How do I get my cats to lose weight?

Question

I have two cats and they are both really overweight. they have been free fed their whole lives (i know i know bad idea) and whenever their bowl is empty and they're hungry they meow continuously. I don't really how much they they eat. (I think one of them is a closet eater). They are eating food with meat as the first ingredient (turkey). My cats wont go on walks or jogs and my question is what can i do to help them go to a scheduled diet and what foods can i give them to lose weight?

Answer 1

what i would do is not feed them as much and play with them a lot so there not sitting on the couch all day

Answer 2

get the mtop chase this kid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKCGe2Ezr...

Answer 3

i have a really fat cat too, so what we did was have a cup and only give them the cup with in the whole day, so that way you know how much food you are giving them each day. Also try diet food. they might meow alot but its worth it because it makes them healthier and soon they will get used to only getting fed that much and stop meowing. good luck :)

Answer 4

My cats get one bowl of food a day. I fill it up in the morning and if they run out, oh well.

I also try to get my cat moving by pulling a string for it to chase. Anything that will help bring out the inner predator. They like things that move and wiggle.  Get them on the prowl.

I also switched to healthful life by purina. it's made one of them more active in the morning and at night, especially when it's cooler.

Answer 5

It would be best to talk to their veterinarian.  Their doctor will know what the best diet is for them individually.  I've been told that Science Diet is a really great food for pets with certain dietary needs.

Answer 6

I am not sure about food but I would consider making them outdoor cats, because then they will lose more weight and only feed them 2 times a day with wet food and keep dry food in their bowls all the time casue its better for them.  One of my cats is pretty chubby but that was because he was an indoor cat until we got him, but my other cat has a perfect weight and has been an outdoor cat all his life.  Also my chubby cat has lost some weight since we made him an outdoor cat.  And if they meow for more food just ignore them because feeding them isn't doing them any favors.

Answer 7

It's not the free feeding that is the problem I free feed. It is what you are feeding. You have been feeding kitty crack! Feed appropriate foods and the weight problem will go away





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_Rea...

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

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_...

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 food for cats does not contain any grains at all.

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/bp...

Please read about cat nutrition.

                               http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics...

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

      http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.ht...

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...

Answer 8

I used to use Pro-Pac for my cat which is a high quality cat food in the same category as Iams . I simply switched to a lite food. My cat was in the city and never went outside . So nothing that i did was different except switching to a lite food and the cat lost weight. maybe it isn't the best answer but it is what worked for my cat. I always  left the food dish full and plenty of water. cats are not like dogs in my observation a dog will eat until it is sick cats are not like that so I always found that to be a workable solution.  

Answer 9

this might seem strange to dog walkers but put them on a leash and walk them around and if there shy do it at night

Answer 10

I would cut back on the portions you are feeding them and get them cat food and then I would call and make them an appointment with the vet for a good check up and make sure their obesity hasn't caused any health problems. good luck

Answer 11

Well, you probably shouldn't give them a scheduled diet at first, since they are used to eating whenever they want and the abrupt change can hurt their digestive system. At first, you should just free feed them diet foods, and give them veggies and fiber. After a while start scheduling their diet a little bit at a time. Give them all their nutrients though.  

As for excersize, why don't you buy those cat polls so they could run up and down, and still have fun? You could also kinda play rough with them, so they burn some calories.

This might take awhile but you will start seeing the difference.

Hope I helped! Good luck!

Answer 12

We feed our Kitties Iams ProActive Health Weight Control.  It's a great food, and here is a link to the product.  They even have a fantastic feeding schedule to follow too.  

http://us.iams.com/iams/en_US/jsp/IAMS_P...

The most important thing is that your cat is over 1 year of age.  Under one year of age should be free fed even if they are overweight.