Overweight cat, help!

[catgrl106]

So, we have three cats, and aren't home during most of the day, so we feed the cats at night, and leave the food bowls out all day. One of the cats, a rescue from the humane society, is brain damaged (literally, we did IQ tests and stuff), and so she has a short attention span, is easily startled, and very clumsy. She gets along perfectly with the other two cats, but she has gotten very overweight, and I'm worried for her. I've tried getting her to play with cat toys, but she either doesn't have the attention span for it, or she doesn't understand the game. In one notable case, she actually managed to spook herself into running and hiding under the bed after suddenly re-finding a toy mouse.

So, my question for those of you who notice this: do you have any idea as to how to exercise this overweight brain damaged cat? I won't put her on a diet, because all three cats share the same food, and I won't have the others (who are perfectly fit) go hungry because one of them forgets she's already eaten.

[~ Aki - Fairy ~]

Get them on a high protein, high fat, low carb diet. All of them. It's better for their overall health.
A) their bodies are able to make use of the ingredients/nutrients better, thus less excess, thus less issues with being overweight
B) the increase in protein and fat -aka: useable energy- = a more energetic cat = less issues with being overweight
C) cats are carnivores and can't make use of grains and crap, they need meat
D) because of the increase in useable nutrients, the amount they need to consume goes down (ex: my moderately active three-year-old indoors-only, around eight pounds girl eats 1/3 a cup a day of Go! grain free)

Put them on a feeding schedule. They don't need to free-feed or graze. One or two meals a day is plenty more than suitable. Scheduled feedings, each with their own bowl and measured amount, is generally healthier for them/their body type and enables you to observe and control how much they consume.

If you insist on free-feeding kibble, put it in treat/food balls - limited amounts again, and it'll make them work for it.


For exercise: you'll have to take it slow. Find a toy she likes, keep sessions short. If she's game, maybe get her a harness and leash and take her for little walks

[Aerobe]

What are you feeding them?
And about how much are they eating daily? Or how much food do you put in the bowls in the morning and again at night and is all the food gone each refill?

[catgrl106]

One of the other cats has bladder crystals, so we have to give him a special food. Since we have to leave the bowls out all day, and therefore can't give each cat a different type of food, all the cats get the special food. Since it does tend to be high calorie as a side effect, we give a half-cup of food per cat (recommended amount according to the vet), making for a total of a cup and a half of food out at a time. The bowls usually aren't completely empty by the time we re-fill them, so I've been guessing that's not the full probably.

[~ Aki - Fairy ~]

One of the best things to help with bladder/urinary issues in general is to feed wet food rather than dry kibble...

[catgrl106]

We tried that, but he kept throwing up every time he ate. The food was too rich for him, I guess. We even tried adding a golf ball or something into the food to slow him down, but every time, no matter how much or how little he ate of it, he threw it up. By now, we're not really willing to try too much more for the bladder crystals, because last time there was an issue, he almost died.

[Henrika]

catgrl106

One of the other cats has bladder crystals, so we have to give him a special food. Since we have to leave the bowls out all day, and therefore can't give each cat a different type of food, all the cats get the special food. Since it does tend to be high calorie as a side effect, we give a half-cup of food per cat (recommended amount according to the vet), making for a total of a cup and a half of food out at a time. The bowls usually aren't completely empty by the time we re-fill them, so I've been guessing that's not the full probably.

OH. MY . GOD.


WHY would you give prescription food to ALL of your cats? I'm really hoping it's not food to dissolve struvite crystals/prevent struvite crystals, because then it will create oxalate stones in your otherwise healthy cats.

Also, ideally your cat with bladder problems should be getting wet food only.

[Henrika]

~ Aki - Fairy ~

One of the best things to help with bladder/urinary issues in general is to feed wet food rather than dry kibble...

This also.

[Shanna66]

why not feed them in separate rooms? just feed everyone a set amount in the morning when you get up and again at dinner time and give them 30min to eat to give them plenty of time. whatever they dont eat after that goes back in the bin

also free feeding is bad for cats and your healthy cats dont need that special diet at all. all you are doing is wasting your money. i refuse to use perscription diets so im honestly unsure of how they would effect a healthy cat but i would put them on a normal high end food just in case.

and just to restate, free feeding isnt good for cats and is just asking for fat kitties



also ive never heard of an iq test for cats. what did they do to test your kitty? it sounds really interesting smile