When I adopted Buster as a kitten 11 years ago from Pensacola Animal Hospital the vet techs told me he would be a big boy because his paws were abnormally large at birth but I didn't believe them because I had no experience whatsoever with any cat other than his older "sibling", Henry. As the years went by I discovered that the vet techs were correct!
To this day Buster maintains the weight of 21 pounds and he is proud of his chubbiness but his mom worries about his health and wonders if anyone has any diet or exercise tips to send our way. Sure, he is handsome and photogenic but he needs to lose some weight F-A-S-T so please send us your advice! Thank you!
Oh we can't help as we are sure Buster would not like a squirrel hunt but we hope someone else has a tip or two. Have a fabulous Friday.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes Molly
Our cat Rosie is a bit of a chub, too. She gets lots of exercise, but just eats and eats and eats. Let me know if you come up with any good tips.
ReplyDeleteI could come chase Buster around for a while.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Goose
I just did some research and found that a moisture rich diet is one of the best ways to go to help Buster lose weight but the wet food I buy from now on needs to be human-grade canned food. From my research I found, "If the label doesn't say the ingredients are human grade, they're not. Pet food made with human-grade ingredients is also a great deal more expensive, so that's another way to tell what you're getting.
ReplyDeleteI also found out that dry food is not as species-appropriate as a moisture-dense diet. Human grade is very important because the food is approved, in theory, for human consumption, which means it doesn't contain low quality rendered by-products.
Play with him several times a day with different toys, my cat spunky loves the laser pointer (aka red dot) and sunshine's like any toy with a feather, also if you feed him dry food their are cat toys that you can put kibble or treats in to make him work for his food I have 5 cats so I keep their dry food out at all times and they eat whenever they want their has been times were spunky and honey looked a little chubby but they just seem to eat more in the winter, if you feed wet food you have to have timed feedings, my cat happy loves wet food and doesn't eat that much dry food,
ReplyDeleteYou are heading in the right direction with your research! I recommend a dehydrated raw diet, such as The Honest Kitchen http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/, or Addiction http://usa.addictionfoods.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&parent_id=6&category_id=2&p_catid=0&p_subcatid=1&Itemid=57
ReplyDeleteI have had my two chihuahuas on raw dehydrated now for the past several years and they are both very lean and also very healthy. They also get fed portions appropriate for their weight, and only twice a day. So if the serving size is 1 cup, they get 1/2 each meal. My mom had her two cats on Iams and could not understand why they were gaining weight, until I explained to her how these foods use corn as fillers and they never felt full or satisfied so that's why they were always eating. Protein should be the number one ingredient in a food, not somewhere down on the list! She switched them to Halo Spots for Stew and they started to lose the weight. I recommend a raw dehydrated diet though because it is natural and, well, raw! To achieve the kibble stage, it needs to be baked at a high temperature, which in turn bakes out most the vitamins and nutrients. Dehydrated raw is usually made by air drying, or some other method, all you do is add hot water and you've got all of the ingredients in their natural state.
I've also read the school of thought that an all kibble diet is not that great, because they don't get enough moisture. It's like eating cereal without any milk! I've also read that it's a fallacy that kibble keeps teeth clean.
Sorry I'm so long-winded with this response, but pet food is my passion, and I've done so much research into it when I was searching for the best possible diet for Chewy & Lilibell! I could go on and on about this subject, but I don't want to come across as being too pushy :)
You just tell momma it's all muscle
ReplyDeleteBenny & Lily