How do you make your cat loose their weight?

Feed proper food for the species and you can leave food out for both cats.

Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health

Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.

Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingrediant a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?

http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Read_a_Pet_Fo...

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04/Perhach/P...

Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms

The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with grains and carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process. Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in

Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.

http://www.catinfo.org/#My_Cat_is_Doing_Just_Fine_...

You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all.

THE BEST CAT FOODS CONTAIN NO GRAINS NO BYPOODUCTS NO MEAL

Cats are meat eaters not cereal or rice eaters

Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. I would rather feed a middle grade canned food then the top of the line dry food.

Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4a.php

Please read about cat nutrition.

http://www.catinfo.org/

http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm

http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm#Dry_Food...

Vetinarian diets The reason your vet thinks so highly of the pet food they sell probably has more to do with money than nutrition. In vet school, the only classes offered on nutrition usually last a few weeks, and are taught by representatives from the pet food companies. Vet students may also receive free food for their own dogs and cats at home. They could get an Iams notebook, a Purina purse and some free pizza. http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04/Perhach/P...

It's pretty common to have two cats, one who's an overweight gobbler and one at a normal weight who nibbles. It makes it challenging but it's still possible.

I researched this a couple of years ago, and this is the plan that I followed. It has worked very well!

It's rather long but I wanted to cover every aspect that I could.

From my blog:

Why do cats get fat? It can be a combination of issues or just one. The most obvious one is overfeeding. Another possibility and a very common one is feeding inappropriate, low-quality food (most dry foods). Third is over-treating. The fourth would be medical reasons I'm not qualified to discuss but they're rare. Most cats are fat simply because they're fed the wrong food and are fed too much.

Why is dry food bad? With very few exceptions, dry food is not appropriate food for cats. It's full of carbs/sugar, doesn't provide enough animal-based protein, and is often loaded with grains such as wheat or corn. Cats are obligate carnivores who need to eat a diet high in protein (from meat) and fat and very low in carbs. In addition, dry food leaves cats dehydrated. They do not instinctively drink enough water because they're designed to get it IN their food. This results in concentrated urine which can lead to all sorts of problems. And it DOES NOT CLEAN THE TEETH!

What should cats eat? Cats should eat a species appropriate diet which very much resembles Atkins (Catkins). A raw diet is the very best, so long as it's properly supplemented to meet a cat's nutritional needs. The next best choice is a good quality canned food (or even a commercially prepared raw diet). These foods will have meat listed as the first ingredient, will not contain corn, wheat or soy, may include organ meats, and will not list "meal" or "byproducts." See the What to feed link for suggestions.

So what should I do? The solution is to switch the fat cat (and any others in the household as well) to a good quality grainless canned food (or research raw feeding). Because these foods are species appropriate, the cat will lose weight at a safe, slow pace (no more than 1 pound per month). Switching foods needs to occur slowly, and if you're trying to get a kibble junkie to eat canned food, that will happen naturally.

How much should my cat lose? If possible, have your vet set a target weight for you. But if your cat is obviously obese you don't need to do that before getting started. In fact, if you're feeding dry food currently it's also a good idea to make the switch as soon as possible, even if only a few pounds need to be lost. You can also consult this chart to get an idea of how overweight kitty might be: http://www.placervillevet.com/feline%20body%20cond...

How soon will I see results? Cats need to lose weight slowly at the rate of no more than 1 pound per month, and sometimes less. This is because rapid weight loss may cause hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver) which can be fatal. So it might not look like it's working for the first few months. It's very helpful to get a baby scale that displays ounces, but even a regular scale can be useful. Just weigh yourself with and without the cat.

Why is this info different from what my vet told me? Many vets haven't been properly trained in feline nutrition. They may attend basic small animal classes, but the only cat-specific training they may receive is sponsored by Hills. Not surprisingly, they are taught to reach for a bag of Hills __/d when a cat presents with a particular problem (k for kidney, d for diabetes, etc.). I am not a nutritionist but I've gathered this information from people who DO know what they're talking about. (See links below).

How much should my cat eat?

This varies. Average cats may eat between 20-30 calories per IDEAL pound per day. Using 25 calories per day for example, an 8 pound cat could eat 200 calories per day. A cat who weighs 20 pounds but should weigh 10 could eat 250 calories per day. You multiply the ideal weight by the calories to arrive at that figure. When working toward weight loss, it's best to start at the lower end of the scale (20).

How do I find out how many calories are in cat food? See the link "Values in canned food." If it's not listed there, you'll need to do some research or perhaps contact the manufacturer.

What about supplements for weight loss? The addition of L-Carnitine to a cat's diet may assist with weight loss. 250-500 mg per day can be added to assist with weight loss. It is probably best to start with a lower dosage until you see how your cat reacts.

That's really all there is to it! Not only will fat cats lose weight, but it and any others in the home will reap many benefits of eating a species appropriate diet.

See the links below for detailed information on this topic.

control their food intake. feed twice daily. feed in seperate rooms with a closed door between them so no one is getting bullied away from the food dish.

exercise with dangly toys, peacock feather or laser light (be careful they don't look at the laser source).

what they said