Cat Diet

[MiniGoatsRule]

Hey guys, me again.

Remember Tiggy, my mom's cat, from my cat spraying thread? Well, our vet said he needs to go on a diet.

Any ideas on what to do?

-MiniGoatsRule

 

[Beekissed]

Hey guys, me again.

Remember Tiggy, my mom's cat, from my cat spraying thread? Well, our vet said he needs to go on a diet.

Any ideas on what to do?

-MiniGoatsRule

Cut back on feed amounts?

 

[MiniGoatsRule]

That might be tricky since he free feeds. We could try. We have changed to a different food for him that should help a bit, not much, but something is better than nothing

 

[Beekissed]

That might be tricky since he free feeds. We could try. We have changed to a different food for him that should help a bit, not much, but something is better than nothing

Free feeding could be the problem. Some cats or dogs can free feed and will limit themselves to just what will keep them nourished and no more....and some will overeat to obesity. I'd measure out a bit less than a cup of feed and give it that and no more.

 

[LMK17]

I second cutting out the free feeding. Also, I'm a big fan of slow feeders/foraging toys/puzzle feeders for all my animals. Our indoor cats have ball feeders. I measure their ration into the ball, close it up, and the cats have to bat it around in order to make the food fall out a few pieces at a time. It gives the kitties exercise and caters to cats' instinct to work/hunt for their food. It also occupies them for far longer than just gulping food out of a bowl would. Since a ball would surely go missing outside, our barn cats have other feeding toys that are stationary but still make them work a bit. One is a platform with hollow tubes that the cats have to stick their paws into to fish out the food. The other is a bowl with little soft "spikes." With that one, the cats have to use their paws to maneuver the kibble through the spikes and to the edge of the bowl before they can eat it.

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

I fed my daughters cat Lena a fixed amount and she just got fatter and fatter. When I cut down on her feed I noticed she still was getting fat, and finally one day I caught her in my dog food! I can’t say I’ve never known a cat that could self limit on feed. Make sure you put any feed in a container they can’t get into. Dog, cat, even chicken feed (I kid you not) now are in closed tubs and Lena has a neck again.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

Hey guys, me again.

Remember Tiggy, my mom's cat, from my cat spraying thread? Well, our vet said he needs to go on a diet.

Any ideas on what to do?

-MiniGoatsRule

Oh my. That would be very difficult... I know those cats will eat anything edible just to fill themselves to the brim, My neighbour's cats even resort to stealing just to eat.

 

[LickTheCow]

You don’t just need to put him on a diet, you need to make him exercise! If you need help with that, I can tell you how...

My housecat needs daily exercise, so I can tell you exactly what you need.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

You don’t just need to put him on a diet, you need to make him exercise! If you need help with that, I can tell you how...

My housecat needs daily exercise, so I can tell you exactly what you need.

How can you make a cat do exercise? If this is real... I'm gonna let my cat do some training

 

[Beekissed]

You can do laser tag with him if he'll chase a laser dot. If not, you can use a cat toy he will chase and play with him for a prescribed amount of time each day. Evening/night time is a good time, as that's when cats are generally more active and wanting to "hunt". When I babysit at my son's house, I do this for his young cat each evening....calms her down and she stops pouncing on the kids so much. I make sure to make the laser go up and down furniture, making her climb, come down, run across the room, then up and across again....over and over.

If you can get him to walk on a leash, you can even take them for a walk each day, much like a dog, even if it's just around the yard several times.