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feeding question for big cat
I have a Maine Co0n cat and he is about 20 pounds. We just found out that he has the congenital heart disease, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy along with early stages of congestive heart failure. We saw a cardiologist and then we visited a new vet today. He said he needs to lose a lot of weight which will be hard for my cat since he isn't supposed to have any activity really due to his heart disease. We were told that he is to be completely sedentary.
We feed our cat a small (3 oz I think) can of wellness canned food in the morning, 1/4 cup wellness dry food at lunch, and another small 3 oz. can of wellness canned food in the evening. The new vet told me to cut everything in half! This seems really extreme to me. I feel like I'm starving my cat. I would just like to see what some of you have to say about it. I am willing to do absolutely anything to help the health of my cat and to help him lose weight to help his heart but do you guys think that this is enough food for him?
Any thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated! TIA!
Re: feeding question for big cat
I really do not know his ideal weight. I rescued him from outside last year and he was 12 pounds. He was super skinny and malnourished, in my opinion. The vet said he needs to lose as much as possible to help his heart. He is chubby in the stomach and can definitely stand to lose weight but I just don't like cutting his food in half. The last thing I want to do is stress him out with his heart condition.
Honestly, that's not much food at all. We feed our 9 lb cat (and he maintains a weight of 9 lbs) one 5.5 oz can of wet food a day. You're not doing much more than that for your bigger cat. I think the amount of food that you are feeding him is perfectly healthy.
ETA: After giving it more thought-- this works well for Sherlock because he's a little monster and he runs around constantly. I would probably back down the food a little but not a ton. Maybe cut out the dry completely?
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I would start cutting his food gradually. A lot of what you're doing is perfect: you're feeding a good food, you're feeding wet food and you're feeding multiple meals. All of that helps with weight loss. I would start by cutting his weight food slightly, so 3/4 of a can in the morning and at night, and leave the dry food where it is. In two weeks, reduce his food a tiny bit more, half a can in the morning, regular dry food, 3/4 of a can at night. Once he is closer to a weight you're comfortable with keep feeding that amount.
I absolutely get it, one of my dogs is overweight and is definitely pre-disposed to being overweight. But he had a medical issue which was exacerbated by his weight this year and it was a kick in the ass for me. We reduced his food from a cup and half per day to a cup and a quarter and he lost 4 pounds in four months. The small decrease has not been traumatic for him and seeing that a little effort on my part made such a big difference was really really satisfying.
Also, I am very sorry for his diagnosis. I hope you guys are able to get it under control with meds and he lives a long and happy life.
I agree with pps' suggestion to reduce the food quantity very gradually, and make any food changes gradually if you try to switch. Not to scare you, but cats who go for several days without eating or who lose a significant amount of weight too quickly can develop a condition called hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver), which is treatable but can be deadly if caught too late. We had a cat who went through (and recovered from) this condition, so I always like to give that PSA.
No one's mentioned diet food yet, which is good, but I would add that in my personal experience, with my cat who's going through renal failure, feeding smaller quantities of a good quality, highly digestable food is better than feeding more of a low protein "diet" food. We had him on a low protein food for a while, and he lost a lot of muscle tone and just looked and acted weaker over all.
Good luck with your kitty! It is so hard when they're going through something like this, but I am sure he appreciates all the love and care you're giving him.
"The hardest thing is to live richly in the present without letting it be tainted out of fear for the future or regret for the past." - Sylvia Plath
Thank you so much for all of your opinions. I am definitely going to do it gradually with the amounts that you mentioned. Hearing your story with your dogs weight loss gives me hope! I didn't realize how hard this diagnosis would be..it's been terrible actually. He is on 4 different medicines to help his heart so I am praying that they are working. When the vet listened to his heart the other day he said he would have never known something was wrong with him, which made me SO happy. Thanks again for your help!
Wow I did not know about that liver disease. That's really scary but thank you for informing me! I definitely do not want that to happen.
I kind of thought that putting him on a diet food would make him lose muscle so that's why I haven't tried it yet. I think I'll keep him on the regular food that I'm feeding him. It is really hard having a sick kitty but I'll do anything and everything to keep him happy and healthy! Thank you!
Yeah I agree that isn't much food at all. He's a lazy kitty for the most part. Thanks for your advice! Btw, your kitty is very cute!
I agree with cutting the food down gradually--we have 3 cats totaling ~44 lbs that eat wet food (one is part ragdoll and 1/2 of the lbs), they get 1 5.5oz can in the morning and another in the evening. And they aren't starving and often have a bit left in the bowls. We do have Wellness Core dry food always available, but those three rarely eat more than a few bites of it day--our fourth cat only eats the dry food, but no more than 4 pieces in a session.
Anyway...my first cat was diagnosed with a couple holes in her heart and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy when she was three. She was overweight--medium frame cat, ~16 lbs. The heart specialists was clear about not putting her on a diet because it would hurt more than losing the weight would help. She ate about the same amount as yours does (less dry food though). She was a lazy cat and would have problems breathing after running one lap of my one bedroom apartment. When I moved her to a two story house with two other playful cats, she died of congestive heart failure within 3 weeks--the exercise was just too much for her. She was 9 years old. I would definitely get a second opinion on the weight loss part and on safe ways to slowly increase activity.
Was your first cat put on any medications to help treat her heart? I live in a two story home and he doesn't really go up and down the stairs too often. Sometimes he gets spurts of energy and wants to play but I'm afraid of him using too much energy and getting his heart rate up. Thank you for your story though, I've never talked to anyone yet with a pet with a similar condition.
She wasn't on any meds. She got EKGs once a year and it didn't occur to me to take her in before the move and see if she should go on meds before the move to help her. That might have helped her.
I would try to do 2-4 short play sessions with her per day, depending on how much I was home and her mood. I wouldn't worry about her playing too hard, I just would watch for when she seemed to get tired and I'd stop immediately, not push her to play more. Being in an apartment building, she also liked to take walks in the main hallway--I'd let her out the apartment door, she'd slowly walk a few doors down, then amble back--I figured it was exercise but not too stressful for her.
I wouldn't worry too much about the spurts of energy, just let him control when they end. And I know it's stressful to worry about, but at least with knowing you can help control it. I hope find a good balance for him.