Getting cat to lose weight.

Dr. Marie replied:

It's often a challenge to get cats to lose weight! There are a number of "weight loss" foods out there for cats. Some do well on a high fiber food (similar to us eating a lot of salads), but most cats do better at losing weight on a low carb food.

Often, some of the prescription foods are much better at helping a cat successfully lose weight. I like Royal Canin Satiety or Calorie Control best.

It's impossible for me to say how much food he should eat in order to lose weight because every food is different. I would feed the recommended amount for a couple of weeks and then weigh him. (The best way to do this is to weigh yourself, holding the cat, and then subtract your weight). If he hasn't lost any weight, then reduce the amount slightly. Keep doing this every two weeks.

I think the mixture of wet and dry like you are doing is a good idea. However, you should have a set amount that he gets throughout the day. So, if you are going to leave it out all day, if he tends to finish his ration early in the day this isn't going to work because he'll be hungry by nighttime. You may need to reserve some food for night time.

Some other things that may help include:

• Using a treat ball to feed him his dry food. This way he has to do some exercise in order to get his food.


• Putting his food in small amounts in several places around the house so that he has to walk around to get it.


• Playing games with him like using a laser pointer or a cat toy that he likes.

Remember, with weight loss in cats it is a SLOW process.

Hope he does well!

Dr. Marie.

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