Fat Cats
6No seriously what are you feeding them?
My older guy is 12 years and he’s always been free fed without issue. He had picked up some weight when he was younger because I was giving them all 9 lives. Which is not great food(duh now). They were all strays. Anyway he got stones/sand in his bladder when he was like 4. Cost me a grand. He’d been fine since and kept him and the two new girls on Purina urinary tract formula which is low ash since then and he lost all the weight for years. A horrible guest let one girl out never to be seen again. And the other died up a tree I couldn’t coax her down from for months. A couple years ago. She wasn’t allowed out. But shit happened. But he was still fine.
Last June I found an about starved to death kitten/cat right outside the back door. Maybe a year old at best. She wanted in/food. Took her to the vet. She thought she was pregnant. But no kittens ever showed after a couple weeks isolation. Probably they were born outside and died cause I couldn’t find them. . But anyway we changed to a higher calorie kitten food because we thought kittens were coming plus she needs more calories. And once they weren’t isolated adult cat food.
So now I have a 12 year old cat who is clearly slowing down/loosing energy/gaining weight. And a semi hyper 1.5 year old.
All the younger girls did well on his old food. I’m thinking about at least trying switching them back. He’s not fat-fat yet but he can’t keep gaining weight. I doubt I could adapt him to a feeding schedule 12 years in…
I mean it’s also cold and he has a heated bed so maybe he justs getting old and wants to stay warm and not leave it as much in winter. Yes I’m going to take him in for a check up.
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My cats are all free fed. I have had 2 fat cats over the years. Both ended up with diabetes temporarily (after about 6 or 7 months they both went into remission, one nearly died over it though as I didn’t realize that could happen). Mine are doing fine on cat chow (not indoor though, just the one in the blue bag as the ingredients are better than indoor). and between 5 of them a half a can of friskies 2x a day. But your mileage may vary.
The other thing you might want to do is put less food in the dish - keep it there all the time just let it run out for a few hours each day or twice a day. If your young ones are then losing weight catch them and feed them on a counter top twice a day while watching over them to keep fat cat from jumping up to feast. I have to do that for my nearly 19 year old. I give her more wet food than the other cats as she prefers that and she is on the light side for her size (she has that old age hollow bird bone feel to her).
Try playing with him more to get him moving. If you are feeling lazy most cats like those laser lights (although back when I lived in a house they caught on to the fact that I’d have them chase it up and and down the hall until they were panting so then they’d stop in the middle of the hall and wait for it; make sure you don’t accidentely shine it in their eyes) or those toys on the end of a stick.
The thing you have to watch out for in older cats is the weight loss, less glossy fur, being more irritable, etc. of hyperthyroid. Take him to a vet if he starts losing weight for no reason.
Also make sure you check him for parasites. They can look big in the belly from that. My indoor only cats have had, in the last 2 years, whip worm, round worm, tape worm twice.
My cats really didn’t start seriously slowing down old age style until 16ish. My 19 next month year old was on top of the 6’ cat tree in the middle of the night last night and then meowing as she couldn’t see well enough to get down in the dark. She spends a lot of time on a pet heating pad though.
There really is no easy way to feed different cats different amounts of food a day when they are free fed. Good luck.
@Kidsandliz He looks healthy in general. He can kick the younger ones ass when she starts stuff. And he’s not THAT fat. You can just see when he’s walking to you he could loose a pound or two on the sides. Want to nip that in the bud.
He used to follow me around and nag, and if you didn’t pick him up make a flying leap on to your shoulder from the ground. And I’m 6’4. . Or find an object to assist later. Now he tends to stay in his bed down stairs after work. He can def still get around. Jumps up to the wall upstairs and then to his cat tree which has a bed ~16 feet off the floor. But does it less. Maybe he’s starting to get arthritis. He’s always been an amazing mouser but wasn’t much help when one got in last fall
@unksol Probably not hungry when the mouse got in this time maybe?LOL. Mine play with roaches, lizards, grasshoppers, lady bugs, flour moths… They all eventually get killed although they have learned to only eat lizards and grasshopper heads. Actually they are careful not to kill them if they want to keep playing. Most only die by accident (OMG there was an incident with a roach toy in the middle of the night that involved playing on my bed!!!). Maybe that is what happened with the mouse. Or the mouse bit him so he backed off? Or he was just too comfortable where he was relaxing to be bothered to get up and give chase?
@Kidsandliz eh. He never really killed them. I mean one or two before I got them but usually not. At best one or two got in a year. No other bugs. Well maybe a moth here and there. Anyway hearing him tearing around the house after one would wake me up. He’d drive them out with his supporting buddies. I’d get it in a box then fling it outside. Most of the time
Now it he could handle the squirrels in the attic…
@unksol OMG squirrels are so destructive. I had a a mid 1800’s (family ahdn me down) bed head board and foot board (rope bed) chewed up by them along with a couple of other antiques (like hand knotted vintage Persian rug (also family item) I had in the attic of where I lived about 8 hours ago. I was so upset. I nailed screening over the where I finally found they had chewed a hole to get in as the landlord refused to act. Didn’t realize I had trapped a couple in there until they died and started to stink (it was summer in the deep south so likely the heat killed them quickly as there were was no a/c in the attic otherwise I would have realized they were trapped inside as I would have heard them running around - I felt really bad about them dying). I hope to heck they don’t chew through your wires.
I have also put a cup over a mouse and slid paper under the cup to dump it outside. One time a mouse (same house as the squirrel one) ran between my cat’s food dish and the wall (where it was up against) while that cat (he died in 1998) was eating. He turned his head to watch it run by, went back to eating and then sat, for several hours staring at the fridge. Mouse had gone under the fridge. So much for me having a mouser LOL.
@Kidsandliz the last mouse I turned around and saw sitting on a box and was SHOCKED one even made it in. It was in a weird room for it to get to. Old dude used to find them first he always heard them. . New girl is obcessed with her mice toys… And extremely violent. so I thought if she saw one move… . I literally picked up one or both and brought them in and pointed them at the mouse to help corner it. I guess they helped a little but not like the old team.
@Kidsandliz and yeah you have to trap squirrels. I got one in a live trap that died. Released one . Vaccumed several skulls and a ton of fur/bones out of a wall from a previous home owner. There’s def a new one up there But you have to use an excluder plus block the entrances with something like copper mesh. I need to crawl around up there to see if there they come in through the roof vents.
@Kidsandliz for some reason it just now occurred to me to compare the labels and they have been on Purina naturals adult. Not indoor. Green bag. First ingredient is chicken instead of cormeal vs the old stuff but probably doesn’t matter much. Protein is 2-3% higher 34%. Fat is 1% higher 13% . Seems like that’s about it for main stuff. I wouldn’t think that would chunk him up. Pretty sure he thinks it tastes better though lol.
@daveinwarsh lol I always love that gif and I probably shouldn’t. But he’s not allowed out and he’s not nearly that fat. I want to stop it before I’m that bad owner.
If you have one and if you let them out I suggest
https://theoatmeal.com/comics/kitty_convict2. Even if you think it’s bullshit. Of course it changes a little if you are supporting barn cats for rodent control.v
I once knew this guy that had such a fat cat that it would lay on its side next to the food bowl and swoop the food out with its paw and into its mouth. It was quit funny.
Show some pride in your chonkers, Mehtizens!
@mike808 you are the only one to use the proper term…
@thismyusername My boi, Will, is a Heckin’ Chonker.
I’m not fat, I’ve a fluffy bone))
But seriously … fat cats already in the middle of life have many health problems such as diabetes, heart failure, liver lipidosis, arthritis, urolithiasis, etc. Therefore, if your pet has an excess weight problem, you’d review its diet or consult a vet.