My Cat Is Obese...Can I Get Some Help ?

Question

My cat (MALE) Is obese and I was wondering if he would be having any problems with his digestive system...When I cuddle with him and I am near his stomach I can hear it making weird noises.And by the way he eats when he is bored.Also can I make him more active some how?And he has trouble jumping because he is so big.And sometimes he jumps down and gets hurt and I just want to help him.

Answer 1

my cat is fat too.  her belly almost touches the floor.  :/  lol.

but what's great excercise is to get a laser pointer and point it on the floor and move it around. your cat will chase the red dot and try to catch it.  it is very entertaining for both you and your cat.  my kitty loves it!!

:)

Answer 2

Put a leash on your cat and take the cat for walks. Switch to low fat pet food and take the cat to the vet and get some help. You  need to remember that cats need to be played with. There are times when you have to do that.  

Answer 3

Diet  Diet  Diet My cat was 18 pounds and I changed his food to grain free canned food and he lost 6 pounds- Fancy Feast makes grain free food- it doesn't advertise this-  They are Liver and Chicken Feast- Gourmet Chicken Feast- Tender Beef Feast- Beef and Chicken Feast, Chopped Grill Feast, Liver and Beef Feast, Turkey and Giblets Feast-,Gourmet Seafood Feast and Flaked Fish and Shrimp Feast- avoid the foods that say "grilled", "in gravy", "sliced", "chunked" ect.. stick to the ones that are listed here or search "Janet and Binkie's food charts"-you will arrive at a site for diabetic cat owners- go to diets and there are list of the foods and their carbohydrates- you want lower carbohydrates -  grains have no nutritional value- they are added to cut costs of the manufactures- cats are obligate carnivores- they do not eat grains and because of their presents in commercial foods, there is an epidemic of obesity in our cats- change his diet

Answer 4

You could take away the food or just feed him a set amount at certain times.  If he eats when he's bored then don't give him the option of doing that and try to find ways to keep him from being bored.

If you can make a game out of eating that could increase his activity.  Put some food in a cardboard tube so he'll have to figure out how to get it out and things like that to increase his physical and mental activity.  

New toys, like ones with catnip or feathers could be good too.  

If you aren't already, feed a high quality food with no fillers, that should also help.  Some brands can be found here: http://www.naturapet.com/default.asp  All the corn and other junk found in grocery store brands doesn't do the cat any good and can lead to them packing on pounds.  But he will need to eat even less food if it's high quality, so follow the feeding guidelines at first then adjust as needed to help him lose weight.  

Answer 5

be careful he could get hurt let me think..................... your cat may have a lack of self discipline he is just eating his way, you need to feed it one bowl a day

get it some fresh air

a little toy

maybe set it on a play date with another cat!

Answer 6

There are basically 2 reasons why a cat is obese.

First, medical.  TFor isntance, the thyroid controls weight in a cat, it can make them heavy or too thin.  The vet can diagnose this with a blood test.  Other things might take a bit more.

Second, food.  You are overfeeding your cat.  Cats cannot order pizza in, go shopping or open cans.  So the only way they overeat is if we overfeed them.  Find a GOOD quality lower calorie pet food (cheap food contains junk just like junk food for humans) and measure the servings.  Implement an exercise program, you can run around and give yourself some exercise or invest in toys like laser lights and such.

Very important!!!!  A fat cat will starve to death faster than a skinny cat.  Cats cannot process fat, like us or even like dogs.  Fats mess up their livers and lead to fatty lipidosis which can be fatal.  So SLOOOOW weight loss is really important.

Obesity in cats is a death sentence for them.  They are not built to carry the weight.  Start working on it now together, find things your cat likes to do and turn them into activities.

Answer 7

How old is your kitty? It's natural to hear noises when a cat is digesting that's just things working as they are supposed too. You are right he probably is bored and cats, like some people, will eat when they are bored. Try upping the time you play with him, get some fishing pole type toys so he can jump and chase them. Start out slow so he doesn't get hurt or sore. Cut his food intake by about a third, if you are giving him free choice food change to giving him just two meals a day some cats just don't do well on free choice they will over eat. There are toys that you put cat crunchies in and the cat has to roll it around to get the food out this is a good toy for him to exercise when you are not there. If you're kitty is an older kitty you might want to take him to his vet and make sure there aren't any medical problems. Good luck

Answer 8

I am a fan of the prescription weight loss Science diets food. When I worked at a veterinary clinic we has a clinic cat that was severely overwight (had been in a cage for almost 1 year with no exercise :(. Note that this was one of the vet's ex-cats. They got rid of it after 10 years because he didn't like their new dog. The cat was very sweet to people though ) and he was losing weight quite well on the S.D.  He ended up with diabetes too, and your cat could be in danger. I would recommend getting him to the vet for a blood workup before putting on a diet plan.