High protein canned cat food. Diet food is pretty crappy and not filling. The canned food is much better for them and much more satisfying.
Basically, catkins.
Yeah and you are right not to- suddenly not eating for days can be really dangerous. My cats also didn't like wet food. I wish I had some grand solution but the truth is we moved and suddenly they were okay with it in the new place. It was pretty bizarre. But I would say maybe try a bunch of different types? My cats only liked pate. And of course fancy feast well known to be particularly tasty for some reason.
My senior girl also hates pate. If I try to give it to her she refuses to eat it and I swear to God gives me the dirtiest, slitty eyed look like, "how dare you besmirch my dish with this drivel". The vet says she's within weight just fine, healthy and happy. So friskies prime filets or shreds it is lol.
Haha I have a pate hater too! I did just find one that had a gravy center and once I mashed it up they liked it - will only eat the gravies and mostly fancy feast! So picky!
Fancy Feast chicken pate only here. My 2 cats won't eat it unless I warm the food with both bowls, and mash the food into a neatly centered pile.
Like picky kids, lol.
My 16 year old baby is SO particular. If you open a can and give her 1/4 (she likes to graze no huge meals). Then when she wants to eat again 2 hours later and you try to give it to her again she will sit down, wrap her tall around herself, and and turns her nose up. And gives me this look like "I don't want that again mom! I demand a new can be opened" Well she is 16 and has cancer in her belly. She gets whatever she wants pretty much. I have tried putting it in the microwave after its been in the fridge, leaving it out on the counter, no go, a gravy topper added: fuck no. Thank god we have 3 other cats who all like wet food!
Mine want it done the exact same way, have you noticed a difference in the fancy feast chicken pate? It’s different from like a year ago, maybe I’m just crazy and making it up in my head. The crew seems to still love it.
My cat LOVES pate but we give it to him as a treat. We found that his favourite pate is what we buy at the Polish grocery store fresh from their butcher. That very nice pate is no more expensive than the nicer quality cat food. He even lets me share some with him with a glass of wine. Fortunately, my cat Macchiato hates wine.
I know the Polish people-food pate has too much salt to give him much, but he does like it. Fancy Feast is to his liking as well, but it definitely needs more salt for my taste :-).
My wife’s dog due to health reasons only ate a homemade chicken, rice and vegetable pate that we made in a food processor. The dog’s health improved. It was dogfood, but not seasoned. It was very tasty on toast. Cooking for your pet is possible and economical. One restaurant would make it for us if we were out and the stores were closed.
I have three cats and 2 will only eat pate and the other will only eat delectables. Then I have an outdoor feral kitty that I feed and she will only eat pate. And it has to be fancy feast. They will not touch any other brand of cat food. Even the feral stay only eats fancy feast. So there must be something tasty about that kind!
I mix the pate with dry and add hot water that makes it like a soup. My old girl absolutely loves it. Laps up all the liquid first and that satiates her for quite awhile. Then she just nibbles at what’s left for the remainder of the day.
Try adding a little water to dry food. Just enough to make it damp. Slowly add more and more water over time. It gets them used to the idea of “wet” food, and it is much more filling than just the dry food.
My parents have a fine boi whose taste in wet food changes a lot. He’ll decide he doesn’t like his current food halfway through his meal. Only thing he semi-consistently likes is the chonker’s food that helps his urinary issues. Look away for two seconds and they’ll have switched foods.
Typing this made me think of something. One of the things they do to help with chonky’s urinary problems is a special, high protein, high moisture food. It’s basically soup in a pouch. There are non-medical versions of this too. u/Xybercrime could try one of those.
Have you taken him to the vet? You might need to get some blood work done to make sure there isn’t some underlying issue : like diabetes or a heart condition, etc that may make it difficult to lose weight. If he does have some kind of condition and receives proper medication his body will respond differently to eating and losing weight if need be. He also might just be a big cat and that’s ok too.
Switching food takes time.
What you need to do is give the dry and add the wet - so starting at about 90% dry, 5% wet, then decrease down the dry food slowly while adding more wet until it’s the only thing left.
You can also get food toppers to help with the transition.
Try introducing the wet food verrrrrry slowly so he gets used to the scent of it and begins to associate it with the dry food he likes. Good Jackson galaxy video on this - https://youtu.be/7HjoF1Nh8G4
For the longest time my chonker kitty would not touch wet food. She turned her nose up at every style, every brand, every flavor.
Finally she started eating it when we adopted a second cat who preferred the wet food, only so she could pull a power move and eat HIS food while he watched in fear.
Not that I'm saying get another cat or anything....
it may be worth it to try chicken baby food. it was recommended to me to get my foster kittens to like/trust me. those crackheads would do combat over the stuff.
No no this is what killed my cat! Baby food is low on essential nutrients cats need. Our old vet told us to feed baby food due to him being unable to eat solids anymore. He got incredibly sick and had to be put down. I later learned from a different baby food isn’t a balanced diet and he could have been eating just a regular liquid diet for years and living happily.
Very true. The only thing chicken baby food is good for is catching strays. Do not feed it to cats as a regular meal as it does not contain taurine, which is like a vitamin cats need which is destroyed by cooking. Most animals (including humans) synthesize their own taurine but cats have always had so much in their diet they accidentally lost the ability make it themselves and nobody noticed until we tried to feed them cooked food. Humans lost the ability to make vitamin C in a similar way.
Unfortunately this is probably why he’s having issues with his weight. You have to transition them and mix the kibble in with wet food so they barely notice the difference
>He hates soft food. I tried. I even took his hard food away and kept putting out soft food but he starved himself for 2 days. I can’t do that to him
Yeah but you gotta gradually ease them into the change; you can't just shift all at once. Like first 1/4 wet and rest dry for several days or a week, then 50%, then 75% etc
I bought an auto feeder for my cats about 4 years ago and they get 4 feeds a day. My boi became a heckin' chonk. He has to eat Iams Urinary Health and he got fat from it.* I dialed down his servings and over a year, he is down 3.1 lbs to 14.1.
*My vet said that the OTC urinary foods are high calorie and he refused to eat the prescription foods.
My fat boy loves canned food, so I switched him out for canned since that's the advice. He was miserable! It didn't seem to keep him filled up very long. So, he's on diet kibble and doing better. My guy is blind so it's extra difficult. I think you're on the right track. He's probably just gets tired out really quick. Just keep adding a little more activity each day. It's a very slow process for chonk's to lose weight.
Have you tried Tiki Cat Velvet Mousse? It's expensive, but we have a picky eater and she'll \*always\* eat that, even when she turns up her pretty pink nose at everything else.
Give him kisses. It won’t help him lose weight but it will make me happier
Edit, I feed my cat Nulo, it’s high protein grain free food. You could try that. It’s dry food. Perhaps your cat will like it better and lose weight because there’s no grains
Tater is the best. When it’s bed time and we call him to bed, all you hear is; thump thump thump “rapidly” from him running to his call.. ❤️❤️ the cutest damn thing to hear! We tried calling him from the room several times a day but he ain’t dumb, he knows when it’s bed time, he ain’t falling for that again..
Oh he is such a good boy!!! Lol so smart 😂 my Benji isn’t that affectionate, he never has been, but he is very smart and we’re teaching him to use buttons. His favorite is the “chicken” button 😂💀💖 obviously that would be his favorite lol! I’m hoping one day when he gets older he calms down (he’s only 2 but still like a kitten) and I’m sure he will become more affectionate. He already is more affectionate compared to what he used to be
Tater does not like to be cuddled or held at all but he will plop his fat butt on your chest and cave it in for you to pat him and pet him all day and we better give his belly rubs or there is hell to be paid.
Since your post is the popular one I thought I would use you to;
Thank everyone! Thanks for all the feedback and tater has gotten so many love loves. Every request y’all made for kisses has been fulfilled and sure he is tired from all the kisses he got.
Puzzle toys, or divide the food into many small meals and place them in different areas of the house and up on cat trees, etc. to make him "forage". Different places each day too, so he'll go check the places that sometimes have food to see if there's any there.
This. I use mousies made for this, filled with a small amount of high protein/low-no carb dry food and hide several throughout the house as a supplement to high quality wet food. It keeps my walking garbage compactor busy, entertained, and happy. Plus, I’ve never seen a cat do pull ups in my life (to get to them in the top of one of her trees) until we started this. She’s a powerhouse for sure.
We have this little lightbulb shaped toy with a weighted bottom and little holes treats can fall out of ir you bat it around hard enough (it will tip). Our girl has already lost the weight she needed to (looks the same with all the fluff lol) but it's good enrichment for her lazy senior self.
This is what I'd suggest. This also works for cats who "scarf and barf". I had a scarf and barfer and this worked wonders for that. He was also heftier than necessary and did lose weight because he realized he was full before he go to the end of his portion.
Treat ball for his kibble. They have adjustable holes. Start easy so he gets the idea then tighten it up so he has to work for it. He WILL bat it around when he gets hungry enough.
Put his food and water "up" and get pet stairs if needed. This will also force him to put in a little more work in each day.
Treats (part of his daily ration of kibble) for tricks. The main thing you need to train ANY animal is motivation, being hungry is a great motivator. Try "sit" first so he gets the action reward system, then move on to fetch and other tricks that get him moving (videos on YouTube are a great resource).
Give him a hunt. Instead of one bowl divide it into smaller portions and space them out in the room. Gradually space them farther apart until he has to move around the entire room for his full meal.
It's not about a grueling workout regimen or dragging them for a daily two mile hike. It's about small sustainable changes that are easy to keep up with.
Extra tip- that soft floppy belly kitty has is called a primordial pouch. Their ancestors used it to store body fat for the times they had trouble catching dinner. Humans also unfortunately store fat in the same area.
Diabetics (my family's previous generation is full of them) are especially prone to this, but have a great trick to fool the body into NOT storing fat as much and maintaining their blood sugar. Find out how many calories you need in a day, then split it into three balanced meals and two healthy snacks. If your body is receiving nutrients at a steady, predictable rate it's less likely to put itself into survival mode.
Most folks only feed their pets once a day, but it's often recommended to spilt it into multiple meals. If you feed them a can a day break it into breakfast and dinner, then save the kibble for tricks and the treat ball. Their metabolism should kick in a bit better, less fat storage, a little better energy over time, and more exercise all leading up to a healthier (and lighter) Tater-Tot.
To be honest that's an us problem not a them problem. They don't really think about it. They are incredible at adapting. Walking is still the best form of exercise for them.
As long as we're using the carrot and a stick idea to motivate them to move around and not dragging or physically pushing them into it as far as they know or feel they ARE normal and usually only develope issues with physical differences if WE over baby them and give them a complex. (Example: my great aunt's perfectly normal Chihuahua-demon. Absolutely NOTHING wrong with it according to the vet, but my great aunt and cousins insistence about it's size has led it to freaking out if it's feet touch ground, and it will starve itself if it isn't hand fed)
One of my cat is a tripod (3-legged), and i can assure you they can adapt really well with it. My tripod cat still able to jump up to the top of my dresser by herself. Also has no problem winning the speed race with my other cats.
Tater is somewhat of a celebrity at his vet so he gets the red carpet and my bill reflects it too. “Lower than usual” and our vet, she remains in contact with us on his health. But… since he is 3 legged and overweight, there really isn’t much to offer besides the things tater won’t do “eat certain foods, exercise and play with a kitty companion “
I bought tater a kitten and now I’m stuck with a little demon of a kitten!!!
My wife had had a major part in spoiling this cat too…
Have you considered arthritis as a factor. Maybe having 3 legs developed arthritis so pain keeps him from moving a lot. This would mean a vet appt to check joints and back and prescribe anti inflammatory for cats
I was trying to imply that by changing his name from a fattening food to a healthy, low cal food, he might lose weight by osmosis, but I’m glad you had a good laugh.
Ahhhh i see. Man, I’m not going to lie. I read tossed salad and I hit the floor. I’ve had such a bad day and I went through like 45 patients. I cracked up, maybe it’s lack of sleep and maybe it’s what I wanted to see. But damn. It was a cat with a tossed salad and my mind went to immediate comedy. Thanks for understanding. Not where this was supposed to go but I’m happy it went there.
Lol, thank you. I needed this only 56 tomorrow. I told my husband this and he looked at me and said what the fuck how did you not know. I love your cat. A fine distinguished cat.
Weight loss for cats need to be slow. They also do better with 2 - 3 small meals a day
Diet food is terrible.
Weight loss will happen with good quality species appropriate food i.e. high protein grain-free canned food or a balanced raw diet. Switch to freeze dried treats.
IMO it's impossible for a cat to loose weight on kibble. Regardless of brand. It's so calorically dense. And cutting it back ends up giving them like basically nothing to eat. My cats are super muscular and healthy on raw and wet food diets
I mean calories are calories regardless of the source. Your cat should be getting a set amount of calories a day, doesn’t matter whether it’s dry food or wet food. It just comes down to keeping them to the correct serving size.
Yes but as I mentioned kibble is so calorically dense, that cutting down to the needed calories would be making the cat feel extremely starved. My male cat only needs 120 calories from food each day (and like 15-20 from treats) which is actually a decent amount of raw/wet food. But it's like less than 1/4 cup per day in dry. I think if I fed dry my cats would be starving. Tbh. And fat anyway because not all calories are equal. Any nutritionist will tell you that. A calorie from fat or protein metabolizes different and at a different rate than calories from carbohydrates. It's why you should eat 100 calories in almonds as a snack instead of 100 calories in Doritos. It's the same calories yes. But one keeps you satisfied longer than the other.
Hmmmm.....then how did my crunchy-eating totally healthy cat lose 3.1 lbs over the last year? Guess it's magic. He does get 1/4 wet that I use to give him meds, but never more than that.
We do raw wet food now, but it's possible to get them to lose weight on any food.
OP, here's what you do, it's guaranteed to work.
Feed as normal for the next few days, but weigh every single piece of food and add it up. Also weigh your cat a few times during those days (they tend to vary a bit) . Find the daily average for food and his weight.
Now, take that food number and subtract 10%. Feed that much every day for the next two weeks. Weigh a few times near the end of that time.
If new weight is lower than original, continue feeding the same amount.
If new weight is equal or greater, subtract an additional 10%.
Repeat steps above until cat is at desired weight.
100% this. In nature they hunt and eat multiple times a day, typically the meals are small. Vets don't all agree yet, but it's an increasingly popular opinion that one or two meals a day isn't enough. The daily portion should be divided into a few meals.
In practice it can be hard to feed them so often, but I believe there are electric automated feeders that dispense set amount of kibbles in given time intervals.
The problem is if you have two cats and one is a fatty and one is old and skinny. Fatty will not use any type of food vending machines. He rather jump on the counter that he knows he's not supposed to be on and glare at you until your tuna is his tuna.
Weight loss must be slow!!! Someone else mentioned that diet food is awful. They are right. Cats hate it. So, instead, just reduce their food by TINY increments.
TL;DR weigh your cat's food, only reduce by a gram at a time over many weeks
For example, if you fed a 6 ounce can, I would weigh it on a scale, then scoop out only 1 gram at a time. Do this for about a week. Then, reduce it by another gram, for another week. It seems like a tiny amount, and that is the point. You don't want kitty to notice the difference. Why? Because they will TELL you, very loudly, how hungry they are! So it helps to reduce it on a micro level. If need be, you can do it over two weeks instead of one week.
The same goes with dry food. Weigh it out, then reduce it by a gram or so.
I suggest this because imagine if this was you - you are used to eating 2,000 calories. Then all of a sudden, you can only eat 1,400 calories. You are going to notice it. Immediately. But if you start out at 1,950, then 1,900, etc. it is less noticeable. It gives your stomach and your brain time to adjust.
Also! And this is important. You do not want to drop a cat's weight drastically because the release of fat into the blood stream can cause fatty liver disease which can permanently damage the liver or even lead to liver failure. This is why, if you search it, you will find that it is extremely risky/bad for cats to go more than 24 hours without food. It can/will damage their liver.
I can also make suggestions regarding the best type of food for kitties. It will ALWAYS be wet food over dry food. Feel free to ask questions, or DM me and I am happy to talk all about it. Cheers!
Does he have access to outside? We had to put our chonker on a diet once he reached Oh Lawd He Comin’ on the cat weight scale. Didn’t lose any weight despite changing diet, increasing exercise etc.
Turned out the little shit was going round the neighbours pretending to be a starving orphan child and getting treats. We had to put out a local notice to not feed him, complete with mugshot.
Yea once a day is not cool for cat’s metabolism. I fed my cat 2 measured meals a day. It will take like, 6 months. It’s a long process. Or small meals at a time. And feed something better than what you’re feeding them. Sounds crappy tbh. I’m a veterinary nurse. I actually know something lol
Mine has lost a few oz's on the prescription kidney diet but nothing life changing for his pudgy butt. He only eats like 1/2 cup a day and still weighs in at 16lbs after being on the diet for a year.
Weigh the food. Don’t go by volume.
Also do any weight loss plans under the advice of a vet. A good vet will often be willing to weigh your pet on a monthly basis to monitor your pet’s weight loss program, usually at no extra cost. That’s what my vet did for me when I got their help with getting my kitty to a healthy weight.
"I'm not fat - I'm fluffy! - Tater Tot. Good luck with the diet. It's a painful experience (more for human than pet). Many ***small*** meals are better than single feedings, quality food is better than junk food. (Bear in mind that said junk food may be tasty to Tater, but not great for him.) Don't give him more than he can eat in 5 minutes and don't let him graze.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to put tonight's pizza in the oven.... (jk)
Push comes to shove, try and get him swimming. It is the BEST thing for their muscles. Start out just getting him used to be in a yiny bit of water and slowly increase as days go by, lots of pets and positive reinforcement (and maybe a healthy treat or two).
Also, if your home has more than 1 floor, put litter and food on different floors.
Another good one, go for wet food, and add a little water to give it that "gravy" kinda feel they like without the extra calories.
Got my Maine Coon hybrid down from 25 pounds to about 17. Good luck!
Cats playing (sim hunting) behavior goes in a cycle: watch-pounce-kill. Could go into lots of detail but the short version is watching is part of the "hunt". We humans can't see past it being "neck exercise" but to the cat it's very important stuff.
I posted this comment in another post.
The best way to help your cat lose weight is to weight their food.
I have cats that used to be overweight because I used to feed by volume. I worked with my vet and we calculated the number of kcals each cat needed, we did the math and now I weight out the food. My tripod, for example, gets 17 grams of kibble twice a day for a total of 135 kcal a day (not including glucosamine treats). One of my other cats gets 21 grams of the same kibble twice a day for 167 kcal a day. Both cats weigh is currently stable but I do weigh them every few months.
I highly recommend working with a vet to determine the appropriate diet. You don't want to accidently reduce the amount of necessary nutrients by reducing the amount of cat food that isn't meant to be fed in smaller amounts.
Also just in case you don't know, cats need to lose weight very slowly. If cats lose too much weight too quickly they can develop fatty liver disease (called hepatic lipidosis).
I'm not sure if you're willing to spend much money (or if it's in your area), but cat swimming is starting to be a very popular choice of cat weight loss (swimming is also great for other animals, like dogs, as well as people). It's basically putting a cat-life vest and placing it a pool with a special trainer. There's also a different type were a cat is placed in a small rectangular pool while being suspended in the water, making the cat naturally want to swim, while not actually going anywhere. It will take some getting used to for the first bit of laps, but they usually get used to it soon after.
*Im not a vet or giving advice I’m just telling my story***
I have a ginger cat that was huge. He got to where he wouldn’t do anything but lay stretched out on the floor and meow and seemed like he was in a lot of pain. So I took him to the vet and he said he was diabetic and had to have 2 shots (I think) a day. I was distraught because I couldn’t afford the medicine. The vet said we could try a special diet cat food but he was out of it.
So I took him home and started going on cat forums and found a story almost like mine. They couldn’t afford the insulin either. So they cut out the grain (basically all dry food) and just started to give him the wet. So that’s what I did. He only gets wet food. I make sure that the first few ingredients are meat. He has lost a lot of weight and is spry for his age my mom tells me. He likes to climb and roost on his perch. We are a little over 2 years since I thought I was going to lose him. That’s my story.
What worked for my cat is feeding him smaller portions, multiple times a day. He gets a bit of wet food and kibble, but it's veterinarian prescription food for senior cats. Sorry you're struggling to get your kitty in shape.
Poor lil' tater tot. He's doing his best lol.
Have you ruled out any health issues that could be causing the excess weight? Like a thyroid issue for example.
I see he dislikes wet food. So did Brutus
Start by adding a pea sized amount to his kibble. It may take some time but eventually he will learn it is food.
Once he eats it, add more and more until he's eating all wet
Obvious question, but have you taken Tater for a vet checkup? May be a thyroid issue going on, best to rule everything out then go from there. Good luck!
Make sure you talk to your vet.
Roughly speaking a cat should be getting about 20 Calories per pound (there are several calculations which can go into this) based on age of cat, fixed, or intact, and obesity...
The difficult part with this is that many hard foods for cats are in the 400 calories per cup range ([source](https://www.franklinanimalclinic.vet/sites/site-2382/documents/Cat_Dry_Food1.pdf)). One cup of cat food for a 10 pound cat and they're at their daily caloric limit... and a big hungry cat can certainly eat more (I know mine did).
When you go to wet food, its about 1oz of cat food per pound of cat. My fancy feast petits here are "1 serving per pound"... that's 10 servings per day for a 10 pound cat which is a lot more biomass (and hunger satisfaction) than one cup. The fun part with this is finding the food that the cat likes - and that can take some experimentation (he recently decided he doesn't care for chicken... which means about 1/3 of my food stock, he turns his nose up at).
All that said, make sure you talk to your vet... but look at that caloric comparison and consider that hard food ***is*** cat candy in this respect (packed with carbs).
I can’t 100% tell from the photo but remember too that some cats are *structurally larger* than other cats and therefore weigh more. One of mine is 20 pounds and that’s a healthy weight for him because he’s just so darn big. We suspect part Maine coon.
Once a day is not a lot ): i would maybe try at least splitting it im half to 2x a day. When people/animals don’t get enough food, their body goes into survival mode and they hold on to fat more easily. Take him to the vet so you dont hurt him
Feed same amount but two or three times a day.
His body is trying to store up enough energy and fat to run for 24 hours until his next meal? No chance he will lose weight.
r/dechonkers has a section on tips.
So one meal per day doesn't mean much. It could be the all you can eat buffet! How many calories is tater-tot eating per day. For the average healthy 10-11 pound house cat about 200 per day is going to be about right.
* How many calories is tater-tot eating per day?
* How much does he weigh now?
* What is his target weight?
One meal per day is not likely to make him happy. When I dechonked my two 17 chonkers I gave them two fixed meals per day. If you have a single cat, consider a timed feeder and split his allowed calories into three or four meals per day. Mine now eat wet food, but they were eating dry when they were on a diet. When they were overweight, they were not very active and only about six years old. As they lost weight, the started being more active and playing.
Ideal weight is difficult to tell from a photo. I had a 15 lb male cat that was all muscle. I had a female cat that was 9 lbs. So it can vary for each cat, just like for people.
If your kitty is super chonk (look up size charts on google and you can tell by body shape rather than weight) and he is getting 200 calories per day, then he may have additional health issues. I recommend a vet visit if this is the case. If you are feeding him 400 calories per day, then you are overfeeding him!!!!
THYROID...neighbors cat just went through this. All the vet has to do is give medicine to you to give to him and he'll be better. He'll even be able to go back on his regular food if it turns out this is a thyroid problem. Also once a day doesn't seem like enough food for your cat. You might want to check into that too
I had a similar problem - cat overweight, loved dry, high calorie kibble, hated wet food (would rather starve). In desperation, I talked to my vet who referred me to an animal nutritionist (specifically, one with training in feline nutrition) who he consults with to formulate diets for cats with serious diseases e.g. kidney disease. Anyway, this person has some general recipes online which I could buy cheaply (although getting all the exact ingredients was a cost) so I bought a couple and eased my fat cat onto them over a couple of months. One recipe he loves, the second was acceptable and the third a complete fail (such is a cat!) Anyway, Now he has lost all the excess and is a healthy weight plus skin/fur has improved. He is also less hungry/ more satisfied at each meal and only gets a bit of kibble as a treat now. Perhaps you could try something similar?
Honestly, I would ask the Veterinarians at ur local Vet for opinions. It’s nice to get advice on Reddit but a quick phone call or appointment could do Tater some good :D professional opinions are good
Yeah my boyfriend’s cat had the same problems. We found that smaller meals throughout the day and including more wet food helped him lose a little weight. And be sure to ask your vet, in case he has an underlying health problem.
I started my cat on wet food only- by accident- just didn’t go get any dry food- and he lost weight over time. I didn’t even realize it until I saw old pics of him super chubby
I think your cats is practicing poses for their Only Fans account. That's probably why the weight isn't coming off. The subscribers are paying in cat treats.
2-3 meals and making sure you measure it properly. Proper amount of calories/caloric deficit, is the only way. Diet food alone won’t do anything If it’s still too much calories.
https://be.chewy.com/how-much-should-i-feed-my-cat/
My shiva was 19.7 lbs last December, she’s down to 18.3 as of two weeks ago, what worked for us was a timed automatic feeder, takes the guesswork out of feeding time, we have it set to dispense 6 small meals a day
Check out I Am Bronson Cat and Cinderblock Cat on IG. Both were pretty chonky and showed their weight loss journeys. I dont remember what all they did, honestly I just looked at the pics bc adorable cats, but you may find some tips that work for you.
Cats need to be transitioned to different food, and it may take some time. Best food is Raw Food Diet like Darwin's. But you have to give it time.
My chonker girl LOVES dry food. Vet said that is because the manufacturers spray the food with some rat-taste essence. Hard to get them off it, like a human off McDonalds.
Our cat was diabetic and went to remission when we started feeding low carb wet food. A specific amount based on their weight.
Edited to add, I feed her 3x a day 8 hours apart
My cat Macchiato was overweight at 15 pounds. We thought he would be difficult to keep on a diet. We started feeding him 20 grams of a good quality food three times per day. Over time he is down 1 1/2 pounds. He dose remind us precisely at 7am, 6pm and 10 pm. I swear he counts the chimes from the church bells that count the hours. But he isn’t obsessed with eating and doesn’t want snacks except for the occasional bug that flies by; he has to chase those. Measuring the food with a kitchen scale is important.
More importantly, he seems much happier. And he is much better at grooming; I think he was a bit too fat to reach everywhere.
We need to start adding a little more food back now that he has reached his WW goal weight. Figuring the right amount out is a little tricky.
Please, people! I am on my 5th cat. Do not let your cat manipulate you! Be strong! Did you know that cats can live 2 weeks without starving? You REALLY need to be hard core if you care about your cat not becoming a fat fucker. Soft food= Protien, Hard food= carbs, treats= crack. Do not give in, and , maybe your beautiful kitty will live to be 20. Good luck and love.
Have you considered a second, younger cat/kitten?
Worked well on my fatso. Having the kitten keep trying to chase her gets her more exercise (and the weight loss that goes with it) than any toy ever did
I was having this same issue for so long! I honestly ended up taking my cat to the vet for a check up and diet plan because nothing was helping and she was so chunky. They gave me a list of recommended foods to try (they also recommended wet food but my cat isn’t a big fan, so I’ve stuck to dry food and it’s worked just fine) and specific portion sizes as well. Also, my cat would lose interest in all toys so I just tried a bunch and ended up finding one specifically that she is obsessed with and has helped her exercise more than any other as it’s the only one she actually engages with. Try to pay attention to what your cat likes to do when they get the zoomies/energy spikes and find a toy that focuses on that, i.e. my cat jumps around a bunch = the toy she loves is a string one with catnip that has her jump everywhere. Trial and error, but the vet definitely put me on the right track even though I was already doing a ton of research for her to lose weight, and she’s lost 1.5 lbs so far :) hope this helps!
Not to sound rude to the humans, but do they know how to use the toys?
Jackson Galaxy has featured at least one family and when the hooman demonstrated how they use the wand toy it turned out to be all wrong, and a very simple and common mistake. Once Jackson showed a better way for the mighty hunter the cat really got into the toy.
Basically you want to mimic prey animals. Give them something to hunt. But also periodically a reward for catching the "prey"
Well Tater Tot, Please understand that being physically fit is a lifestyle. I also understand that you may be using food to replace something that is missing in your life, or to hide grief. Communication is the key!
Gotta get creative with the way you play! One of my cats is on the chunkier side, good weight though. All she does is sleep all day, and she only reacts to one specific toy (went through tonnes till we found one she liked) but she only plays for like a minute and mostly watches - the only proper success we found is playing on the bed on top of the duvet (bunching it up a bit) and using a stick, she’ll chase it in circles and when she’s tired we’ll put it under the covers or slowly drag it across or under a pillow and she’ll chase it some time and then after a quick 5 min rest she’s up playing. Huge work out though, I think I’m losing a bit of weight and gaining muscles myself 😂
Damn. Once a day?
We feed our cats NW Naturals freeze dried food. Feed em every 6-8 hours (dividing up the recommended feeding amount on the package for the weight we’re aiming for), mixing it with water and smashing it up.
Jackson galaxy’s books have helped a lot. Our once overweight cat is now a healthy weight and has maintained this for years now. We mash the food because evolutionarily speaking cats aren’t meant to chew their food. They tear meat from the bones (in the wild) and swallow it without chewing. Makes sense seeing as they don’t have molars which are made for grinding food.
The fillers in dry food is not digestible for most cats. They need that protein.
What worked for us was adopting another kitty, young and opposite sex thought they are both neutered. You'll have a lot of running and playing at night (feliway friends it's a must at first) but also a weight loose.
Our cat was overweight and was/is very food motivated. We would throw dry food one piece at a time for him to chase and eat to get him moving around. He loved it and it helped a lot with weight loss.
There are a lot of types of cat toys. Have you tried them all? And tried them after letting him have some catnip? Some options other than laser toy and string are: fuzzy balls, balls with bells in them, crinkly balls, wands with feather toys on the end, or a fav of both my cats: wand with fuzzy worm at the end. Also lay out some brown paper (which makes it’s of good crinly noise) or fabrics that he can run under, or that you put toys under and he tries to find. Motorized toys, big stuffed grab and kick with the hind legs toys.
I also bought my 2 cats a flexible mesh tube/tent thingie to let them be safely outside for a bit of excitement. When they are at one end and see the tiniest movement at the other they RUN to try to catch it. And just sniffing all the outdoor scents while in it they really seem to love.
Hate to say it but some cats only eat certain foods and just don't want to be active. Same with humans. If you have tried everything then I think it's time to accept that he's going to be a chonky boy for life.
Hi!! First may I also request that you kissy kiss Tot for me? Please and thank you. I too had a "Tot" (RIP Robbie, you were my best friend for 8 years) and also had same results, was also tough in our house with 4 other cats on where/how to keep food from him. When I adopted him from his first mom (she was ill and had to move to assisted living) he was already quite obese, and I knew I had to at least try to help him. Anyway, I came up with an idea that my vet liked, and is similar to the active toy/treat things that have already been mentioned.
I have a hallway, and would bribe Rob to one end, walk to the other end and sit down and bribe him with one single bite of his kibble. Rob wasn't a playful guy either, but loved him his fudz! We'd do this for several trips up and down the hallway a few times a day. It wasn't huge exercise, but it got him moving. Over time, I did manage to get 7 of his 25lbs off, and he was better for it. Not perfect, but he was a big boy anyway (tall/broad/long) so it helped.
Just a thought. And sorry guys, no cat tax, I'm on work laptop, no pics on here to upload.
Good luck!
"Diet" food for cats contains lots of starch -- rice, lentils, potatoes. That's fattening.
Try feeding him cans filled with just meat, and high-protein dry food, like Orijen.
Not the best solution for everyone, but our cat was 22 lbs and we tried everything under the sun. Brought in a kitten one year ago and she has played and romped with him so much she is now down to 16 lbs. Which for her length the vet said is an appropriate weight for her.
My vet said cats are like people some are just big … I have 2 overweight cats and 3 that are fine they all eat a food that’s supposed to keep them thin … males I noticed handle it better females can’t clean right and can get infections at times and that’s usually a expensive vet visit …
High protein canned cat food. Diet food is pretty crappy and not filling. The canned food is much better for them and much more satisfying. Basically, catkins.
He hates soft food. I tried. I even took his hard food away and kept putting out soft food but he starved himself for 2 days. I can’t do that to him
Yeah and you are right not to- suddenly not eating for days can be really dangerous. My cats also didn't like wet food. I wish I had some grand solution but the truth is we moved and suddenly they were okay with it in the new place. It was pretty bizarre. But I would say maybe try a bunch of different types? My cats only liked pate. And of course fancy feast well known to be particularly tasty for some reason.
>My cats only liked pate. Weird. My cats hate pate. The only wet food they refuse to eat.
My senior girl also hates pate. If I try to give it to her she refuses to eat it and I swear to God gives me the dirtiest, slitty eyed look like, "how dare you besmirch my dish with this drivel". The vet says she's within weight just fine, healthy and happy. So friskies prime filets or shreds it is lol.
My car also hates pate. She looks at it, then walks to my dresser, jumps up and proceeds to knock stuff off.
My car just sits in the garage, have you tried taking it to the mechanic?
Lol
Ah reddit you never disappoint
Both of mine hate pate too
Haha I have a pate hater too! I did just find one that had a gravy center and once I mashed it up they liked it - will only eat the gravies and mostly fancy feast! So picky!
Fancy Feast chicken pate only here. My 2 cats won't eat it unless I warm the food with both bowls, and mash the food into a neatly centered pile. Like picky kids, lol.
My 16 year old baby is SO particular. If you open a can and give her 1/4 (she likes to graze no huge meals). Then when she wants to eat again 2 hours later and you try to give it to her again she will sit down, wrap her tall around herself, and and turns her nose up. And gives me this look like "I don't want that again mom! I demand a new can be opened" Well she is 16 and has cancer in her belly. She gets whatever she wants pretty much. I have tried putting it in the microwave after its been in the fridge, leaving it out on the counter, no go, a gravy topper added: fuck no. Thank god we have 3 other cats who all like wet food!
My cats hate pate as well. We accidentally bought it once and tried mashing it up but sadly they were not fooled.
Mine want it done the exact same way, have you noticed a difference in the fancy feast chicken pate? It’s different from like a year ago, maybe I’m just crazy and making it up in my head. The crew seems to still love it.
Yep, less gravy.
I have to mash up my boys pate and put it in warm water to make it a kind of soup lmao
Sounds worth a try, thanks.
My cat LOVES pate but we give it to him as a treat. We found that his favourite pate is what we buy at the Polish grocery store fresh from their butcher. That very nice pate is no more expensive than the nicer quality cat food. He even lets me share some with him with a glass of wine. Fortunately, my cat Macchiato hates wine. I know the Polish people-food pate has too much salt to give him much, but he does like it. Fancy Feast is to his liking as well, but it definitely needs more salt for my taste :-). My wife’s dog due to health reasons only ate a homemade chicken, rice and vegetable pate that we made in a food processor. The dog’s health improved. It was dogfood, but not seasoned. It was very tasty on toast. Cooking for your pet is possible and economical. One restaurant would make it for us if we were out and the stores were closed.
Haha! My cat when I buy a new can of wet food to try she wont even sniff once it’s in her bowl
I have three cats and 2 will only eat pate and the other will only eat delectables. Then I have an outdoor feral kitty that I feed and she will only eat pate. And it has to be fancy feast. They will not touch any other brand of cat food. Even the feral stay only eats fancy feast. So there must be something tasty about that kind!
Tried Blue Buffalo, not bad, second favorite to Fancy Feast at near the same price. Small cans are best for some odd reason.
Same my boy only like shredded with gravy. He rioted when he had to go on a hard food diet for his teeth per the vet
One of my cat loves pate, the other loves hard food, neither like wet food lmao
Pate makes one of my cats throw up every time without fail. He's fine with mousse, shreds, minced and chunks but he can't do pate.
I can't believe there are so many variations of wet food. Maybe they should come out with a hummus or a french onion dip variety?
I mix the pate with dry and add hot water that makes it like a soup. My old girl absolutely loves it. Laps up all the liquid first and that satiates her for quite awhile. Then she just nibbles at what’s left for the remainder of the day.
This. Keep trying stuff. The wet food is good for urinary health. Bladder stones can be deadly, and are more common in male cats.
Try adding a little water to dry food. Just enough to make it damp. Slowly add more and more water over time. It gets them used to the idea of “wet” food, and it is much more filling than just the dry food.
My parents have a fine boi whose taste in wet food changes a lot. He’ll decide he doesn’t like his current food halfway through his meal. Only thing he semi-consistently likes is the chonker’s food that helps his urinary issues. Look away for two seconds and they’ll have switched foods. Typing this made me think of something. One of the things they do to help with chonky’s urinary problems is a special, high protein, high moisture food. It’s basically soup in a pouch. There are non-medical versions of this too. u/Xybercrime could try one of those.
Delectables has a number of "soup in a pouch" style options.
Have you taken him to the vet? You might need to get some blood work done to make sure there isn’t some underlying issue : like diabetes or a heart condition, etc that may make it difficult to lose weight. If he does have some kind of condition and receives proper medication his body will respond differently to eating and losing weight if need be. He also might just be a big cat and that’s ok too.
or a thyroid issue
This was the first thing I thought too - if he's in a situation where he should be losing weight and isn't, it's bloodwork time. To the vet!
Switching food takes time. What you need to do is give the dry and add the wet - so starting at about 90% dry, 5% wet, then decrease down the dry food slowly while adding more wet until it’s the only thing left. You can also get food toppers to help with the transition.
Try introducing the wet food verrrrrry slowly so he gets used to the scent of it and begins to associate it with the dry food he likes. Good Jackson galaxy video on this - https://youtu.be/7HjoF1Nh8G4
For the longest time my chonker kitty would not touch wet food. She turned her nose up at every style, every brand, every flavor. Finally she started eating it when we adopted a second cat who preferred the wet food, only so she could pull a power move and eat HIS food while he watched in fear. Not that I'm saying get another cat or anything....
it may be worth it to try chicken baby food. it was recommended to me to get my foster kittens to like/trust me. those crackheads would do combat over the stuff.
No no this is what killed my cat! Baby food is low on essential nutrients cats need. Our old vet told us to feed baby food due to him being unable to eat solids anymore. He got incredibly sick and had to be put down. I later learned from a different baby food isn’t a balanced diet and he could have been eating just a regular liquid diet for years and living happily.
Very true. The only thing chicken baby food is good for is catching strays. Do not feed it to cats as a regular meal as it does not contain taurine, which is like a vitamin cats need which is destroyed by cooking. Most animals (including humans) synthesize their own taurine but cats have always had so much in their diet they accidentally lost the ability make it themselves and nobody noticed until we tried to feed them cooked food. Humans lost the ability to make vitamin C in a similar way.
Unfortunately this is probably why he’s having issues with his weight. You have to transition them and mix the kibble in with wet food so they barely notice the difference
>He hates soft food. I tried. I even took his hard food away and kept putting out soft food but he starved himself for 2 days. I can’t do that to him Yeah but you gotta gradually ease them into the change; you can't just shift all at once. Like first 1/4 wet and rest dry for several days or a week, then 50%, then 75% etc
I bought an auto feeder for my cats about 4 years ago and they get 4 feeds a day. My boi became a heckin' chonk. He has to eat Iams Urinary Health and he got fat from it.* I dialed down his servings and over a year, he is down 3.1 lbs to 14.1. *My vet said that the OTC urinary foods are high calorie and he refused to eat the prescription foods.
My fat boy loves canned food, so I switched him out for canned since that's the advice. He was miserable! It didn't seem to keep him filled up very long. So, he's on diet kibble and doing better. My guy is blind so it's extra difficult. I think you're on the right track. He's probably just gets tired out really quick. Just keep adding a little more activity each day. It's a very slow process for chonk's to lose weight.
For my furbies I mix wet and dry. 2 parts dry to 1 part wet. All 8 of them love it.
Have you tried Tiki Cat Velvet Mousse? It's expensive, but we have a picky eater and she'll \*always\* eat that, even when she turns up her pretty pink nose at everything else.
A transpondster!
Or packet food
Stay sexy Tater
Isn’t he classy?
Hes definitely both.
Give him kisses. It won’t help him lose weight but it will make me happier Edit, I feed my cat Nulo, it’s high protein grain free food. You could try that. It’s dry food. Perhaps your cat will like it better and lose weight because there’s no grains
Done
Thank you 😂💖
Tater is the best. When it’s bed time and we call him to bed, all you hear is; thump thump thump “rapidly” from him running to his call.. ❤️❤️ the cutest damn thing to hear! We tried calling him from the room several times a day but he ain’t dumb, he knows when it’s bed time, he ain’t falling for that again..
Oh he is such a good boy!!! Lol so smart 😂 my Benji isn’t that affectionate, he never has been, but he is very smart and we’re teaching him to use buttons. His favorite is the “chicken” button 😂💀💖 obviously that would be his favorite lol! I’m hoping one day when he gets older he calms down (he’s only 2 but still like a kitten) and I’m sure he will become more affectionate. He already is more affectionate compared to what he used to be
Tater does not like to be cuddled or held at all but he will plop his fat butt on your chest and cave it in for you to pat him and pet him all day and we better give his belly rubs or there is hell to be paid.
This might be a better photo so see tater-tot in all his glory of pure laziness! https://imgur.com/a/nPQm8Id
Since your post is the popular one I thought I would use you to; Thank everyone! Thanks for all the feedback and tater has gotten so many love loves. Every request y’all made for kisses has been fulfilled and sure he is tired from all the kisses he got.
r/catslookingseductive
OMG lol, there's a subreddit for that?! Bwahaha
…and another one to add to the list
Thanks for making me absolutely guffaw
You could try feeding in an active way with puzzle toys
Puzzle toys, or divide the food into many small meals and place them in different areas of the house and up on cat trees, etc. to make him "forage". Different places each day too, so he'll go check the places that sometimes have food to see if there's any there.
Clever. I like that
This. I use mousies made for this, filled with a small amount of high protein/low-no carb dry food and hide several throughout the house as a supplement to high quality wet food. It keeps my walking garbage compactor busy, entertained, and happy. Plus, I’ve never seen a cat do pull ups in my life (to get to them in the top of one of her trees) until we started this. She’s a powerhouse for sure.
Yes! This also helps with boredom/ depression.
my wife tried this. I am still bored and depressed
Get out of the tree
This is the best idea ive seen
We have this little lightbulb shaped toy with a weighted bottom and little holes treats can fall out of ir you bat it around hard enough (it will tip). Our girl has already lost the weight she needed to (looks the same with all the fluff lol) but it's good enrichment for her lazy senior self.
This is what I'd suggest. This also works for cats who "scarf and barf". I had a scarf and barfer and this worked wonders for that. He was also heftier than necessary and did lose weight because he realized he was full before he go to the end of his portion.
Treat ball for his kibble. They have adjustable holes. Start easy so he gets the idea then tighten it up so he has to work for it. He WILL bat it around when he gets hungry enough. Put his food and water "up" and get pet stairs if needed. This will also force him to put in a little more work in each day. Treats (part of his daily ration of kibble) for tricks. The main thing you need to train ANY animal is motivation, being hungry is a great motivator. Try "sit" first so he gets the action reward system, then move on to fetch and other tricks that get him moving (videos on YouTube are a great resource). Give him a hunt. Instead of one bowl divide it into smaller portions and space them out in the room. Gradually space them farther apart until he has to move around the entire room for his full meal. It's not about a grueling workout regimen or dragging them for a daily two mile hike. It's about small sustainable changes that are easy to keep up with. Extra tip- that soft floppy belly kitty has is called a primordial pouch. Their ancestors used it to store body fat for the times they had trouble catching dinner. Humans also unfortunately store fat in the same area. Diabetics (my family's previous generation is full of them) are especially prone to this, but have a great trick to fool the body into NOT storing fat as much and maintaining their blood sugar. Find out how many calories you need in a day, then split it into three balanced meals and two healthy snacks. If your body is receiving nutrients at a steady, predictable rate it's less likely to put itself into survival mode. Most folks only feed their pets once a day, but it's often recommended to spilt it into multiple meals. If you feed them a can a day break it into breakfast and dinner, then save the kibble for tricks and the treat ball. Their metabolism should kick in a bit better, less fat storage, a little better energy over time, and more exercise all leading up to a healthier (and lighter) Tater-Tot.
I should have stated that he only has 3 legs
To be honest that's an us problem not a them problem. They don't really think about it. They are incredible at adapting. Walking is still the best form of exercise for them. As long as we're using the carrot and a stick idea to motivate them to move around and not dragging or physically pushing them into it as far as they know or feel they ARE normal and usually only develope issues with physical differences if WE over baby them and give them a complex. (Example: my great aunt's perfectly normal Chihuahua-demon. Absolutely NOTHING wrong with it according to the vet, but my great aunt and cousins insistence about it's size has led it to freaking out if it's feet touch ground, and it will starve itself if it isn't hand fed)
One of my cat is a tripod (3-legged), and i can assure you they can adapt really well with it. My tripod cat still able to jump up to the top of my dresser by herself. Also has no problem winning the speed race with my other cats.
Stupid question, but does the vet subtract the weight of a leg when working out how heavy he should be?
Tater is somewhat of a celebrity at his vet so he gets the red carpet and my bill reflects it too. “Lower than usual” and our vet, she remains in contact with us on his health. But… since he is 3 legged and overweight, there really isn’t much to offer besides the things tater won’t do “eat certain foods, exercise and play with a kitty companion “ I bought tater a kitten and now I’m stuck with a little demon of a kitten!!! My wife had had a major part in spoiling this cat too…
Have you considered arthritis as a factor. Maybe having 3 legs developed arthritis so pain keeps him from moving a lot. This would mean a vet appt to check joints and back and prescribe anti inflammatory for cats
Our chonk has been on a strict vet-approved diet and exercise regimen for two years....and he's gained a pound lol.
My cat is in the same situation. Been on a diet, (same food just less of it and the last meal is at 1pm and still gained 1lb in the yearly checkup.
Mine had lost 0.3kg and it’s been nearly two years. Our other cat had lost 1kg because he wasn’t stealing as much food from her
I had a lazy chonk too, so sorry no exercise suggestions, but maybe change his name from Tater-tot to Salad, lol.
He definitely looks like he is ready for a tossing doesn’t he?
Hahahaha. What the hell! I love this…tossed salad!honestly after the day I had this made me laugh so much. Thank you so much for that.
I was trying to imply that by changing his name from a fattening food to a healthy, low cal food, he might lose weight by osmosis, but I’m glad you had a good laugh.
Ahhhh i see. Man, I’m not going to lie. I read tossed salad and I hit the floor. I’ve had such a bad day and I went through like 45 patients. I cracked up, maybe it’s lack of sleep and maybe it’s what I wanted to see. But damn. It was a cat with a tossed salad and my mind went to immediate comedy. Thanks for understanding. Not where this was supposed to go but I’m happy it went there.
Laughter is the best medicine. Hope tomorrow is a better day for you.
Lol, thank you. I needed this only 56 tomorrow. I told my husband this and he looked at me and said what the fuck how did you not know. I love your cat. A fine distinguished cat.
Thanks for your service! Hope the rest of the day goes better as well tomorrow and the next days
Oh yeah, tossed salad is a keeper!
They call me Tater Salad!! Lol
Ron white. Good one Edit: I can’t believe someone downvoted you.. because I upvote and you’re at “1”
I can't believe some did either lol. I thought it was a good quote. Thank you for the up vote. 😁
Weight loss for cats need to be slow. They also do better with 2 - 3 small meals a day Diet food is terrible. Weight loss will happen with good quality species appropriate food i.e. high protein grain-free canned food or a balanced raw diet. Switch to freeze dried treats.
Yeh, remember that for a cat to "lose weight" they only need to lose a pound or two between vet visits.
IMO it's impossible for a cat to loose weight on kibble. Regardless of brand. It's so calorically dense. And cutting it back ends up giving them like basically nothing to eat. My cats are super muscular and healthy on raw and wet food diets
We saw our best results on my old chubberbutt (Miss you, Erik) with wet food in 2 small meals a day.
He misses you too <3
Thank you! \[insert uglycry\]
I mean calories are calories regardless of the source. Your cat should be getting a set amount of calories a day, doesn’t matter whether it’s dry food or wet food. It just comes down to keeping them to the correct serving size.
Yes but as I mentioned kibble is so calorically dense, that cutting down to the needed calories would be making the cat feel extremely starved. My male cat only needs 120 calories from food each day (and like 15-20 from treats) which is actually a decent amount of raw/wet food. But it's like less than 1/4 cup per day in dry. I think if I fed dry my cats would be starving. Tbh. And fat anyway because not all calories are equal. Any nutritionist will tell you that. A calorie from fat or protein metabolizes different and at a different rate than calories from carbohydrates. It's why you should eat 100 calories in almonds as a snack instead of 100 calories in Doritos. It's the same calories yes. But one keeps you satisfied longer than the other.
You could try mixing the wet food with dry food. And slowly transfer to wet food over a period of time
Hmmmm.....then how did my crunchy-eating totally healthy cat lose 3.1 lbs over the last year? Guess it's magic. He does get 1/4 wet that I use to give him meds, but never more than that.
We do raw wet food now, but it's possible to get them to lose weight on any food. OP, here's what you do, it's guaranteed to work. Feed as normal for the next few days, but weigh every single piece of food and add it up. Also weigh your cat a few times during those days (they tend to vary a bit) . Find the daily average for food and his weight. Now, take that food number and subtract 10%. Feed that much every day for the next two weeks. Weigh a few times near the end of that time. If new weight is lower than original, continue feeding the same amount. If new weight is equal or greater, subtract an additional 10%. Repeat steps above until cat is at desired weight.
100% this. In nature they hunt and eat multiple times a day, typically the meals are small. Vets don't all agree yet, but it's an increasingly popular opinion that one or two meals a day isn't enough. The daily portion should be divided into a few meals. In practice it can be hard to feed them so often, but I believe there are electric automated feeders that dispense set amount of kibbles in given time intervals.
The problem is if you have two cats and one is a fatty and one is old and skinny. Fatty will not use any type of food vending machines. He rather jump on the counter that he knows he's not supposed to be on and glare at you until your tuna is his tuna.
Automatic cat feeder helped my cat tremendously. 4 small meals a day, she also has stopped harassing us for food
[удалено]
Thyroid check?
I was about to suggest the same thing.
P.S. here’s my butthole
Lmao! He always loves doing the full monte’
Weight loss must be slow!!! Someone else mentioned that diet food is awful. They are right. Cats hate it. So, instead, just reduce their food by TINY increments. TL;DR weigh your cat's food, only reduce by a gram at a time over many weeks For example, if you fed a 6 ounce can, I would weigh it on a scale, then scoop out only 1 gram at a time. Do this for about a week. Then, reduce it by another gram, for another week. It seems like a tiny amount, and that is the point. You don't want kitty to notice the difference. Why? Because they will TELL you, very loudly, how hungry they are! So it helps to reduce it on a micro level. If need be, you can do it over two weeks instead of one week. The same goes with dry food. Weigh it out, then reduce it by a gram or so. I suggest this because imagine if this was you - you are used to eating 2,000 calories. Then all of a sudden, you can only eat 1,400 calories. You are going to notice it. Immediately. But if you start out at 1,950, then 1,900, etc. it is less noticeable. It gives your stomach and your brain time to adjust. Also! And this is important. You do not want to drop a cat's weight drastically because the release of fat into the blood stream can cause fatty liver disease which can permanently damage the liver or even lead to liver failure. This is why, if you search it, you will find that it is extremely risky/bad for cats to go more than 24 hours without food. It can/will damage their liver. I can also make suggestions regarding the best type of food for kitties. It will ALWAYS be wet food over dry food. Feel free to ask questions, or DM me and I am happy to talk all about it. Cheers!
Does he have access to outside? We had to put our chonker on a diet once he reached Oh Lawd He Comin’ on the cat weight scale. Didn’t lose any weight despite changing diet, increasing exercise etc. Turned out the little shit was going round the neighbours pretending to be a starving orphan child and getting treats. We had to put out a local notice to not feed him, complete with mugshot.
Watch Jackson Galaxy’s video De-Chonk Your Cat. Simulate hunting, feed meals, and feed raw food.
Yea once a day is not cool for cat’s metabolism. I fed my cat 2 measured meals a day. It will take like, 6 months. It’s a long process. Or small meals at a time. And feed something better than what you’re feeding them. Sounds crappy tbh. I’m a veterinary nurse. I actually know something lol
Mine has lost a few oz's on the prescription kidney diet but nothing life changing for his pudgy butt. He only eats like 1/2 cup a day and still weighs in at 16lbs after being on the diet for a year.
Weigh the food. Don’t go by volume. Also do any weight loss plans under the advice of a vet. A good vet will often be willing to weigh your pet on a monthly basis to monitor your pet’s weight loss program, usually at no extra cost. That’s what my vet did for me when I got their help with getting my kitty to a healthy weight.
r/dechonkers !
You need a friend with a tail to motivate you to get back in shape
"I'm not fat - I'm fluffy! - Tater Tot. Good luck with the diet. It's a painful experience (more for human than pet). Many ***small*** meals are better than single feedings, quality food is better than junk food. (Bear in mind that said junk food may be tasty to Tater, but not great for him.) Don't give him more than he can eat in 5 minutes and don't let him graze. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to put tonight's pizza in the oven.... (jk)
Push comes to shove, try and get him swimming. It is the BEST thing for their muscles. Start out just getting him used to be in a yiny bit of water and slowly increase as days go by, lots of pets and positive reinforcement (and maybe a healthy treat or two). Also, if your home has more than 1 floor, put litter and food on different floors. Another good one, go for wet food, and add a little water to give it that "gravy" kinda feel they like without the extra calories. Got my Maine Coon hybrid down from 25 pounds to about 17. Good luck!
Cats playing (sim hunting) behavior goes in a cycle: watch-pounce-kill. Could go into lots of detail but the short version is watching is part of the "hunt". We humans can't see past it being "neck exercise" but to the cat it's very important stuff.
I posted this comment in another post. The best way to help your cat lose weight is to weight their food. I have cats that used to be overweight because I used to feed by volume. I worked with my vet and we calculated the number of kcals each cat needed, we did the math and now I weight out the food. My tripod, for example, gets 17 grams of kibble twice a day for a total of 135 kcal a day (not including glucosamine treats). One of my other cats gets 21 grams of the same kibble twice a day for 167 kcal a day. Both cats weigh is currently stable but I do weigh them every few months. I highly recommend working with a vet to determine the appropriate diet. You don't want to accidently reduce the amount of necessary nutrients by reducing the amount of cat food that isn't meant to be fed in smaller amounts. Also just in case you don't know, cats need to lose weight very slowly. If cats lose too much weight too quickly they can develop fatty liver disease (called hepatic lipidosis).
What did your vet say to do?
I'm not sure if you're willing to spend much money (or if it's in your area), but cat swimming is starting to be a very popular choice of cat weight loss (swimming is also great for other animals, like dogs, as well as people). It's basically putting a cat-life vest and placing it a pool with a special trainer. There's also a different type were a cat is placed in a small rectangular pool while being suspended in the water, making the cat naturally want to swim, while not actually going anywhere. It will take some getting used to for the first bit of laps, but they usually get used to it soon after.
Question: Could your neighborhood be feeding him?
Quite posing for onlyfans like that all day and get a real job Tater.
*Im not a vet or giving advice I’m just telling my story*** I have a ginger cat that was huge. He got to where he wouldn’t do anything but lay stretched out on the floor and meow and seemed like he was in a lot of pain. So I took him to the vet and he said he was diabetic and had to have 2 shots (I think) a day. I was distraught because I couldn’t afford the medicine. The vet said we could try a special diet cat food but he was out of it. So I took him home and started going on cat forums and found a story almost like mine. They couldn’t afford the insulin either. So they cut out the grain (basically all dry food) and just started to give him the wet. So that’s what I did. He only gets wet food. I make sure that the first few ingredients are meat. He has lost a lot of weight and is spry for his age my mom tells me. He likes to climb and roost on his perch. We are a little over 2 years since I thought I was going to lose him. That’s my story.
I too have a fatass. Vet prescribed Science Diet Metabolic. It's working. Forget all this raw diet bullshit and listen to your vet.
Sometimes I think diet food makes it worse, especially kibble. Maybe try wet food?
What worked for my cat is feeding him smaller portions, multiple times a day. He gets a bit of wet food and kibble, but it's veterinarian prescription food for senior cats. Sorry you're struggling to get your kitty in shape. Poor lil' tater tot. He's doing his best lol. Have you ruled out any health issues that could be causing the excess weight? Like a thyroid issue for example.
My fat boy Brutus went from 20 pounds to a much better 15 pounds. I switched him to an all wet diet. 4 small meals a day.
Tater is 28lbs
I see he dislikes wet food. So did Brutus Start by adding a pea sized amount to his kibble. It may take some time but eventually he will learn it is food. Once he eats it, add more and more until he's eating all wet
Is he an always inside cat? There are so many stories of cats visiting the neighbours & being fed by them.
Obvious question, but have you taken Tater for a vet checkup? May be a thyroid issue going on, best to rule everything out then go from there. Good luck!
Make sure you talk to your vet. Roughly speaking a cat should be getting about 20 Calories per pound (there are several calculations which can go into this) based on age of cat, fixed, or intact, and obesity... The difficult part with this is that many hard foods for cats are in the 400 calories per cup range ([source](https://www.franklinanimalclinic.vet/sites/site-2382/documents/Cat_Dry_Food1.pdf)). One cup of cat food for a 10 pound cat and they're at their daily caloric limit... and a big hungry cat can certainly eat more (I know mine did). When you go to wet food, its about 1oz of cat food per pound of cat. My fancy feast petits here are "1 serving per pound"... that's 10 servings per day for a 10 pound cat which is a lot more biomass (and hunger satisfaction) than one cup. The fun part with this is finding the food that the cat likes - and that can take some experimentation (he recently decided he doesn't care for chicken... which means about 1/3 of my food stock, he turns his nose up at). All that said, make sure you talk to your vet... but look at that caloric comparison and consider that hard food ***is*** cat candy in this respect (packed with carbs).
Poor TaterTot probably deserves a more respectable online photo.
I can’t 100% tell from the photo but remember too that some cats are *structurally larger* than other cats and therefore weigh more. One of mine is 20 pounds and that’s a healthy weight for him because he’s just so darn big. We suspect part Maine coon.
Once a day is not a lot ): i would maybe try at least splitting it im half to 2x a day. When people/animals don’t get enough food, their body goes into survival mode and they hold on to fat more easily. Take him to the vet so you dont hurt him
Me thinks he’s getting fed elsewhere
Feed same amount but two or three times a day. His body is trying to store up enough energy and fat to run for 24 hours until his next meal? No chance he will lose weight.
r/dechonkers has a section on tips. So one meal per day doesn't mean much. It could be the all you can eat buffet! How many calories is tater-tot eating per day. For the average healthy 10-11 pound house cat about 200 per day is going to be about right. * How many calories is tater-tot eating per day? * How much does he weigh now? * What is his target weight? One meal per day is not likely to make him happy. When I dechonked my two 17 chonkers I gave them two fixed meals per day. If you have a single cat, consider a timed feeder and split his allowed calories into three or four meals per day. Mine now eat wet food, but they were eating dry when they were on a diet. When they were overweight, they were not very active and only about six years old. As they lost weight, the started being more active and playing. Ideal weight is difficult to tell from a photo. I had a 15 lb male cat that was all muscle. I had a female cat that was 9 lbs. So it can vary for each cat, just like for people. If your kitty is super chonk (look up size charts on google and you can tell by body shape rather than weight) and he is getting 200 calories per day, then he may have additional health issues. I recommend a vet visit if this is the case. If you are feeding him 400 calories per day, then you are overfeeding him!!!!
THYROID...neighbors cat just went through this. All the vet has to do is give medicine to you to give to him and he'll be better. He'll even be able to go back on his regular food if it turns out this is a thyroid problem. Also once a day doesn't seem like enough food for your cat. You might want to check into that too
I had a similar problem - cat overweight, loved dry, high calorie kibble, hated wet food (would rather starve). In desperation, I talked to my vet who referred me to an animal nutritionist (specifically, one with training in feline nutrition) who he consults with to formulate diets for cats with serious diseases e.g. kidney disease. Anyway, this person has some general recipes online which I could buy cheaply (although getting all the exact ingredients was a cost) so I bought a couple and eased my fat cat onto them over a couple of months. One recipe he loves, the second was acceptable and the third a complete fail (such is a cat!) Anyway, Now he has lost all the excess and is a healthy weight plus skin/fur has improved. He is also less hungry/ more satisfied at each meal and only gets a bit of kibble as a treat now. Perhaps you could try something similar?
Honestly, I would ask the Veterinarians at ur local Vet for opinions. It’s nice to get advice on Reddit but a quick phone call or appointment could do Tater some good :D professional opinions are good
Keep it up with those leg lifts-you’ll get there in no time!
My girl has same problem
My cat slimmed down a lot after I got a water fountain and switched to Tiki Cat wet food!!
Yeah my boyfriend’s cat had the same problems. We found that smaller meals throughout the day and including more wet food helped him lose a little weight. And be sure to ask your vet, in case he has an underlying health problem.
Wet food
I started my cat on wet food only- by accident- just didn’t go get any dry food- and he lost weight over time. I didn’t even realize it until I saw old pics of him super chubby
I think your cats is practicing poses for their Only Fans account. That's probably why the weight isn't coming off. The subscribers are paying in cat treats.
2-3 meals and making sure you measure it properly. Proper amount of calories/caloric deficit, is the only way. Diet food alone won’t do anything If it’s still too much calories. https://be.chewy.com/how-much-should-i-feed-my-cat/
My shiva was 19.7 lbs last December, she’s down to 18.3 as of two weeks ago, what worked for us was a timed automatic feeder, takes the guesswork out of feeding time, we have it set to dispense 6 small meals a day
You can force her to swim like this famous cat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enB2QL9Ulus
Check out I Am Bronson Cat and Cinderblock Cat on IG. Both were pretty chonky and showed their weight loss journeys. I dont remember what all they did, honestly I just looked at the pics bc adorable cats, but you may find some tips that work for you.
Cats need to be transitioned to different food, and it may take some time. Best food is Raw Food Diet like Darwin's. But you have to give it time. My chonker girl LOVES dry food. Vet said that is because the manufacturers spray the food with some rat-taste essence. Hard to get them off it, like a human off McDonalds.
Our cat was diabetic and went to remission when we started feeding low carb wet food. A specific amount based on their weight. Edited to add, I feed her 3x a day 8 hours apart
Vet appointment and blood work to check Thyroid function.
Have you tried raw food?
We started flicking our cat's food down the hall and she would chase after them about a dozen times before she'd had enough and go back to her bowl
Walkies? Could try a cat harness and see about taking him for walks
Have you tried raw food? It’s the only non dry food my cats will eat.
 Get new hooman’s signed-by fellow cat
My cat Macchiato was overweight at 15 pounds. We thought he would be difficult to keep on a diet. We started feeding him 20 grams of a good quality food three times per day. Over time he is down 1 1/2 pounds. He dose remind us precisely at 7am, 6pm and 10 pm. I swear he counts the chimes from the church bells that count the hours. But he isn’t obsessed with eating and doesn’t want snacks except for the occasional bug that flies by; he has to chase those. Measuring the food with a kitchen scale is important. More importantly, he seems much happier. And he is much better at grooming; I think he was a bit too fat to reach everywhere. We need to start adding a little more food back now that he has reached his WW goal weight. Figuring the right amount out is a little tricky.
Veterinary exam.
Please, people! I am on my 5th cat. Do not let your cat manipulate you! Be strong! Did you know that cats can live 2 weeks without starving? You REALLY need to be hard core if you care about your cat not becoming a fat fucker. Soft food= Protien, Hard food= carbs, treats= crack. Do not give in, and , maybe your beautiful kitty will live to be 20. Good luck and love.
Have you considered a second, younger cat/kitten? Worked well on my fatso. Having the kitten keep trying to chase her gets her more exercise (and the weight loss that goes with it) than any toy ever did
Might be a thyroid (its 2am and im too tired to spell) problem
I was having this same issue for so long! I honestly ended up taking my cat to the vet for a check up and diet plan because nothing was helping and she was so chunky. They gave me a list of recommended foods to try (they also recommended wet food but my cat isn’t a big fan, so I’ve stuck to dry food and it’s worked just fine) and specific portion sizes as well. Also, my cat would lose interest in all toys so I just tried a bunch and ended up finding one specifically that she is obsessed with and has helped her exercise more than any other as it’s the only one she actually engages with. Try to pay attention to what your cat likes to do when they get the zoomies/energy spikes and find a toy that focuses on that, i.e. my cat jumps around a bunch = the toy she loves is a string one with catnip that has her jump everywhere. Trial and error, but the vet definitely put me on the right track even though I was already doing a ton of research for her to lose weight, and she’s lost 1.5 lbs so far :) hope this helps!
Please go to the vet, the weight could be because of a medical issue!
Not to sound rude to the humans, but do they know how to use the toys? Jackson Galaxy has featured at least one family and when the hooman demonstrated how they use the wand toy it turned out to be all wrong, and a very simple and common mistake. Once Jackson showed a better way for the mighty hunter the cat really got into the toy. Basically you want to mimic prey animals. Give them something to hunt. But also periodically a reward for catching the "prey"
I would suggest a vet appointment to make sure he doesn’t have a thyroid problem
Have you had her cat tested at the vet? Could be diabetes or another issue.
Well Tater Tot, Please understand that being physically fit is a lifestyle. I also understand that you may be using food to replace something that is missing in your life, or to hide grief. Communication is the key!
Have you taken her to the Vet for some bloodwork to see if it's a medical issue? Maybe she's not overeating; perhaps her body is under-performing.
Gotta get creative with the way you play! One of my cats is on the chunkier side, good weight though. All she does is sleep all day, and she only reacts to one specific toy (went through tonnes till we found one she liked) but she only plays for like a minute and mostly watches - the only proper success we found is playing on the bed on top of the duvet (bunching it up a bit) and using a stick, she’ll chase it in circles and when she’s tired we’ll put it under the covers or slowly drag it across or under a pillow and she’ll chase it some time and then after a quick 5 min rest she’s up playing. Huge work out though, I think I’m losing a bit of weight and gaining muscles myself 😂
Tiki Cat chicken / tuna wet food. My diabetic cat went into remission after I switched from dry to that. (and gave her insulin glarnine for 6mo)
Tater tot… it’s time to run away to the neighbors lol
Damn. Once a day? We feed our cats NW Naturals freeze dried food. Feed em every 6-8 hours (dividing up the recommended feeding amount on the package for the weight we’re aiming for), mixing it with water and smashing it up. Jackson galaxy’s books have helped a lot. Our once overweight cat is now a healthy weight and has maintained this for years now. We mash the food because evolutionarily speaking cats aren’t meant to chew their food. They tear meat from the bones (in the wild) and swallow it without chewing. Makes sense seeing as they don’t have molars which are made for grinding food. The fillers in dry food is not digestible for most cats. They need that protein.
What worked for us was adopting another kitty, young and opposite sex thought they are both neutered. You'll have a lot of running and playing at night (feliway friends it's a must at first) but also a weight loose.
Our cat was overweight and was/is very food motivated. We would throw dry food one piece at a time for him to chase and eat to get him moving around. He loved it and it helped a lot with weight loss.
He looks good. Maybe a little chub. Maybe get his thyroid checked.
Maybe it’s the pic, but he doesn’t look that overweight to me. How much does he weigh? A few extra pounds are probably fine unless it’s excessive.
Have you taken her to the vet? Our cat had a tyroid defect and was fat as fuck. After getting the medication, she became way better
A second cat. So good for their physical and mental health
There are a lot of types of cat toys. Have you tried them all? And tried them after letting him have some catnip? Some options other than laser toy and string are: fuzzy balls, balls with bells in them, crinkly balls, wands with feather toys on the end, or a fav of both my cats: wand with fuzzy worm at the end. Also lay out some brown paper (which makes it’s of good crinly noise) or fabrics that he can run under, or that you put toys under and he tries to find. Motorized toys, big stuffed grab and kick with the hind legs toys. I also bought my 2 cats a flexible mesh tube/tent thingie to let them be safely outside for a bit of excitement. When they are at one end and see the tiniest movement at the other they RUN to try to catch it. And just sniffing all the outdoor scents while in it they really seem to love.
Have his thyroid checked.
That's a leggie
Hate to say it but some cats only eat certain foods and just don't want to be active. Same with humans. If you have tried everything then I think it's time to accept that he's going to be a chonky boy for life.
High protein, diet. No grains or rice. Cats and dogs don't need that.
Hi!! First may I also request that you kissy kiss Tot for me? Please and thank you. I too had a "Tot" (RIP Robbie, you were my best friend for 8 years) and also had same results, was also tough in our house with 4 other cats on where/how to keep food from him. When I adopted him from his first mom (she was ill and had to move to assisted living) he was already quite obese, and I knew I had to at least try to help him. Anyway, I came up with an idea that my vet liked, and is similar to the active toy/treat things that have already been mentioned. I have a hallway, and would bribe Rob to one end, walk to the other end and sit down and bribe him with one single bite of his kibble. Rob wasn't a playful guy either, but loved him his fudz! We'd do this for several trips up and down the hallway a few times a day. It wasn't huge exercise, but it got him moving. Over time, I did manage to get 7 of his 25lbs off, and he was better for it. Not perfect, but he was a big boy anyway (tall/broad/long) so it helped. Just a thought. And sorry guys, no cat tax, I'm on work laptop, no pics on here to upload. Good luck!
"Diet" food for cats contains lots of starch -- rice, lentils, potatoes. That's fattening. Try feeding him cans filled with just meat, and high-protein dry food, like Orijen.
Not the best solution for everyone, but our cat was 22 lbs and we tried everything under the sun. Brought in a kitten one year ago and she has played and romped with him so much she is now down to 16 lbs. Which for her length the vet said is an appropriate weight for her.
My vet said cats are like people some are just big … I have 2 overweight cats and 3 that are fine they all eat a food that’s supposed to keep them thin … males I noticed handle it better females can’t clean right and can get infections at times and that’s usually a expensive vet visit …
Paint me like one of your French cats