access to food 24 hours a day unless it is a growing kitten."
then.. I went onto avoderm website for ingredients.. and I found Corn and RICE to be in the second and third place..! I stoppped looking at ingredients so much when we tried to switch to a lower cal food.
then i checked blue buffalo basics fish (the last I gave them) and it was better but second ingredients was rice again
then I checked blue buffalo indoor which is better but still has barley and rice..in the first 5
Vet recommended the Royal Canin MD rabbit dry food, but I have doubts about that brand but it sounds like there is no rice or corn in there.. just peas and rabbit. I have some.. thinking I should try switching them if wet food fails...
posted by kirikara at 5:37 PM on December 5, 2011
Years back I had a pair of very overweight kitties. At the rescue center they were fed Whiskas or something like that, when they came to live with me I upgraded them to Innova Evo Turkey Cat & Kitten Food--it is an extremely high-protein, grain-free dry food. The difference in switching food happened within a couple days--more energy, brighter eyes, soft coat, etc etc.
However, the weight loss only happened when I started monitoring their food intake. Feed your cats 2-3 times per day. Measure out their portions and give them 15-20 minutes to eat their food. They'll get used to needing to eat all of their food immediately within the first few meals. You have to feed them in different rooms. This is not as onerous as it seems--I feed them while I'm getting ready in the morning.
This is a pretty good ratings site of cat food and their quality and price. Alternatively, here is a write-up of cat food ratings I pulled from a pet subforum of another website (thread is here but not always accessible unless you have an account):
---
Good Dry Foods -- These are the few dry foods that are almost as good as canned food (in terms of being low in carbs and high in protein). If it weren't for the fact that they lack moisture, these would be equivalent to Premium or Good canned foods. These foods are also extremely dense in terms of calories per cup of food, so many cats will eat 1/3-1/2 cups a day or less. In short, you're getting more bang for your buck.
(For example, if you compare the costs based on calories (instead of lbs or kgs), Solid Gold Indigo Moon is cheaper than A LOT of dry foods, including Purina, lots of grocery store crap, and almost every food on the Acceptable list. These foods are expensive by the pound, but they really only cost $6-12 per month to feed an average sized cat.)
Innova EVO
Nature's Variety Instinct
Orijen
Solid Gold Indigo Moon
Wellness Core
Acceptable Dry Foods-- These foods use good ingredients, but they're too high in carbohydrates and/or too low in protein. Nutritionally, they're not as good as almost any canned food, but you could do a LOT worse. (These are mostly in the range of 25-30% carbohydrates; there are almost no canned foods this high in carbohydrates.)
Acana
Before Grain (Merrick)
Blue Buffalo
California Naturals
Chicken Soup
Halo/Spot's Stew
Felidae
Healthwise
Innova
Nature's Variety Prarie
Pinnacle
Solid Gold Katz-N-Flocken
Taste of the Wild (Rocky Mountain Formula)
Wellness (formulas other than "Core")
Poor Dry Foods -- These aren't quite as bad as the Awful Dry Foods, but they're close. These foods either have decent ingredients but huge amounts of carbohydrates, OR they have awful ingredients and moderate amounts of carbohydrates . Most of these are also pretty overpriced for what you're getting.
Authority
By Nature
Drs Foster & Smith
Eagle Pack
Eukanuba
Flint River Ranch
Natural Balance
Natural Ultramix
Nutro
Organix
Purina Pro Plan (regular & Selects)
Royal Canin
Taste of the Wild (Canyon River Formula)
Wysong
Awful Dry Foods -- These foods are the worst - awful ingredients and tons of carbs. They're loaded with corn, soy, and byproducts. Many of these contain the minimum amount of protein required to be legally labeled "cat food". Many contain more carbohydrates than protein, which is a recipe for greasy, obese, diabetic cats.
Fancy Feast
Friskies
Iams
Meow Mix
9-Lives
Purina Cat Chow
Purina ONE
Science Diet
Sophisticat
Special Kitty
Tender Vittles
Whiskas
-------------
posted by Anonymous at 7:55 PM on December 5, 2011
However, the weight loss only happened when I started monitoring their food intake. Feed your cats 2-3 times per day. Measure out their portions and give them 15-20 minutes to eat their food. They'll get used to needing to eat all of their food immediately within the first few meals. You have to feed them in different rooms. This is not as onerous as it seems--I feed them while I'm getting ready in the morning.
This is a pretty good ratings site of cat food and their quality and price. Alternatively, here is a write-up of cat food ratings I pulled from a pet subforum of another website (thread is here but not always accessible unless you have an account):
---
Good Dry Foods -- These are the few dry foods that are almost as good as canned food (in terms of being low in carbs and high in protein). If it weren't for the fact that they lack moisture, these would be equivalent to Premium or Good canned foods. These foods are also extremely dense in terms of calories per cup of food, so many cats will eat 1/3-1/2 cups a day or less. In short, you're getting more bang for your buck.
(For example, if you compare the costs based on calories (instead of lbs or kgs), Solid Gold Indigo Moon is cheaper than A LOT of dry foods, including Purina, lots of grocery store crap, and almost every food on the Acceptable list. These foods are expensive by the pound, but they really only cost $6-12 per month to feed an average sized cat.)
Innova EVO
Nature's Variety Instinct
Orijen
Solid Gold Indigo Moon
Wellness Core
Acceptable Dry Foods-- These foods use good ingredients, but they're too high in carbohydrates and/or too low in protein. Nutritionally, they're not as good as almost any canned food, but you could do a LOT worse. (These are mostly in the range of 25-30% carbohydrates; there are almost no canned foods this high in carbohydrates.)
Acana
Before Grain (Merrick)
Blue Buffalo
California Naturals
Chicken Soup
Halo/Spot's Stew
Felidae
Healthwise
Innova
Nature's Variety Prarie
Pinnacle
Solid Gold Katz-N-Flocken
Taste of the Wild (Rocky Mountain Formula)
Wellness (formulas other than "Core")
Poor Dry Foods -- These aren't quite as bad as the Awful Dry Foods, but they're close. These foods either have decent ingredients but huge amounts of carbohydrates, OR they have awful ingredients and moderate amounts of carbohydrates . Most of these are also pretty overpriced for what you're getting.
Authority
By Nature
Drs Foster & Smith
Eagle Pack
Eukanuba
Flint River Ranch
Natural Balance
Natural Ultramix
Nutro
Organix
Purina Pro Plan (regular & Selects)
Royal Canin
Taste of the Wild (Canyon River Formula)
Wysong
Awful Dry Foods -- These foods are the worst - awful ingredients and tons of carbs. They're loaded with corn, soy, and byproducts. Many of these contain the minimum amount of protein required to be legally labeled "cat food". Many contain more carbohydrates than protein, which is a recipe for greasy, obese, diabetic cats.
Fancy Feast
Friskies
Iams
Meow Mix
9-Lives
Purina Cat Chow
Purina ONE
Science Diet
Sophisticat
Special Kitty
Tender Vittles
Whiskas
-------------
posted by Anonymous at 7:55 PM on December 5, 2011
Response by poster: ok well sounds like the kitties are going to eat separately (we have time we work from home) and I will keep trying to switch them to wet food. I will to change what we do until after we see the vet this wednesday.
If I switch dry food, I should do the whole progressive thing right? my kitties always have trouble with regurgitating when switching food.
I wish some of the good food could be found in Europe too. We are moving in a month, so I might just wait to switch food completely once there..
posted by kirikara at 8:39 PM on December 5, 2011
If I switch dry food, I should do the whole progressive thing right? my kitties always have trouble with regurgitating when switching food.
I wish some of the good food could be found in Europe too. We are moving in a month, so I might just wait to switch food completely once there..
posted by kirikara at 8:39 PM on December 5, 2011
i'd definitely wait to do a big switch until after the move - that's a lot of stress for sensitive kitty tummies! and your instinct is right on - progressive switching is always best (unless it's an emergency, of course).
posted by batmonkey at 3:12 AM on December 6, 2011
posted by batmonkey at 3:12 AM on December 6, 2011
Response by poster: ok we are back from the vet. Getting the trouble kitty some blood/urine work done tomorrow.
Food will probably be changed but waiting to go to France, though I was a little shocked to hear the vet recomment science diet.. but anyway... No go to wet food since trouble kitty does not digest.
Thanks to you guys recommendation of feeding the cats separately! It was very interesting.
This is what i learned:
I am feeding them dry food only, 3 to 4x 1/8 cups a day ( so about a 1/3-1/2 cup).
Turns out that fat kitty is eating REALLY fast , whereas thin kitty NEVER finishes when I feed them in different rooms. soo now, he pretty much gets 6 food session a day and fat kitty gets 3. They get the same amount though.
But we discovered that the fat kitty was eating probably twice as much when they were fed together by doing this exercise. She probably was eating all her share plus finishing her brother's bowl.
She weighed in at 15 lbs 2oz today which is lighter than last time.
We are hoping to keep going this way and slowly slowly shed weight, maybe get to 13lbs in a year or more. They definitely are asking for food more than they used to, but I think they will settle fine.
As far as food, not sure yet what we will switch to. Royal Canin prescription rabbit and pea does not exist in France (confirmed by theur french office)
Might go to Orijen, though I thought I saw bad reviews on this food in Europe?? (like health/urinary issues)
posted by kirikara at 7:05 PM on December 8, 2011
Food will probably be changed but waiting to go to France, though I was a little shocked to hear the vet recomment science diet.. but anyway... No go to wet food since trouble kitty does not digest.
Thanks to you guys recommendation of feeding the cats separately! It was very interesting.
This is what i learned:
I am feeding them dry food only, 3 to 4x 1/8 cups a day ( so about a 1/3-1/2 cup).
Turns out that fat kitty is eating REALLY fast , whereas thin kitty NEVER finishes when I feed them in different rooms. soo now, he pretty much gets 6 food session a day and fat kitty gets 3. They get the same amount though.
But we discovered that the fat kitty was eating probably twice as much when they were fed together by doing this exercise. She probably was eating all her share plus finishing her brother's bowl.
She weighed in at 15 lbs 2oz today which is lighter than last time.
We are hoping to keep going this way and slowly slowly shed weight, maybe get to 13lbs in a year or more. They definitely are asking for food more than they used to, but I think they will settle fine.
As far as food, not sure yet what we will switch to. Royal Canin prescription rabbit and pea does not exist in France (confirmed by theur french office)
Might go to Orijen, though I thought I saw bad reviews on this food in Europe?? (like health/urinary issues)
posted by kirikara at 7:05 PM on December 8, 2011
Response by poster: new update:
we got the results (and the $$$ bill from the vet) and it sounds like my sad kitty has some white/red cell and protein in her urine. Vet thinks that it could be stress related. She had 10 days of antibiotics and then once in france we will have to do the same tests again to see if there is any difference.
She could also have urinary tract issues or kidney issues/failure. We are really upset that the last vet (which we saw 3 times in the last year specifically for this issue) did not run any test.
VEt also recommended NOT to change her food for t least a couple months/until we are settled as it would not do her good (more stress).
Sounds like we will be shipping some "crapy" avoderm food to france.at this point I dont care, i just want my kitty to feel better.
posted by kirikara at 2:18 PM on December 10, 2011
we got the results (and the $$$ bill from the vet) and it sounds like my sad kitty has some white/red cell and protein in her urine. Vet thinks that it could be stress related. She had 10 days of antibiotics and then once in france we will have to do the same tests again to see if there is any difference.
She could also have urinary tract issues or kidney issues/failure. We are really upset that the last vet (which we saw 3 times in the last year specifically for this issue) did not run any test.
VEt also recommended NOT to change her food for t least a couple months/until we are settled as it would not do her good (more stress).
Sounds like we will be shipping some "crapy" avoderm food to france.at this point I dont care, i just want my kitty to feel better.
posted by kirikara at 2:18 PM on December 10, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jquinby at 8:58 AM on December 5, 2011 [1 favorite]