Hi, we have a rescue cat who we've had for around 5 years and she is quite overweight, in fact she is pretty huge . How can I get her to lose weight? Is it as simple as with humans, less food, more excercise? She currently has dry food left down for all day, i'm at university so it's my parents that look after her, should we only give a certain amount of food twice a day and no more, if so how much food would you suggest?

Also, I have no idea how we'd get her to excercise more, she's very timid and doesn't have a clue how to play with toys. I've tried string, little mice, things that buzz around on the floor and she either ignores them or runs away. How else can I get her to excercise?

Lastly, what kind of problems does being overweight cause in a cat? I'd like to be able to present my parents with some information and ideas so they stick with any diet once I go back to uni after christmas

Thanks very much for reading.

Hi there I've got two NFC who were members of chub club! Kaisa [who had the least amount to lose] we managed to get the weight off in a week. Her brother Karlo has a little more weight to lose. We took him for his first weigh in and vet was really pleased with his weight loss. Said he would of done well to of lost half the weight he did in two weeks! They've been getting 15 min sessions every night with a laser toy and they think its great!!!

Trouble is we use the timer on the cooker to time the sessions and every time Karlo hears the cooker go on he thinks its play time!!!

Unless you can get her to play I think you will find it difficult to get the weight off of her. Perhaps put her dry food in a treat ball? Also what food do you feed her as many dry foods are high in carbs. Good luck!

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I had 2 x siamese x brothers until I lost poor Freddie to a car accident. Billy has been made to be a house/garden cat since and he has got fat! Rather fat than flat, so fat it is!!

Also if you do leave food down for her put it upstairs so she burns a few extra calories off getting it. Or on top of a big cat tree!

The dry food is probably the culprit - it is full of carbs that cats cant metabolise and that and the sugars in a lot of dry foods just get converted in fat. I would suggest a high protein good wet food only diet and I bet the weight begins to fall off.

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If you (or your parents) want to continue feeding some dry food my main suggestion would be to ditch the food bowl!

There are a range of treat dispensing cat toys available, from very basic treat balls to far more complex models - you simply put the dry food in and let the cat work to get it out. Zooplus has some fab ones, but most pet shops sell the usual types.

Alternatively you can scatter feed - sounds odd but it works, the cats find it easily enough and it isn't really a mess issue with dry food anyway. I scatter mine round the living room - on the flor, shelves, in boxes, hidden in and on the cat tree, etc.

I definitely wouldn't be free feeding an overweight cat - work out how much she needs (depending on the food) and give that amount, spread over a few meals.

Might also be worth looking into what type of food she is getting - as I understand it carbs are a major cause of obesity in cats, and most dry foods tend to be very high in carbs, especially from grains. Again, if you want to stick with some dry maybe switch her onto something that is grain free and lower in carbs, like Orijen, Arcana or Applaws.

(Agree about getting her on to at least mostly wet diet tho)

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Can't you switch to pure meat food? It's the grain and carbs in most brands of cat food that makes them overweight, and there are brands that do not contain grain. And do not offer any more food than he is allowed to have, and devide it over several meals, or indeed, let him work to get the food (treat ball or hiding the food).

Also, feeding wet food may reduce the amount he eats, some cats overeat on dry food.

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I've tried to get her to play for years, she won't have any of it D: she has no chase instinct. I think she'd rather starve than work out what to do with treat ball, but I suppose it's worth a try!

I think we feed her go-cat? I'm not 100% sure, it's been a few months since i've been home and I can't remember :P

Well done on the progress with your two, Karlo sounds like a clever kitty!!

:O I didn't know that. Could you recommend a wet food that my mum could buy at a supermarket? I'm aware now that most of them are rubbish but my parents don't like to order things online and thankyou for the reply.