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Obese cat!

AnneH

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A twelve pound cat who should be about eight pounds: do you feed the amount recommended for a ten pound cat to safely take the weight off?

Is it best to feed many small servings than two or three portions in a day? She has recently switched from canned food to raw food. The raw food recommendations in ounces or calories are much lower than for canned food, so she is already feeling deprived. She loves to eat. Although she has an adequate portion of food nutritionally, she wants more, and gets upset watching us try to get an adequate amount of canned food into our hyperthyroid cat. We do our best to distract her by walking her outside on a nice day, or combing her or giving catnip or toys and play, or lap sitting. She still gets stressed, the other cat, too, and we try to keep peace in ourselves and between them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Tossing treats is such a happy time for both cats, and the time they are most active. I stopped doing it for a few days because of the extra calories. Today I reinstated it by cutting out a meal for our overweight cat, but it was hard for her to go so long between meals.
 

Dr. Jeff

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Yes Anne. :catfood:

The amount you feed is governed both by her caloric requirements as well as her individuality and metabolic rate.

Yes, a 10# cat portion may be safe, but it also may not let her lose weight. Especially since you are now using a new kind of food which probably has a higher nutrient bioavailability.

As she gets used to smaller portions, if she is not losing weight, you may still need to reduce the amount.

Yes, smaller more frequent feedings may work better for her.

How about mixing her raw food with a palatable but lower calorie food like canned organic pumpkin, or even some other low cal. food?

It's best to continue the hunt for treats game and perhaps use a session in place of a meal. Freeze-dried meat and fish treats may not have as high a vitality as raw food, but the extra vitality she gets from playing the game more than makes up for it.

I bet @Dr. Christina or @Dr. Jean have other ideas.
 

AnneH

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Thank you, Dr. Jeff! I appreciate the help!
 

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