Comments on: Weight Management for Senior Cats

By: Ingrid

Ingrid — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 13:23:15 +0000

Sounds like you have a great vet, Tamar. How much weight does Petie have to lose?

By: ihavecat

ihavecat — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 13:16:50 +0000

this reiterates everything my vet said Ingrid – bravo! The thing is, Petie has never had much interest in playing. But I think this is b/c of his weight. Hoping he will have more energy once he loses some of the weight!

By: How to Care for Your Older Cat | The Conscious Cat

How to Care for Your Older Cat | The Conscious Cat — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 10:04:34 +0000

[...] and contraindicated for cats, who are obligate carnivores. I previously wrote about weight management for senior cats. There is no reason to change a cat’s diet as she gets older. If you feed a healthy raw [...]

By: Ingrid

Ingrid — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:01:07 +0000

Amanda, thanks for your comment. I absolutely agree – canned food is a much better choice for obese cats (and all cats, for that matter). I always recommend switching to an all-canned diet. For those few hardcore kitties who simply refuse to eat canned food, I recommend switching to one of the grain-free dry varieties.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:53:53 +0000

Hi Ingrid,
People don’t realize that dry cat food is the “weightiest” reason for obese cats. They won’t like it, but the faster your cats can be weaned off of the stuff the easier it will be to control their weight. You are right about not leaving food out between proscribed meal times, too-another bad idea!

By: Ingrid

Ingrid — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:09:35 +0000

Sounds like just cutting back will do the trick for Musetta.

By: Clea Simon

Clea Simon — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:45:00 +0000

Well, we do hear Musetta crunching and so I’m going to stick with the dry food/can mix – just less of the dry food! Her weight is steady, just a little too high.

By: Ingrid

Ingrid — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:25:47 +0000

It’s so hard to resist when they beg for food or treats, isn’t it, Clea? Amber likes to pretend that she’s still the poor, deprived stray she was when I first met her nine years ago and that there’s just never enough food in her dish.

You might want to consider switching Musetta to an all canned diet. Veterinarians are still split on this issue, but more and more, they’re moving away from the idea that dry food is good for cats’ teeth. Even though the t/d diet can help some with removing plaque, that only works if the cat actually chews the kibble. Most cats don’t chew long enough for the scraping action to have any effect. And it’s very high in grains as well as fat. I was nervous when I switched Amber to all-canned initially, because she has a history of dental problems, but it didn’t get any worse, and maybe even improved slightly, on the grain-free canned diet she’s been eating for the past several years.

By: Clea Simon

Clea Simon — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:10:01 +0000

Musetta just had her check-up and we were told she should lose a little. We’re starting by cutting back on her crunchies – from a cup to 3/4 cup – and after her teeth cleaning, we’ll try to mix the T/D diet w/ some Innova. Poor Musetta! I don’t want to kill her with kindness.