My Cat looks like she swallowed a beach ball!

by Felix
(Florida)

Hi,

I just stumbled across this delightful website and wondered if maybe one of you could help with my problem. In 2007 me and my family took in four cats, one of which is the mother of the other three. To prevent more accidental bundles of joy we had them all spayed and neutered as quickly as possible. The three kittens have turned out beautifully, but the mommy is a slightly different story. When we first got her she was very thin and seemed to be in heat ALL the time and no matter how much I fed her she wouldn't gain any weight. Then after we got her spayed she suddenly turned into a round, fluffy, 15 POUND ball of love! Seeing that she was no longer skinny I decreased her food, but I can't decrease it too much because then my other cats, (who don't have a weight problem) would get too thin, since they all eat together. So then I tried putting her on a diet seperate from the other cats. I would feed her a mix of wet and dry food (So she would eat her portion immediately) in another room, and would do the same with the others so that I wouldn't have to leave food out(which I had previously observed her chowing down on all day long!) This worked for a little while and she lost a tiny bit of weight, however I began to notice another problem... she was plucking herself. Since then I've discovered that every time I restrict her food in any way, she starts biting herself bloody and pulling her fur out, even though I'm certain she has no fleas or skin issues. Futher more, it is incredibly difficult to get her to lose weight, one must feed her very conservatively to see any results at all, which I don't like doing because I know she hates it and I always give it up. We've gotten blood tests and such for her before but they didn't indicate anything that would keep her fat. A delicately built 15 pound cat can't be healthy, right? You all seem like cat lovers to me and I'd love a little advice.

Hoping to learn from your experience,

Felix and Lilu Du Fat-Cat in all her chubby glory!

Thanks

Answer by Kate
Wow looking at the picture she is er how can I say polity, big.

Unfortunately diet is only have the story when it comes to getting a cats weight down once it has got to this level. yes I'm afraid exercise plays a part.

basically what is happening is that although you decrease the food, her body will go into starvation mode and hang onto the fat, this is the same for humans and thats why diets on their own don't really work.

I have seen cats like this before and the only way to reduce their weight is to actually put them on a normal amount of food diet, no treats and an exercise plan. unfortunately this exercise plan will take up some of your time every day but is really the only way to get the cats metabolism up again and burning fat.

So don't restrict her food but make sure he eats only the daily recommended amount for her age (should be on can) and then several times a day you will have to coax her to exercise, i.e throw balls for them, string games etc, jumping up onto stools etc. Start slowly as she will not be up for it at first, you will have to be persistent, keep trying and then increase the times per day.

I know this may sound all bit much but believe me I have seen this before and it has only worked with this added exercise pro gramme.

i wish you both every success, you are so right in your thinking that she is too large and she may develop illness caused by her weight.

best wishes Kate

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