Video of one of my cats getting petted

[Rochester]

Zoe is 19 pounds at last weigh-in. See her getting some attention here...

Isn't she adorable?

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Besides her girth (!) the most amazing this is that she's so close to....

the dreaded vacuum cleaner! Mine only have to hear me open the closet where it's stored and they're GONE!

[Rochester]

2. She doesn't seem to mind it when it's just sitting there

All my cats seem to know that it's quite harmless when it's turned off, but they get nervous if they see me carrying it, and they run away if I switch it on.

[roguevalley]

3. my kitties always loved getting vacuumed. :D what a great cat. :D

[Ratty]

4. Now she's gonna start purring when the video camera comes out

She obviously loves the pets but she seems to have a look on her face that says "I wonder what brought this on?"

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Do you have her on a reducing diet? For her well being, she should

drop a few pounds.

[Rochester]

6. It's complicated

I have three cats. One is grossly overweight (Zoe), one is mildly overweight (Bogey, the second cat) and one is normal weight (Oscar, the first cat). At the suggestion of the vet, I've been feeding them first thing in the morning each day (instead of just putting food out whenever I see the dishes are empty, as I did before.) She continued to gain weight even as Bogey lost a little. (Oscar held steady.) Good for Bogey but not so good for Zoe. For the last couple months I've been putting out less food, and all of them have noticed; they sometimes wake me up in the morning mewing, pawing at me, or walking back and forth on me. They want to be fed! I'm concerned though, that Zoe might be eating the other cats' shares. I'll know when I weigh them next if any of this is helping. If Zoe gets even fatter and Oscar loses any, then I'll be out of ideas, because it would be difficult to switch to two smaller feedings: I don't always come and go at the same times; except for when I first get up, there is no single time that I can reliably say that I am going to be home every day to feed them. Feeding them separately wouldn't be practical either.

[LisaLynne]

7. I had the same problem.

I had two that were just large cats that then ended up getting totally fat, but two that stayed really thin. I figured the bigger ones just ate everybody else's share, but I couldn't prove it!

However, both of the big ones lived to be 18 and 19 respectively. They were happy and fat. Although, I will admit the really big one lost some weight in the last 7 years of his life. He never got under 18 pounds, but he was just a really large cat. I think his ideal weight would have been around 16 or 17 pounds. So, my point is, I don't really know that weight is the death sentence everybody says it is.

[ginnyinWI]

8. what are they eating?

If it is dry food, you might have more luck with canned food, which is lower in carbs. Carbs are pretty useless to cats, because they use protein for energy. The carbs just make them fat.

I would look at about a can per day per cat divided into two meals per day, ideally. Could you feed them half in the morning and half at bedtime? And then do try to watch that they only eat their own food, not somebody else's. If they are hungry enough, they will eat it all up. If not, take it away again before the other one gets it.

I may be barking up the wrong tree, but if you do need to switch to canned food, the cats will also benefit by having more energy and will exercise some of their weight off. A diet of only dry food is so low in protein that it robs them of energy and makes them sleep a lot.

The other thing I've recently become aware of is animal v.s. plant protein. Cats should really not have food that uses plant protein like soy flour or wheat gluten as part of its protein. It needs to be animal protein.

I got my 15 pound calico down to a 9 pound normal weight using this method. She was so much happier because she could run and jump and play so much easier. It took maybe six months--that's a pound a month.

[Rochester]

9. Mostly dry food, with wet food as an occasional treat

I could possibly give them a second feeding, but there's no way the feeding would come at a set time every day. Although I guess bedtime isn't too irregular.

Watching them eat really isn't practical for me. I am not a morning person, never have been. I sleep as late as I can, then do what I must - shower, retrieve the paper, feed the cats, etc. - as fast as I can, and grab a bite on the way out the door to eat in the car on the way to work. After doing this my entire life I don't see it changing now.

A bedtime feeding sounds doable, though. Maybe if they run out of food during the evening hours, that will give Zoe less time to eat the other cats' rations.

Zoe has gained about 2 pounds per year for the past three years. If I can even get her to stabilize, that will be a step in the right direction. Getting her down to Bogey's weight would be a lot better, of course!

[ginnyinWI]

10. if you did nothing different other than substitute canned food for dry--

--your cats would begin to lose weight. This is the best website for explaining all the whys and hows of switching: www.catinfo.org

[Rochester]

11. I checked and found that

canned food is prohibitively expensive compared to the dry food. I'll try feeding them canned once or twice per week and see what happens.

[Walk away]

12. I had a friend who had two chubby kitties....

Every day at feeding time she fills their bowls, puts them on an attractive tray and walks around the interior of her house ten times with the cats following her. Result? Everyone lost weight!

At first I thought she was a little crazy but it was actually fun to stop by and watch the dinner procession.

[ginnyinWI]

13. lol! n/t

[ginnyinWI]

14. true enough.

I get cans of Friskies (5.5 oz) for between .46 and .50 each, and the two cats use about two cans per day. Or if I'm using some dry, then it is one can in the morning, and a half can at night (for both together) and a coffee measure each of dry kibble.

What about half canned, half dry? And then mix some water into the canned to help fill them up (and help hydrate the cats at the same time)? One thing you probably shouldn't do is put water on dry food. It will spoil really fast. Canned food can sit out for 12 hours, but I wouldn't trust dry kibble with water on it.

Then there are the people who make their own cat food using raw ingredients and a meat grinder. I don't think I'm going to go that far any time soon, but an occasional table scrap (meat or fish) wouldn't hurt.

One way to look at it, is you are saving some bills at the vet if you feed wet food. Cats eating dry food tend toward obesity, urinary blockages, and other unfortunate consequences. My poor cat Tim (1989-2007) was fed dry food most of time. He was overweight, didn't have a lot of energy for play, and always craved and wolfed down any morstle of canned food when he'd get it for a treat. He developed a complete urinary blockage one time that resulted in a weekend emergency run to a vet. He eventually succumbed to kidney failure, but he was 17 and I can't directly blame dry food.

They always seem healthy enough, and then something goes wrong. If only I could go back and do that over.