Ask The LJ Cat Doctor

[plumtreeblossom]

One of my two cats has gotten too tubby. He was always pudgy, but you could officially classify him as fat now. Meanwhile, my other cat remains trim and muscular. They're both middle-aged, but metabolic changes aren't effecting them at the same rate. They always eat together off their shared plate and there's no easy way to feed them separately without epic drama, I'm certain.

So my question is: can I safely feed both cats reduced calorie food without the normal-weight cat getting underweight?

Meow (means thank you)

Comments

[spatch]

Depends on the kind of diet food, I think. When Abbie's diet required a low-magnesium food (well, still does) but the only stuff that I could get at the time with the lowest magnesium was "diet" food, Martha the little one ate it with no ill effect.

But if the food is special prescription food with other kinds of chemicals or vitamins or whatnot, you may wish to ask the vet.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I might call the vet and ask over the phone about it (prolly not necessary to bring him in to be weighed just so they can say "Yup, he's a tub-o-lard.") I'd like to be able to feed them something easy to get like diet Iams, or Id be willing to make homemade diet cat food if I can make it in advance and freeze it.

[kalliejenn2.livejournal.com]

if it's OTC diet cat food, both cats should be fine.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

Most critter food sold in supermarkets is the equal of "junk food" to humans. I've found by feeding my dog "pet store" food, like Nutro Lamb and Rice, I give him less food and he is satisfied.

My guess is that the fat one likes to clean his plate, yet the skinny one likes to browse throughout the day. Which will make feeding them difficult, since the fat one likely cleans up after the browser is temporarily done. Sometimes feeding both less, but more feedings will enable to skinny one to finish up his food before the fat one can get at it. You really should try separating the dishes, and work on feeding them in different locales (hopefully a locale that the fat one can't get into due to his girth).

good luck!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Actually, their eating patterns are the reverse of that. The slim one is the powerhouse eater. He's a big, muscular Siamese, long/tall for his breed and blessed with a fast metabolism. I guess he needs a lot of food. The fat one, however (he's in the userpic, before he got this fat) is very small-framed and not very physically active. He nibbles all day. Given his small frame, he should weigh 7 or 8 pounds, but he currently weighs about 11 pounds. The slim Siamese weighs 12 pounds, but it's all meaty muscle.

I really can't feed them separately, given the layout of our tiny apartment. But I'm hoping that good quality diet cat food can address both their caloric needs, so they can continue to eat together as they're accustomed.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

The solution is simple: 1) you need to buy an endless pool, and 2) exercise the plump kitty selectively in the pool.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

That is cool! I want that for myself!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Ooh, good idea. I'll give them a call.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I'd like OTC, if I can find one that works.

One thing is that the fat one (Benjamin aka Skunky) only eats the wet food. Rowley eats both wet and dry. So I could serve diet wet food to both, and normal dry food which only Rowley will eat.

[deceptiverose.livejournal.com]

Maybe you should not leave food out during the day? If you feed them, give them like 15 minutes, and then take the food away, the fat one can't keep eating and the skinny one doesn't eat any more anyway.

I have absolutely no idea if that would work, but it's an option!

Fat Cat

[bagelfather.livejournal.com]

My gf, farmount, has a similar problem. One of her cats has a kidney disorder and needs a specialty diet. Two of the boys (she has four cats) are fairly fat and are eating the specialty diet food. My suggestion to her was to get a box (plastic or wood) and cut out a hole large enough only for the small cat to get through and put that cat's food inside. This will prevent the other cats from getting to the food they shouldn't be eating. You will need to put it "out of paw reach" of ton-o-kitty. We have not set this up for a test yet but in theory it should work. Let me know if it works.

It is probably not healthy to feed both cats low calorie food, that is the concern of my gf when she was trying to put them on a diet, the thin cats were losing too much weight.