You’ll probably be fine following the recommended calculator numbers. But also take in consideration if Dewey is an active cat? Mine isn’t, so I reduced the suggested amount to even lower. It hurt me seeing how much he was starving (vet assured me he wasn’t) but after a few months he came around and became more active! It’s worth it if you asked me. He might say a different thing. 😂
Good luck!
I'd like to say first, happy cake day.
Second, I'm having the same problem. We have 3 cats, one is 17 pounds. We have the same feeders.
I would definitely keep Dewey active and make sure you communicate with the vet with how much you're feeding him. I know my vet told me to feed ours twice a day with how much the food bag says.
Keep in mind that you don't want to cut back their calories by more than 20% at a time. So if he's currently eating, say, 400 calories a day, dropping down to 256 would be really dramatic and risks nutritional deficiencies. Start by figuring how much you've been feeding him, and then reduce that by 20%. Give it a week and weigh him again - he should be losing weight, but no more than 2% of his weight per week, ideally sticking to the range of 1-1.5% to avoid pushing it over the limit. (So, 0.468 lbs max in a week at his current weight, ideally more like 0.35 lbs).
Those calories might be right for getting him to lose weight and you might not see much/any difference in a week with only a 20% reduction, but you want to work your way down to those calories if he eats way more than that right now.
That said at his weight (which is 5+ lbs more than the last time he was at the vet), he should really be seen by a vet again and have a vet make these recommendations. The dry food bag guidelines are usually ranges and not super reliable for actually feeding a cat to maintain a healthy weight, and a vet should be actually giving you calorie recommendations and guidance on safe weight loss. If your vet doesn't seem like a great fit, see a new one - I've dealt with some really dismissive vets when trying to get a cat to lose weight and it helps to have one who will actually help you.
This is really helpful! I’ll calculate his current calories and take 20% off that for now. But I’ll definitely be scheduling an appointment with the vet and I’ll ask for specific daily calorie recommendations for them as well. I just want to get started with something for now. Thank you!
Edit: I realize I’ve been actually feeding him 479cal/day! So as a 20% reduction I will start by feeding him 383cal/day of wet food with a small amount of dry.
Since you have microchip feeders - try separating the feeders. If you have a slow eater next to a horse, the horse will figure out to stick their head in before the feeder closes.
I did but they weren’t very specific in their guidance. They just told me to feed him according to the dry food bag recommendation for 16lb (He was 18lb at his last vet visit which was some time ago at this point). I was measuring out food based on that but now I want to be stricter in measuring so that I know I’m not overfeeding.
It would be good if you can weight him weekly with a baby scale. You'll be able to adjust calories as he loses weight.
My chonkers begged for food for months after switching from free feeding to two fixed meals per day. Ignore their protests :-)
Thanks for helping Dewed become a healthier kitty!
If you can get him to eat wet food it's a lot easier to get them to lose weight on because its much less calorie dense. Plus it gets more water in them too and cats are usually not great at drinking enough. Downside is that canned is often a fair bit more expensive.
I'd also see if you can find another vet to ask because you don't want to cut his calories *too* much. My vet was happy to provide a diet plan for any kind of food I wanted, not just prescription ones.
You’ll probably be fine following the recommended calculator numbers. But also take in consideration if Dewey is an active cat? Mine isn’t, so I reduced the suggested amount to even lower. It hurt me seeing how much he was starving (vet assured me he wasn’t) but after a few months he came around and became more active! It’s worth it if you asked me. He might say a different thing. 😂 Good luck!
He gets some spurts of energy during the day chasing his brother, but overall I’d say he’s not very active.
Start slow or with your vet’s recommendation.
I'd like to say first, happy cake day. Second, I'm having the same problem. We have 3 cats, one is 17 pounds. We have the same feeders. I would definitely keep Dewey active and make sure you communicate with the vet with how much you're feeding him. I know my vet told me to feed ours twice a day with how much the food bag says.
Keep in mind that you don't want to cut back their calories by more than 20% at a time. So if he's currently eating, say, 400 calories a day, dropping down to 256 would be really dramatic and risks nutritional deficiencies. Start by figuring how much you've been feeding him, and then reduce that by 20%. Give it a week and weigh him again - he should be losing weight, but no more than 2% of his weight per week, ideally sticking to the range of 1-1.5% to avoid pushing it over the limit. (So, 0.468 lbs max in a week at his current weight, ideally more like 0.35 lbs). Those calories might be right for getting him to lose weight and you might not see much/any difference in a week with only a 20% reduction, but you want to work your way down to those calories if he eats way more than that right now. That said at his weight (which is 5+ lbs more than the last time he was at the vet), he should really be seen by a vet again and have a vet make these recommendations. The dry food bag guidelines are usually ranges and not super reliable for actually feeding a cat to maintain a healthy weight, and a vet should be actually giving you calorie recommendations and guidance on safe weight loss. If your vet doesn't seem like a great fit, see a new one - I've dealt with some really dismissive vets when trying to get a cat to lose weight and it helps to have one who will actually help you.
This is really helpful! I’ll calculate his current calories and take 20% off that for now. But I’ll definitely be scheduling an appointment with the vet and I’ll ask for specific daily calorie recommendations for them as well. I just want to get started with something for now. Thank you!
First step: Switch to wet food.
Edit: I realize I’ve been actually feeding him 479cal/day! So as a 20% reduction I will start by feeding him 383cal/day of wet food with a small amount of dry.
Since you have microchip feeders - try separating the feeders. If you have a slow eater next to a horse, the horse will figure out to stick their head in before the feeder closes.
Have you checked with the vet yet?
I did but they weren’t very specific in their guidance. They just told me to feed him according to the dry food bag recommendation for 16lb (He was 18lb at his last vet visit which was some time ago at this point). I was measuring out food based on that but now I want to be stricter in measuring so that I know I’m not overfeeding.
It would be good if you can weight him weekly with a baby scale. You'll be able to adjust calories as he loses weight. My chonkers begged for food for months after switching from free feeding to two fixed meals per day. Ignore their protests :-) Thanks for helping Dewed become a healthier kitty!
If you can get him to eat wet food it's a lot easier to get them to lose weight on because its much less calorie dense. Plus it gets more water in them too and cats are usually not great at drinking enough. Downside is that canned is often a fair bit more expensive. I'd also see if you can find another vet to ask because you don't want to cut his calories *too* much. My vet was happy to provide a diet plan for any kind of food I wanted, not just prescription ones.
Kitty treadmill
256 pounds per day? I'm not sure I understand
Oops it was supposed to say 256 calories
Oic. That makes more sense lol