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 Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 3:19 pm
So I've mentioned elsewhere that Mr Minstrel has been stuffing his face with kitten food at every available opportunity. We've now changed our feeding procedures so that he no longer has any access to it, but since then, he's actually put on another 100g. (I'm sorry. I have no idea what weight scale non-metric countries would use for that small a weight, but the important thing is that it's gone up, not down).
This leaves me with two very important questions.
Firstly, how do you know if a cat is overweight? I know how to work it out with dogs, but I don't with cats. The thing is, we suspect he's grown since we got him, so despite the fact that he now weighs five kilos, he might just be a big cat. Or he could be a fat cat. His tummy looks a bit rounded when he walks, but I'm really not sure... I mean, I guess he's a little over, but.... help?
Secondly, we've put him back on the amount of food he was eating before the kittens came, but if he does need to lose weight, should I actually cut it down a bit from there to help the whole process along?
He is looking fit and healthy, and we've started having a fifteen minute playing session each night, but he's pretty big.
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 8:56 pm
This might help.
If he's overweight, cutting down his food a bit (feeding to what his ideal weight is) and increasing exercise should help
-it's definitely hard to tell for sure, sometimes; Saphi, for example, falls into the ideal category when you look at her from above; from the side, though, she looks sort of overweight-to-obese, because she's got a major tummy pouch or whatever you call it (I'll post pictures when photobucket allows)-
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 9:36 pm
What Aki said, Best thing is to get the boy moving and excersizing in a way that is healthy. smile
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Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 1:08 am
~ Aki - Fairy ~ This might help.
If he's overweight, cutting down his food a bit (feeding to what his ideal weight is) and increasing exercise should help
-it's definitely hard to tell for sure, sometimes; Saphi, for example, falls into the ideal category when you look at her from above; from the side, though, she looks sort of overweight-to-obese, because she's got a major tummy pouch or whatever you call it (I'll post pictures when photobucket allows)- Well, looking at all the pictures... I would say he's on the overweight side of healthy. He's definitely sticking out (and down) more than he should be... but he's not quite to the point of all the overweight pictures. He's still got curves, while they're all at the point where the back end of the cat squishes into a pear shape blob.
We're trying a new system, starting today, where he now only gets wet food at one meal a day, instead of two. The meal where he only gets biscuits, I put half of them in water so he doesn't dehydrate himself, and he loved it! He now gets half a cup of biscuits per day (our cup is a different size to yours, but not sure if bigger or smaller), and a third of a small tin of wet food. I do realise that it can probably be cut down more, but he's already acting like we've slit his throat. It might have to be a gradual thing!
So, we're giving that and still trying to exercise him... he's just started playing with Nightshade, so that's a bit of a bonus exercise-wise.
... I feel like a failure as a cat owner.
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Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 7:46 am
Freddus ... I feel like a failure as a cat owner.
Coupled with the fact that you're doing something about it now, while it's a fairly minor problem (you're not waiting till he's obese to realize it's a problem) means you're a great cat owner.
You've also got a great plan going.
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Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2013 3:36 pm
~ Aki - Fairy ~ Freddus ... I feel like a failure as a cat owner.
Coupled with the fact that you're doing something about it now, while it's a fairly minor problem (you're not waiting till he's obese to realize it's a problem) means you're a great cat owner.
You've also got a great plan going.Thank you. redface
I'm glad my plan sounds workable. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it goes!
I guess the next time we have foster kittens, we'll have to work out a different system. I can't let it be a seasonal thing, that our cats turn into blimps over kitten season and then we spend all winter getting it under control!
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