my cat has been overweight for over a year. i've reduced her food down to a quarter of cup twice a day and i have seen no results. more recently, when she has food in her bowl she continues to ask for more, as if she's hungary but food isn't working. does this seem like a problem i should look into further?
still hungary
Posted on 2008/05/22 by User
-
stalin -
Torunn says:
Hi there
How long has she been on a diet? Is this a proper low calorie diet for cats, or have you simply just cut down on the amount of her normal food?
It is important to weigh her regularly when there is an obesity problem. It is very difficult for you as an owner to tell just by looking at her wether the diet is working or not as weight loss is very gradual and you may not notice. She might ask for more even though there is food in her bowl because she is not too happy about the food she has got and want something else. Do not give in to this, stick with the diet no matter what. If she is hungry, she will it the food that is in her bowl.
If the diet still does not work, please see a vet or a vet nurse, and have them recommend a good low calorie diet for her. Many vets have free nurse weight clinics, at least here in the UK.
Good luck
Torunn Beurling DrMedVet
For up to 75% discount on pet meds, click here
Current Rating:
-
says:
my cat has been on the diet for over a year. she started out on expensive low calorie food that yielded no results so i switched to limiting her intake. she hasn't lost any weight and has gained a few instead. i think i agree that she may just not like the food she's currently on but i'm concerned still about the weight. what sorts of problems might she have that would cause weight gain or the appearance of?
-
Torunn says:
What about her activity level? as in humans, a good diet needs to be combined with exercise. Are you measuring the food? Did you measure the food correctly when she was on the expensive low calorie diet? If you have a 6kg cat that needs to be 4kg it is important to feed her as a 4kg cat! There should be a guideline on the bag on how much to feed. Are you weighing her regularly?
There are some rare conditions that can cause weight gain, such as hypothyroidism or sexual hormone abnormalities. These are more common in dogs than in cats though. Unless she is showing any other symptoms of these conditions, such as hair loss/alopecia or lethargy I would not jump to these conclusions. If you however are concerned that there is something medical going on, you can request these to be tested for at your vets.
Current Rating: