Cat Gained Weight Fast

19 years ago

Last March we took in a stray cat that we had seen off and on for two years. She was very pregnant and it was at least her third litter. She had seven kittens, all but two of which died at 3 weeks due to fatal kitten syndrome.

Once she was doing well, we took her to the vet for an examination. She weighed six pounds, 9 ounces and blood work confirmed that she was healthy. In October, she was fixed and weighed about the same.

Since then she has gained 6 POUNDS and waddles when she walks. We took her to vet's last week and the vet said that she was just fat and happy. We lost another feral cat we had taken in last year, after she seemed to balloon with weight and I don't want it happening with this one. With her two kittens and another two cats, it's tough to limit her food, because in addition to splitting two cans of wet food a day, there are four bowls of dry food which are constantly filled.

My idea was to quaranteen "Pauline" in the sunroom as sort of a "fat spa" for a few weeks. I'm not sure how much dry food or wet food to give her. I was thinking about a small 3 ounce can of wet food and 1/2 cup of dry, but she really doesn't go crazy over the wet stuff.

Any help would be appreciated.

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Comments (5)

Elly_NJ
19 years ago
It is not safe for cats to do on crash diets. They can go into liver failure.

12 or 13 pounds, depending on the cats skeletal structure, is not so much. But of you want the cat to lose weight, do it over the course of at least 6 months, not weeks.

Do the cats need the unlimited access to dry? Can you instead isolate the kittens, which need the special kitten food that the adults should not be eating (which may account for the obesity?) Just and idea. Good luck, and thank you for caring for these strays!
Elly_NJ
19 years ago
I meant they can go into kidney failure if they go on crash diets.
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cynthia_gw
19 years ago
I free fed my cats for 20 years and had no fat kitties. Until Saul & Mikey came along 7 years ago :-) For whatever reason, those two cats would eat everything in sight (still do.) It was hard to make the switch as I too felt that my other kitties might not get enough food if a bowl of dry wasn't available all day and night. But what happens is that the grazers learn to eat at meal times, and the fat ones do lose weight if they are given appropriate portions twice a day. You may have to stand guard when you feed them, and remove the fast eaters from the room when they're done. Otherwise they'll move on to the next dish and help out the slender slow eaters. Good luck.
silvergold
19 years ago
We try to feed our cats a MEASURED amount accross two large meals and two small snacks each day. We had been kind of careless about watching who ate what lately and giving extra snacks, but as our two big cats gained alot of weight we are back to more strict feeding. It means I have to watch carefully when they do eat to make sure they are each eating out of the correct bowls.

Two of our cats have weight issues and one is skinny. The two meal/two snack works best for all of them. Meals are breakfast and dinner. Snacks are afternoon sometime (with some misses as we work - in that case we give them more for their evening meal) and bed time.
rivkadr
19 years ago
I meant they can go into kidney failure if they go on crash diets.

Actually, they can go into liver failure. My cat did this past summer, because of the diet we had put her on.