Best diet food

What is the best diet food for overweight kitties?

tia,
Lynn

in article , Lynn at
wrote on 12/3/04 10:26 PM:

What is the best diet food for overweight kitties?

tia,
Lynn

Wet food.

On 2004-12-04, Lynn penned:
What is the best diet food for overweight kitties?

Dunno, but I actually spoke to my vet today about cat food, and she said that
"diet" foods can actually make the situation worse. She said that, while
humans stop eating when their bellies feel full, cats stop eating when they
have received enough of certain nutrients, including fat and (I think?)
protein. They have to eat more dry food than wet to hit these thresholds, and
they have to eat even more of low-fat dry food to hit them. She said that
cats who switch to moist from dry food often eat a lot less than their owners
would expect.

--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

On 2004-12-04, Cheryl penned:
On Sat 04 Dec 2004 12:13:27a, Cheryl wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav
(news:Xns95B524D99B29shads@ 216.196.97.136):

That FF flavor is probably the worst one for him to eat, but in a mix with
something more healthy I don't see where there is a problem.


PS - the FF isn't the one with the wheat gluten - his other favorite was Pro
Plan chicken and rice. That is the one with wheat. FF foods generally seem
OK. Low in grains (some have NONE), and some are even low enough in calcium
and phosphorus, but the by-products are what make me wince. Non-specific
by-products. The FF fish and shrimp flavor is actually very high in calcium
and phosphorus. But he's a young cat, and I'm now only using it as a treat,
or as an aid to help switch to something better.

FF seems to not be a favorite from a health perspective, but even my vet
admitted that she has to feed her cat FF, because it won't eat anything else.

She did say something that's probably impossible to check -- she said that
large fish are saved for people, and small fish are used for cats. The fish
are thrown into brine to preserve them. Small fish absorb comparatively more
salt, and so can be a problem if salt is a problem for your cat.

Seems like there's a lot to know =/

--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

On 2004-12-04, Cheryl penned:
On Fri 03 Dec 2004 11:57:14p, Monique Y. Mudama wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav ):

Dunno, but I actually spoke to my vet today about cat food, and she said
that "diet" foods can actually make the situation worse. She said that,
while humans stop eating when their bellies feel full, cats stop eating
when they have received enough of certain nutrients, including fat and (I
think?) protein. They have to eat more dry food than wet to hit these
thresholds, and they have to eat even more of low-fat dry food to hit them.
She said that cats who switch to moist from dry food often eat a lot less
than their owners would expect.

Interesting theory, Monique. I've been switching my Shamrock to a different
food, not because of weight but because of allergies. I didn't think it was
food because he'd had such a wide variety of brands/protein sources in
nearly 3 years, but recently discovered a food that had wheat gluten as the
3rd ingredient (not sure how I missed this; I ALWAYS check labels!) and am
switching him to Wellness canned and he's resisting a bit, even though its
mixed with his 2nd favorite canned food. He eats about half of his normal
amount at some meals, but isn't acting hungry/losing weight. He makes up for
it at some meals, other meals he eats some and then tries to bury it. Then
later he eats all of what I give.

Best of all, he's been nearly 2 months without a steroid shot and doesn't
have any bumps that starts him to chew off his fur and make himself bleed.
Too soon to tell yet if wheat is really his allergen, but so far it seems to
be.

Poor kitty.

My vet did mention that she's been able to take diabetic cats off of insulin
after they switch from dry to wet food. I guess I need to get used to that
horrific cat food smell =/

Wheat allergies are scary, at least in humans. I hope you're right that
you've identified his problem.

Tonight he ate straight Wellness chicken (green can) without the mix of
fancy feast in it. FF Fish and Shrimp is his favorite food of all time,
and it is what I mix every other day or so with Wellness chicken or turkey
to get him to eat it. That FF flavor is probably the worst one for him to
eat, but in a mix with something more healthy I don't see where there is a
problem.

I fed Oscar wet food for the first time ever, this evening. She has been
nibbling off and on; not really surprising, since that's how she approached
her dry food, too. I've temporarily hidden the dry food to encourage her to
check out this other stuff. But, like I said, the smell! We keep her food
and water in the kitchen, right next to the table, so that I can keep an eye
on her feeding and, frankly, because I'm forgetful and this helps keep food
on Oscar's plate.

--
monique, caretaker of Oscar

in article , Cheryl at
wrote on 12/3/04 11:13 PM:

On Fri 03 Dec 2004 11:57:14p, Monique Y. Mudama wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
):

Dunno, but I actually spoke to my vet today about cat food, and
she said that "diet" foods can actually make the situation
worse. She said that, while humans stop eating when their
bellies feel full, cats stop eating when they have received
enough of certain nutrients, including fat and (I think?)
protein. They have to eat more dry food than wet to hit these
thresholds, and they have to eat even more of low-fat dry food
to hit them. She said that cats who switch to moist from dry
food often eat a lot less than their owners would expect.

Interesting theory, Monique. I've been switching my Shamrock to a
different food, not because of weight but because of allergies. I
didn't think it was food because he'd had such a wide variety of
brands/protein sources in nearly 3 years, but recently discovered a
food that had wheat gluten as the 3rd ingredient (not sure how I
missed this; I ALWAYS check labels!) and am switching him to
Wellness canned and he's resisting a bit, even though its mixed
with his 2nd favorite canned food. He eats about half of his normal
amount at some meals, but isn't acting hungry/losing weight. He
makes up for it at some meals, other meals he eats some and then
tries to bury it. Then later he eats all of what I give.

Best of all, he's been nearly 2 months without a steroid shot and
doesn't have any bumps that starts him to chew off his fur and make
himself bleed. Too soon to tell yet if wheat is really his
allergen, but so far it seems to be.

Tonight he ate straight Wellness chicken (green can) without the
mix of fancy feast in it. FF Fish and Shrimp is his favorite
food of all time, and it is what I mix every other day or so with
Wellness chicken or turkey to get him to eat it. That FF flavor is
probably the worst one for him to eat, but in a mix with something
more healthy I don't see where there is a problem.

Wow. That is great to hear about Shamrock!!

in article , Monique Y. Mudama at
wrote on 12/3/04 11:40 PM:

On 2004-12-04, Cheryl penned:
On Sat 04 Dec 2004 12:13:27a, Cheryl wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav
(news:Xns95B524D99B29shads@ 216.196.97.136):

That FF flavor is probably the worst one for him to eat, but in a mix with
something more healthy I don't see where there is a problem.


PS - the FF isn't the one with the wheat gluten - his other favorite was Pro
Plan chicken and rice. That is the one with wheat. FF foods generally seem
OK. Low in grains (some have NONE), and some are even low enough in calcium
and phosphorus, but the by-products are what make me wince. Non-specific
by-products. The FF fish and shrimp flavor is actually very high in calcium
and phosphorus. But he's a young cat, and I'm now only using it as a treat,
or as an aid to help switch to something better.

FF seems to not be a favorite from a health perspective, but even my vet
admitted that she has to feed her cat FF, because it won't eat anything else.

She did say something that's probably impossible to check -- she said that
large fish are saved for people, and small fish are used for cats. The fish
are thrown into brine to preserve them. Small fish absorb comparatively more
salt, and so can be a problem if salt is a problem for your cat.

Seems like there's a lot to know =/

Heh, my vet calls FF "cat candy".

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
My vet did mention that she's been able to take diabetic cats off of insulin
after they switch from dry to wet food. I guess I need to get used to that
horrific cat food smell =/

My diabetic cat maintains normal bg without insulin on Wellness canned.

Granted, the Science Diet or Iams canned kitten food (that the old
vet originally recommended as low carb) smelled pretty awful, but
the Wellness smells like canned chicken and fish for people (and has
less carbs than the aforementioned).

Some of the Wellness flavors smell good enough that, if they didn't
say cat food on them, you might consider putting them out as a dip
with crackers. LOL

--
jamie )

"There's a seeker born every minute."

"Lynn" wrote in message
om...
What is the best diet food for overweight kitties?

tia,
Lynn

I have never yet had a cat lose weight on a diet or "lite" food. Feed the
cat less and encourage him/her to exercise more. You could try the wet food
as others have suggested. That never worked for me because my Tigger
wouldn't eat the stuff but each cat is different, yours might.

W

"Cheryl" wrote in message
...
On Fri 03 Dec 2004 11:57:14p, Monique Y. Mudama wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
):

Dunno, but I actually spoke to my vet today about cat food, and
she said that "diet" foods can actually make the situation
worse. She said that, while humans stop eating when their
bellies feel full, cats stop eating when they have received
enough of certain nutrients, including fat and (I think?)
protein. They have to eat more dry food than wet to hit these
thresholds, and they have to eat even more of low-fat dry food
to hit them. She said that cats who switch to moist from dry
food often eat a lot less than their owners would expect.

Interesting theory, Monique.

And something we have been discussing here for months. Buddha lost
3.5 lbs in a year on wet food.