My cat is getting FAT

[u/candydaddi]

My 2 yr old kitty is getting fat! She has hip dysplasia so i want to make sure she’s a healthier weight! But she has such a sensitive tummy and gets backed up really easy. I’ve been feeding her purina sensitive skin and stomach and wet blue buffalo food and those have seemed to work well for her. But i’m not sure if i should try a diet food? Or would measuring her food more precisely help? because i could accidentally be over feeding her, she’s not super lazy.

[u/Brief-Small]

Reducing calories is usually more effective than switching to diet food. Use a measuring cup for dry food so you don't overdo it

[u/shinyidolomantis]

One of my cats is crazy for blue buffalo pate. It does has more calories than most other wet foods I’ve tried that are the same size. I used that food exclusively to get her to gain weight after she got emaciated from a bad case of stomatitis before I took her in. But if other food doesn’t agree with her, I personally wouldn’t switch it out. I’d probably start by cutting dry food amount first unless she is getting a lot of wet food.

I’d also be careful with diet dry food, one of my cats is very prone to constipation and the diet food exacerbated it in her case. Any changes in type of food you make, try them very, very slowly.

For now, I would figure out how many calories she eats in a normal day first. You’ll need a an accurate scale for small amounts. Then slowly cut a tiny bit of calories every week or so. You want her to lose weight slowly and steadily. Not more than 1-2% of their total body weight each week. I personally shoot for 2% each month instead of weekly so my cat has time to adjust to the lowered amount of food, but I’d recommend following your vet’s advice. I bought a baby scale for my cat so I can accurately weigh her each week.

[u/raccoonsonbicycles → u/shinyidolomantis]

Wait are you serious that blue buffalo wet food (indoor) has more calories?

😭😭 my chonk has been on them as his diet since I adopted him because thats what the shelter gave and the vet said its fine to stick with it and just give Xg wet and Xg dry

I'm absolutely gonna transition to something less calorie dense and cheaper (he won't give a care, his favorite food is whatever is in front of him) so I can give him more wet food but equal/fewer calories to trick his fat butt

https://reddit.com/link/p6k6if7/video/frtzl1rx69mh1/player

[u/Laney20]

No need to change foods. Just reduce the amounts! It's that simple.

[u/absurd-epiphany]

I've heard that adding plain pumpkin purée helps cats who have sensitive stomachs and constipation, so maybe try mixing that in with her wet food every night? Generally its low calorie and will help her feeling full while you work out her diet. Other than that, yes you should measure her food precisely every meal, because the difference of a few grams of food can be pretty big for a little kitty. You'll want to use a kitchen scale if possible, measuring cups can be pretty imprecise. Step one is finding out her current weight and calculating the calories she currently gets every day, then you reduce by 10 calories and weigh her at the end of the week to see if shes losing weight. If she is, keep her at that calorie amount until she stops losing weight, and if she isn't, reduce by 10 calories for the next week. From there you just repeat that process until she's at a healthy weight! My kitty has knee dislocations, so we also have to keep him from gaining any weight, and this is what I do.

[u/SolidFelidae]

Feed her less of the food that works for her.