Just don’t do it. I made the mistake of starting my cats on wet food when they were little - my girl cat was a tiny, scrawny little thing who was barely eating, so the vet told me to give her wet food to help her gain a little weight. That meant my boy cat got it as well since I couldn’t really feed them separately (and he was pretty tiny, too). Now, 7 years later, it’s been hell trying to get them off of it because they’re both a little overweight (which, honestly, neither was overweight until about a year ago). We’re down to a couple of little morsels just to get them to shut up in the mornings, but we’re hoping that eventually, we can just discontinue the wet food completely.
I think the wet food is what caused them to gain weight in the first place. So we would love it if they just weren’t eating it at all.
(Yes, I know, we could just stop it, but a 7 year habit is hard to break…we’re working on it.)
In terms of wet vs. dry for weight loss, our vet says that they (I don’t know who “they” are) are discovering that cats actually do better losing weight with wet food, because it contains more protein; dry food has too many carbs. Since cats are naturally carnivores, they need more meat-ish food than dry food tends to provide.
I’m sure it also depends on what brand you are feeding them; they’re not all created equal.
Also: do your cats get any treats, or people food? Our vet said that that can really screw up any diet you might put your cat on, since a little bite to us is, like, a half serving to their little tummies.
For most dry foods, the filler is grain. Cats really don’t need all that carbohydrate - it leads to fat and, from what I’ve read, sometimes diabetes.
The filler in canned food is water. The more water a cat ingests, the better. Often they drink less than they ought to, which contributes to urinary tract problems. Since offering canned, there is a lot more pee and a lot less poop in the litterbox here.
I have two cats fed on dry food and one who can only digest canned food with no grains in it. Aside from that particular issue with my special-needs cat, IMO the most important factor in diet is the ingredients of the food itself, whether it is wet or dry. We feed innova or wellness foods. Innova EVO is the only dry brand of food with no grains in it - you might consider trying it for your overweight cat. My guys definitely eat less of the high-end premium foods (not from supermarket, not from petco/petsmart - innova, wellness, california natural, eagle pack, chicken soup) than the cat chow or iams stuff, which we call “candy food” (they love it but gorge on it if we have to grab some in a pinch.)
The higher the quality of the food, the less of it you’ll need to feed.
Thanks-a little more information (sorry but I don’t have pictures-anybody want to buy me a digital camera?):
My cats were initially fed only dry food to maintain their jaw health. I try to buy high-quality weight-control food and make sure that the first ingredient is protein. They got fat when allowed to free-feed dry food. They get NO treats and NO people food (they won’t even eat chicken or tuna). They don’t particularly like wet food but will eat it only if there is no dry around and they are hungry.
The girl weighs about 18 lbs (vet says she needs to lose 3) and the boy weighs about 14 (needs to lose 1-2). I have been worried about the fact that the carbohydrates in dry food seem to have a connection to diabetes later on. I was also hoping that since they don’t like the wet food as much they may not want to eat as much-although since they only get what I give them they have no choice to overeat.
I just hate the pitiful mewing everytime I get up to go to the bathroom with them dancing around their food bowl wondering if it’s food time yet.
My fat boy weighs 22-ish. He was 24 when we first got him. I haven’t weighed him since we barred him from going out, so it’s possible he’s back up again. My vet said “he is what he is” and wasn’t terribly concerned. He’s got enormous paws and an enormous head, so he’s definitely a naturally big guy. And fat. Definitely fat.
I agree with the aerobics,take the time to play with the kitties 15-20 minutes a day,laser pointer is a great idea,or even a ball of string.Catnip works well with most of my cats to get 'em riled up as well.
As to the OP,my cats have an endless supply of dry food and get 3 cans of wet food per day,thats half a can each if they share.
One of our cats, Maggie, the youngest, flat out refuses to eat dry food-she’ll only eat the wet stuff. Fortunately, she’s extremely active with a high metabolism, so she’s still very skinny.
The others all get dry food. Occassionally we’ll give some wet stuff to Noel, who only has her bottom teeth, (she has a bad gum disorder, and the top ones all had to be removed), or Misty, who procedes to make a total mess of it, rather than eat it.
The cat book I got this Christmas suggests using the laser pointer to leat them to a treat eventually, otherwise they lose interest once they figure out they can never catch the thing.