Tweety getting heavy ..

Well due to her being less active Tweety has put on some weight, she feels a lot heavier,I have been feeding  her Friskies, indoor delights , and she likes it , she has always been healthy, I also give her some wet food , same make ....Can you tell me what is a good food I can give her that may not put on wight I fear she is headed towards being FAT.... I leave her dish out and she nibbles at it but doesnt seem to eat too much ,I feel its lack of exercise she isnt motivated to run around and climb as she was at my last house ...any ideas folks?

[opus88]

well nutrition is a huge subject margy.....first of all STOP free feeding...they eat way too much this way, and stop with the friskies dry food, friskies is one of the worst on the market, that being said all dry foods are full of carbohydrates as well as preservatives...but its the carbs that contribute to all  the weight gain. I wll give you an excellent site by a trusted Vet on nutrition... its very hard to transition a dry food addict over to can foods...like us getting broccoli inplace of french fries..Lol.
she also has tips on transitioning...
copy and paste this site its excellent!!!

http://www.catinfo.org/felineobesity.php

[margypops]

Thank you opus I will copy it down ...I did wonder about the food but she likes it ..and has been healthy ..I will change her diet as she is heavier .

[margypops]

I went straight to the link you gave me and Lordy I see what I am doing...she does eat more carbs ..I am printing it out to refer to ..and get more info its a really good site ..thank you so much

[29sillygirl]

Hope that helps, margy.  I read the article and it help me tremendously.  Can't say we have conquered the weight problem.  Diego is now on a Royal Canin script hypoallergenic kibble.  This, because in addition to being too heavy...he scratches a lot.   He gets measured amounts now...no free feeding.  Isn't it funny how we all used to think this was the way to feed cats?  Diego has never encountered a food, wet or dry, that he didn't love...so part of the problem is his easy going ways (and he is more of an inside boy now so...like Tweety....less active.  The upside is, fewer trips to vets when he gets scratched by other cats:).  As to wet vs dry...wet is the gold standard imo.  It is so dang expensive that I am feeding kibbles now...but think wet will be bought next trip to vets!

[opus88]

heres another site I posted a few weeks ago.....

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Cats/How-to-TRANSITION-a-Cat-OFF-Dry-Food/show/1812172

SG,,,,you really don't need to be paying the high price of hypoallergenic  Royal Canin....just get him off the kibble to any canned food and the weight and ichy issues 'should' end....I'd almost guarantee it, not 100% but very close lol of course the best canned foods are 'grain free' brands however even cheap cans are better than even high priced kibble :))
words taken from dr. Pierson herself :))

[Bkitty]

Thanks for the info Opus! Beener and Milo are getting heavier I noticed. Beener weighs 26lbs and Milo 22lbs.

[margypops]

I didnt realise how much she had put on as I dont lift her much she doesnt like it, then to get her to come out for a walk with me I picked her up and thought 'wow this is one heavy cat' She is used to nibbling at her food so I must really get to not leaving it down ..will check out that link now ,thanks so much guys ...

[FurballsMom]

Akira lost weight when I switched her to Wellness grain free.  I get the economy cans and she is fine with that.  It's worth the amount of money I spend on her food, because she is better off.  It's way better than paying even more for vet bills.  It's more similar to the cat's native diet, aside from a raw diet.  Sure,she is still a bit pudgy, but far less so than when I first got her.  And, even when her allergies flare up and she can't seem to stop scratching her ears, she still scratches less than before I switched her to a grain free diet.

I tried to extend the budget by getting dry kibbles that are grain free.  That was a mistake.  There isn't enough moisture for cats in dry kibble, and Akira's stomach rebelled when I did that.  So, I have had her only on canned grain free since then, and she has been fine.

I am happy to report one fascinating thing, too.  Since I was unable to give Akira her medications that the vet wanted to keep her on long term because of having sprained my wrist for some time, she has actually been doing fine without the medications.  This makes me happy, because I dread the effects of having her on those medications long term.  If she is fine without them, then why give them to her, you know.  I have only had to give her a couple of Zyrtec doses since my wrist is able to handle giving her medications again now.  I would rather give her only occasional antihistamines than steroids and antibiotics.  So, for weeks I wasn't able to give her anything.  Now, I can, even though I still have a long road ahead of me before the sprain is fully healed.  But, I see evidence that I won't need to give those medications to her again.  As long as I don't see any puking other than occasional hair ball (only happens if I don't brush her enough), and as long as the itchy ears are helped with occasional doses of Zyrtec, I'm not giving those other medications to Akira again.  All because circumstances forced me to find out.  I'm actually relieved that she doesn't seem to need those other medications now.  I know how risky they are for her to have to take long term.  She is better off without them.

[margypops]

will I find the wellness grain free from pets mart furball?I have been cutting back by picking Tweetys bowl up more .but want to change her food ..I printed out the above info that opus gave me , she has been eating too many carbs .canned grain free sounds good , she likes wet food .

[FurballsMom]

Pet Smart has SOME Wellness, but they don't have the one I'm talking about in the economy cans (same size as a can of soup or tomatoes).  However, Petco has the one I'm talking about.  Now, if you have a small independent pet boutique nearby, they may carry the Wellness grain free cans I'm talking about.  Maybe not, but the one I frequent does carry them.  The shop is closer to where I live and is right by the grocery store I shop at, so it's definitely more convenient.  It's too small to carry much in the way of cat litter, so I still go to Petco for the refillable litter (saves money).  I always buy 18 cans of the economy cans of the Wellness grain free.  The owner of the shop even has a monthly coupon that comes in the mail each month that gives me a few dollars off when I buy that much cat food.  Buying 18 of these cans ensures that I will have more than enough food to get us through the month.  Each can is enough for four servings or two days.

What to do before you buy a large quantity, though.  Buy just one can of each variety in the Wellness grain free economy cans and make sure Tweety will eat the food.  The owner of the store was actually surprised that Akira lets me get away with refrigerating the food and giving it to her the next day.  If your cat is ultra picky, you may have to spend more money on one of the other grain free Wellness cans.  You can buy individual serving sizes of the Wellness grain free, too.  There is also a Wellness grain free that is called Wellness Core.  It is much more expensive.  It IS available at Pet Smart.  It is only available in the smaller cans (individual servings).  It will be much more expensive to buy that brand of Wellness, but if you can buy about 60 cans of that each month, that is an option.  But, I would see if Tweety will accept the economy sized Wellness cans first.  If she will, you can save a lot of money when compared to how much I've seen better quality canned cat food brands that are also grain free.

Akira is a little bit weird.  If she had her way, she would rather have dry kibbles that are grain free, even though they bother her stomach.  Most cats prefer the wet canned food.

[margypops]

Thank you furballsmom I will try the petco That I believe is in Palm Springs, I have made notes from your post to ask them for details ..