dieting advice

[Heather5]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to see if anyone had any advice for me. I have a 12-year-old kitty who's gotten quite chubby over the past couple of years. She's not as active as she used to, but she's probably still eating the same amount of food. The problem is that I have three other cats, too. Two are almost 5 years old (normal weight), and then there's Ripley, who is a very active and skinny 1 1/2 year old. Since I also have two dogs and a 3-month-old baby, I freefeed my cats, which I know is part of the problem, but I just don't have the time to feed all six animals separately in addition to taking care of the baby. So my question is...does anyone have any advice on how to help our older cat loose some weight? Right now, I have them on regual cat food (non-diet), since I don't want to deprive our youngest, who probably needs more calories than the others.

Any thoughts?

[Heather5]

Thank you so much for your post. I'm sorry it took me so long to reply...it's just been one of those crazy busy weeks! It's interesting that you brought up thyroid issues, because one of our dogs is actually on thyroid meds (she's hypothyroid). Never really thought of that for the cats, but that's a good point. I'm also considering starting to feed the cats more canned food (in addition to having the dry food available, since I probably won't be able to do all their meals that way). I've read that wet food is more filling and keeps them from eating as many calories as with dry food. Not sure how true that is, I just read it while doing some research online, but it might be worth a try...

Thanks again!

Heather

[Fluffysmom]

Wow, what a houseful!  Lots of work, but lots of joy.  Have you had her thyroid checked?  My Fluffy gained a lot of weight, and seemed to eat frantically.  He's an only child, lol, so I noticed how he was always wanting more food.  He was less active, too.

I took him to the vet, and it turned out he was hyperthyroid.  I thought that would make him hyper and lose weight, but no.  Apparently it revs up the metabolism so he thinks he needs to eat and eats too much.

I give him tiny little thyroid pills twice a day, and his weight gain slowed, though he still likes his food.  Now he's nearly 16 and has other issues, but his thyroid is under control.

I doubt you have time to encourage your kitty to play more, which is another thing I was advised to do.

Good luck!