My cats are obese

Rebecca_Claire

But the dog is in perfect health!  Poor kitties are on a new prescription food and a much more restricted diet.  I followed all of the instructions from the Banfield vet (who told me they weren't actually fat because they have big heads and thus big bones), and India put on weight.  I'm glad I switched vets, but geez!  To learn that not only are your cats not "big boned" but they're beyond just chubby and all the way to obese.  I knew they were fat, but the new vet told me all of the health problems we need to look out for like spine and knee injuries!  My poor babies!  At least we're doing something about it now and not after injuries.  I'm all worried about them.  Plus Rupert has a heart murmur and may need more tests and medication.  We have to get him on the new diet first, though.  Oh, what a stressful visit!  We spent and hour and a half with the vet getting their check up, shots, and new feeding instructions.  I wish I could walk them on a leash like the dog.  But we've started the diet today, and hopefully everyone can get in shape together (because I know I need to!)  We'll spur each other on!

dharmabunny

Re: fat kitties.  Once you get them started on their diet and try to get them to exercise some (yeah yeah, like that works) the pounds will eventually come off and the health issues will diminish.

We got our first kitty from the shelter as a fat kitty, vet point blank said she needed to lose weight. We had to start our one on diet wet food.  I figured out the total caloric content she needed for the day and that's all she got.  And we're hard-hearted enough not to feed extra because the cat doth protest too much.  Luvvin was plenty of treat for her.  She's back to normal weight, but both kitties now eat wet.  Major PITA, but will be worth it in the long run.

Good luck with the heart murmur.  Hopefully it's not a big deal.  My folks had a dog with a heart murmur her entire life.  Granted she was never medicated, but it was important to know especially for anaesthesia purposes.  She lived to be 18 years old and died of kidney failure.

klv

I am dreading my next vet visit because of this. My cat is such a chunk....15lbs! In her defense though, she is very long (tall?). She can stand up on her back legs and reach door handles and manages to stretch all the way across our queen size bed. She is very active, just chubby. Good luck with the diet, once they start to loose weight, the risk of the health problems will go away.

Rebecca_Claire

They seem to be okay with the diet so far, but it's just stage one.  Next week we drop them from 3 feedings to 2 per day.  But they like the prescription diet food better than their old stuff, so that's good.  Poor India has spent all day laying around and looking depressed, though.  He's the really chunky one, so I know the diet will be harder on him.  Especially because we're supposed to take Rupert aside and give him a little more since he's the smaller one and doesn't need to lose as much weight.  Poor babies!  I will be hard-hearted though.  It's easier because we have a self-timing feeder, so I don't ever touch the food except to refill it.  They'll just sit and whine at it, I hope. 

Thanks for the encouragement!  GL klv at your next vet trip.  My cat's are not active, so at least you have that going for you!

dharmabunny

One other thing you may really need to watch, especially with two cats.  Encroaching and poaching.  If one cat finishes first and is still hungry, and the other hasn't finished, hungry kitty may push the other aside to eat their share.

This is one of the hardest thing about feeding our two.  So you may need to consider what to do if this is a rampant problem.

Rebecca_Claire

We have been instructed to take Rupert aside once a day and give him a little bit more to eat.  First we have to get them down to two feedings a day.  The vet said not to drop their food too fast, so we've actually cut it in half, and they still have food left in the bowl all of the time.  We'll see what happens when we're completely on the low-cal food and then when we drop it by another third.  So far so good.  India is just still pissed about the new dog and doesn't seem to be worried about the food.