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#1
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Diet question
All our kitties are indoor cats, and all are, uh, full-figured. One of them,
about 3 years old, went to the vets for her shots yesterday and she's hit 16 pounds! Our vet says it's not a dangerous weight because she's a pretty big cat, but it wouldn't hurt her to lose some poundage. The problem is that they all eat from a communal bowl. On the vet's advice, we feed them dry Hall's Science Diet. At present we give them the "Maintenance" level for average cats, but we're considering switching to "Light". The youngest, about 8 months old, is filling out now because she must have been fed people food in her previous home (she's a stray) and loves her supplement of plain cooked chicken or fish. Any suggestions on the type of dry food we should feed our three little chubbies? Many thanks. |
#3
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In article ,
enlightened us with... All our kitties are indoor cats, and all are, uh, full-figured. One of them, about 3 years old, went to the vets for her shots yesterday and she's hit 16 pounds! Our vet says it's not a dangerous weight because she's a pretty big cat, but it wouldn't hurt her to lose some poundage. The problem is that they all eat from a communal bowl. On the vet's advice, we feed them dry Hall's Science Diet. At present we give them the "Maintenance" level for average cats, but we're considering switching to "Light". The youngest, about 8 months old, is filling out now because she must have been fed people food in her previous home (she's a stray) and loves her supplement of plain cooked chicken or fish. Any suggestions on the type of dry food we should feed our three little chubbies? Many thanks. Wet food is better. Cats' bodies use it better, they get more moisture, and they tend to eat less because it makes them more full. That said, any food will make a cat gain weight if they eat too much of it. Give them a set amount of food (depending on what you feed them) and that's all they get. I have yet to see free-fed cats that are not heavy if there is no contention over the food. My cats are free-fed dry during the day and given wet twice daily. The boy is fat. The girls are not, mostly because the boy is always eating. *G* My Mom's cat, when he was free-fed, was fat. My cats when I was growing up were free-fed, and they were fat. Cats, dogs, and even people were not made to have food available all the time. Having it there tends to make us, and them, just eat it because it's there (even when we aren't hungry) and so we get fat. A good compromise is to give them dry during the day, take it up when you get home from work, then give them wet before you go to bed. -- -- ~kaeli~ Kill one man and you are a murderer. Kill millions and you are a conqueror. Kill everyone and you are God. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace |
#4
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"kaeli" wrote in message ... Wet food is better. Cats' bodies use it better, they get more moisture, and they tend to eat less because it makes them more full. That said, any food will make a cat gain weight if they eat too much of it. Give them a set amount of food (depending on what you feed them) and that's all they get. I have yet to see free-fed cats that are not heavy if there is no contention over the food. My cats are free-fed dry during the day and given wet twice daily. The boy is fat. The girls are not, mostly because the boy is always eating. *G* My Mom's cat, when he was free-fed, was fat. My cats when I was growing up were free-fed, and they were fat. Cats, dogs, and even people were not made to have food available all the time. Having it there tends to make us, and them, just eat it because it's there (even when we aren't hungry) and so we get fat. A good compromise is to give them dry during the day, take it up when you get home from work, then give them wet before you go to bed. ~kaeli~ Thanks for your helpful comments, Kaeli, in fighting the battle of the bulge in our kitties! |
#5
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"kaeli" wrote in message ... Wet food is better. Cats' bodies use it better, they get more moisture, and they tend to eat less because it makes them more full. That said, any food will make a cat gain weight if they eat too much of it. Give them a set amount of food (depending on what you feed them) and that's all they get. I have yet to see free-fed cats that are not heavy if there is no contention over the food. My cats are free-fed dry during the day and given wet twice daily. The boy is fat. The girls are not, mostly because the boy is always eating. *G* My Mom's cat, when he was free-fed, was fat. My cats when I was growing up were free-fed, and they were fat. Cats, dogs, and even people were not made to have food available all the time. Having it there tends to make us, and them, just eat it because it's there (even when we aren't hungry) and so we get fat. A good compromise is to give them dry during the day, take it up when you get home from work, then give them wet before you go to bed. ~kaeli~ Thanks for your helpful comments, Kaeli, in fighting the battle of the bulge in our kitties! |
#6
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Bobcat wrote:
All our kitties are indoor cats, and all are, uh, full-figured. One of them, about 3 years old, went to the vets for her shots yesterday and she's hit 16 pounds! Our vet says it's not a dangerous weight because she's a pretty big cat, but it wouldn't hurt her to lose some poundage. The problem is that they all eat from a communal bowl. On the vet's advice, we feed them dry Hall's Science Diet. At present we give them the "Maintenance" level for average cats, but we're considering switching to "Light". The youngest, about 8 months old, is filling out now because she must have been fed people food in her previous home (she's a stray) and loves her supplement of plain cooked chicken or fish. Any suggestions on the type of dry food we should feed our three little chubbies? Many thanks. I think you might want to consider seperate bowls and different diets for different ages of cats. Kittens have different nutritional needs than older cats. I think it would be hard to try to thin some of them down while providing a proper diet for others. Best of luch with it. Fred |
#7
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Bobcat wrote:
All our kitties are indoor cats, and all are, uh, full-figured. One of them, about 3 years old, went to the vets for her shots yesterday and she's hit 16 pounds! Our vet says it's not a dangerous weight because she's a pretty big cat, but it wouldn't hurt her to lose some poundage. The problem is that they all eat from a communal bowl. On the vet's advice, we feed them dry Hall's Science Diet. At present we give them the "Maintenance" level for average cats, but we're considering switching to "Light". The youngest, about 8 months old, is filling out now because she must have been fed people food in her previous home (she's a stray) and loves her supplement of plain cooked chicken or fish. Any suggestions on the type of dry food we should feed our three little chubbies? Many thanks. I think you might want to consider seperate bowls and different diets for different ages of cats. Kittens have different nutritional needs than older cats. I think it would be hard to try to thin some of them down while providing a proper diet for others. Best of luch with it. Fred |
#8
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On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 10:57:00 -0500, "Bobcat"
wrote: The problem is that they all eat from a communal bowl. Until recently, we had the same situation, which was no problem. The cats and dog, Sandy, (who *loves* to snitch kitty food) are all indoors. Now all are on diets of their own -- Speckles has a special diet for her failing kidneys, Hobo gets special foods for his diabetes, and Sandy has come up with a high liver-enzyme problem, requiring still another diet. Now mostly wet foods, some dry. It's a daily juggling match, keeping each from digging into the others'. Best bet so far is feeding them in different rooms, putting each bowl up out of reach when they're finished. I have no advice on what brands you should get, especially since your kitties are different ages (ours are all teens), but hope you find a suitable solution soonest. Jeanne Jeanne Hajos spamguard u is i, and not is net) === "Anger improves nothing except the arch of a cat's back." --- Coleman Cox My SETI team: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/s...am_125874.html |
#9
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On Wed, 18 Feb 2004 10:57:00 -0500, "Bobcat"
wrote: The problem is that they all eat from a communal bowl. Until recently, we had the same situation, which was no problem. The cats and dog, Sandy, (who *loves* to snitch kitty food) are all indoors. Now all are on diets of their own -- Speckles has a special diet for her failing kidneys, Hobo gets special foods for his diabetes, and Sandy has come up with a high liver-enzyme problem, requiring still another diet. Now mostly wet foods, some dry. It's a daily juggling match, keeping each from digging into the others'. Best bet so far is feeding them in different rooms, putting each bowl up out of reach when they're finished. I have no advice on what brands you should get, especially since your kitties are different ages (ours are all teens), but hope you find a suitable solution soonest. Jeanne Jeanne Hajos spamguard u is i, and not is net) === "Anger improves nothing except the arch of a cat's back." --- Coleman Cox My SETI team: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/s...am_125874.html |
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