Dear Sammy,
We are in the process of bringing our 25 lb. cat's weight down. The only way is to feed him like the carnivore he is. That means no dry food. Get the highest protein canned food you can find. 12% is good but a lot of them are 9%. It will be stinky and messy. Our cat now eats 3-4 times a day, when we say so, not self fed. He is a real pain because he LOVES TO EAT! But now he is slimming down, his fur is better, he is running and playing again with our dog, his best pal and for the last year or 2 he could only roll on his back to play. We also play with him every day and brush him also. They cannot clean themselves that well when overweight and that causes problems with their skin. Cats must lose weight gradually. It's not going to be overnight but we are seeing a big improvement. Now he can sit on my lap and not smother me. He seems happier. We learned this not from our vet but the Internet. Many articles by vets on how to do this. Our vet just told us to buy lo cal dry food. It just did not work. You might want to introduce the wet food gradually. It's a change for some cats who are finicky. Not ours. He dove in with gusto.
Best of luck to you and your daughter and most of all, your kitty.
Mary

Scooter Before
{{gwi:206691}}
Scooter Now (he is not slim yet but isn't he cute?)
{{gwi:206692}}

I imagine you meant to post this on the conversations side, or on the Pets Forum, but you will find that a high percentage of rose fanatics are cat lovers.

My cats are on the fat side too, and the vet recommended the switch from dry to wet food, which we are doing gradually.

Your daughter has already switched her cat to wet food, so that's good. I doubt there's any scientific way to decide on percentages for cutting back, but most cat food says on the container how much to feed for the cat's weight.

She could just keep checking how many pounds it weighs and feed a little less than recommended for that weight.

I'm sure some other rose/cat lovers can share some good ideas!

I feed my cats Iams canned and they are all slim. They do have a fenced in yard that helps. Fat cats are usually bored and just eat and sleep all day.

Dry food is ok, but has a lot of carb in it. Cats really don't need carbs. The canned food is better. Plus the cats tend to eat the canned food quickly, so you don't have food out all day for them to nibble on.

Don't reduce the food too drastically, or the cat may become ill.

See? What did I tell you?

While I was typing, peachiekeen beat me to it and posted some great suggestions (Scooter is very cute).

Oh, I am so sorry. I opened this email to try to get her cat's picture to Picture Trail and print it. I had this open and the Pets Forum open, and I closed the wrong one when I realized I couldn't do it.

I really appreciate your comments, but if you wish in a few minutes I will put this on the Pets Forum where I intended to put it, and you can respond there.

I don't think I can get through to the GW to get them to switch it.

Thanks for your responses, and I will get back to you later.
Sammy

Thanks, Piechiekeen, he sure is cute.
Petaloid and Buford, thank you for your help. I wonder if one of you contacted GW since they moved the post. It is much better here, and I did get a friendly reminder.

For ages I have thought that they did not watch us that carefully. I guess the title, My Daughter's Cat, didn't sound too rosey.

I had to leave and have not gotten to the Pets Forum yet. Today was my first day of school.
Thanks for any other suggestions. It is good to know that the food needs to be protein, and that it needs to be reduced slowly.

Sammy

same problem with Max the Moo, best puppy in the world and about 5 pounds overweight! I told the vet that he can hold on until I get all patched up, then both the dog and I will be getting more exericse and eating less. It is hard to make sure he gets enough exercise when *I* can barely move... so our hopes are pinned on next summer! Max will have his Speedo, I'll wear a sting bikini (or maybe a thong!!) and we'll hit the beach, the envy of all we survey!!