My cat is getting fat what can i do?

by Shayleigh Marie Weis

Hi, me and my girlfriend have a beautiful cat named shayleigh. Over the past few months Shayleigh has put on a lot of weight and will not stop eating. We've fed her everything from Purina One for cats, which her vet recommended, to the cheap everyday cat food. When she is fed dinner she will come down and eat our dogs food. She also has begun to cry when she lays down. Please help us, we've taken her to the vet and he just said to put her on a different type of food. We love her and our worried about her. Thank you!

Kelley

Answer by Kate
Hi
normally cats regulate themselves as to how much they eat, however there are always exceptions to the rule.

As long as the vet has not found anything wrong with her you can put this down to purely behavioral.

there are two things which you have to do, its not the food type so much as the quantities she is eating and the amount of exercise she is getting. this will put a lot on to you as you will have to monitor her to get her into a new habit of eating less and doing more.

Measure out her food every day and divide it up into three portions. Your food should have recommendations as to how much to feed her every day. keep to that amount and do not let her eat the dogs food. This may mean that you have to pick up all uneaten food, a nuisance i know but thats the price of love :)

Also you will have to start to try and encourage her to have a runaround game with you every day, chasing a ball etc. She won't want to do it at first but you need to be persistent with her every day.

Eventually she will get used to her new routine and food amounts and will even enjoy the daily games. you are doing the right thing for her though, a fat cat is an unhealthy and unhappy cat too.

I have a page about this situation on my site here which you may find of further interest

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/fat-cat.html

best wishes Kate

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