Question:
Hi all,

My inlaws recently adopted a VERY overweight cat. They are currently feed him Eukanuba diet formula (and are aware of the recall and want another food).

What can I suggest to them food wise (or any other suggestions for that matter) to help reduce the weight of this 7 year old cat.

Thanks!

Answer:
I can't recommend canned low carb food enough...here is a link with more info....

http://www.catinfo.org/

there is also a food forum here you may want to check out...

Kimmee

Answer:
My cats eat Innova,
with a quality food and some exercise i think they will see the cats weights decrease stedily.
try to limit food intake (no free feeding) to recommended amount for weight loss.
fun games for cats just involve some chasing, laser pointers often get them going or just some string or feather toys, it may take a little while to find one they like, but keep trying. I find toys with lots of movement the best (feathers on the end of string for you to move around)
stationary toys (stuffed mice) dont motivate or intrigue my cat very much

Answer:
I agree that a good quality food and exercise can do wonders. Please be very careful about restricting food intake though, this usually only slows the metabolism down making it more difficult to lose weight in the long run. If he is on a good food and permitted to eat when hungry the weight should slwoly come off. If he is over eating now it is likely just to make up for the low nutrient content in the current food which has a lot of cheap fillers/carbs. After he has been eating healthy for a while he should begin to eat less if he is assimilating the good stuff. Hope that makes sense to you. Also be sure to mention he must always have access to fresh water.

Answer:
I agree with everyone and want to add that I have found canned food to produce better results than dry. To get the weight of my boy I split his meals into three and of course exercise. He likes to chase so we will run up and down the hall and play hide and seek, of course every cat is different. Also I have been told that a food with a high protein level(good quality protein) helps. I would get some general blood work done just to make sure the kidneys are functioning well before feeding a high protein food and to make sure he is not diabetic(only say that as it is common for very overweight cats).

Answer:
My cat Alex is almost 7. The vet just put him on Hills Prescription Diet Dry Food R/D. He has only been on it for a week, so cant comment on it just yet. Alex was the runt of the litter when I got him very little and when he started growing he just kept growing. He is amazingly at 30 pounds right now. And I am not over feeding him. He is also active, but an only indoor cat. I really think his father was a mountain lion. I hope you can find something for your parents cat. I worry about his weight as he gets older, he aready has bad hips. But I am doing everything I can for him, just shy of putting him on the tradmill.

I also feed him a few times a day. I take out the amount he can eat in a day and put it in another canister and then feed him 3 to 4 times a day from that. So he is only getting the alloted amount of food per day or less.

The vet says the hills prescription diet works. Very scary, 2 days after he started eating it. I was watching tv and they added to the pet recall and it mentioned hills prescription diet food. But it was the M/D, Alex is on the R/D.
Its all so scarry.

Answer: