Little chubsters need out-foxing! (Obesity in cats)

Member Name: Tracy_1127

Product:	Obesity in cats
Date:	21/07/08 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to help them when you know how

Disadvantages: They can get health problems from being overweight

I have 2 male, neutered cats and as most sites of information will tell you they are more prone to weight gain than full toms. I think it's due to the fact they wander less and fight less but the fact remains the same, they can turn into little "chubsters" very rapidly. Obesity in cats, like in people, can lead to unwanted health problems so maintaining their weight at a sensible level is something every responsible owner should do. However, weight can sneak on, especially as they get older and only weighing them will reveal this in the earlier stages.

Cats don't like dieting, take their food away and they can become very grumpy and anti-social so many manufacturers of cat foods have developed diet foods. These diet foods usually contain less calories and more fibre and are very useful if your cat will eat them! Cats can be fussy about food and if they don't like something they simply will not eat it.

As mine both have struvite issues (bladder stones caused by the bladder being too alkaline) they can only have foods that also address this problem. Enter Hills Prescription w/d. This deals with the bladder problems and is high in fibre and lower calorie. It looks the same as the Hills c/d they have for their bladder problem only but obviously tastes different as mine didn't like it!

What to do? I devised a cunning plan! Basically, mine eat dry food. On the back of the pack it tells you how many grams of food to give cats if they are dieting. About 90g was right for each of mine. So I measured out 90g each for the day. I also took about 10g out of each and set it aside. Then I gave them a small amount of biscuits as and when they requested it, food on demand is what they're used to so minimum change is helpful in out-foxing them!

As they worked their way through the 80g throughout the day and didn't notice any difference I was very pleased with myself. So far so good. Once they'd finished the 80g each we'd reached a point late on in the evening. They both still had 10g each to go at and hadn't noticed the reduction in quantity.

The remaining 10g each was put into bowls for them to help themselves from and they did just that, eating this small amount throughout the night. They never noticed I'd reduced their intake because the food never stopped coming! Being a bit of a trickster is essential with cats, they're not stupid!

I encouraged them both to play more and within a month they'd both lost weight. After a few days they are just like us and get used to a lower amount of food so they often didn't finish the extra 10g each at night. Easy. They were fine and happy because they never noticed and it was easy enough to achieve.

If you're out all day halve the total amount and give half throughout the day and hold back half for the time you're in. As long as the food keeps coming as regularly as before they don't notice.

It's exactly how I lose weight if I want to, portion control, works a treat!

Summary: Cats are very bright so use your imagination to help them