My dear Cookie Monster has got fat. She’s a 2-year-old tabby indoor/outdoor kitty, and she’s not large-framed, but she’s got a stomach like a barrel, and weighs 15 lbs. I’m kind of concerned that it’s my and mrs jjimm’s fault - we overfed her over the course of a year by not giving her a controlled amount of dry food. So three months ago we took her to the vet, who gave her some special kitty diet food, with very strictly limited amounts daily. Three months on, and she’s actually put on a pound. I really don’t know what to do - the amounts we’re allowed to feed her are miniscule, and she’s always crying for food, but she’s actually put on a pound since she started on the diet. Anyone got any ideas?
Has she been checked for hypothyroidism and cushings? Both of those diseases would cause weight gain and an insatiable appetite. I would recommend having a full blood panel and a thyroid panel run at the vet to see if you can discover what’s going on.
Thanks for the advice. Are there any other observable symptoms to these conditions other than obesity?
Most mysteries like this are solved by not feeding the begging cat a continuous stream of tidbits. Some of the time these situations are medical issues, but most of the time it’s one of the owners, or owner’s kids or neighbors, feeding the cat on the sly. Does she have outside access? If so she may be getting fed elsewhere.
Could she be getting extra food when she is outside? Birds, mice? Any small neighborhood children missing? Got any kind-hearted neighbors or ones who just feed their cats or dogs outside? In that case, are any neighbor cats or dogs losing weight?
My best friend says whenever she tries to put her cats on a diet, she finds more half-eaten carcasses. We figure that that cats think, “Oh, mom and dad have fallen on hard times. It is up to us to get our own meals–and bring some to them, too.”
I hope the answer is this simple, and not something wrong with your Cookie Monster.
She rarely leaves our yard, and kills mice without eating them. I’m pretty sure she’s not getting food from anywhere else. We also stopped the tidbits on the vet’s advice.
Damn. I had a funny Kliban quote all ready to go, but the thought of that poor cat crying for food while on her diet, yet still gaining weight, knocked that one right out of my system.
Wish I had some helpful advice - ours are getting rather too big as well, and we may be having to put them on a diet too.
“My cat is fat
So now I’ll dine
And eat all up
This cat of mine”
Well, in dogs, anyway, cushings would present with voracious appetite, drinking and urinating excessively, “pot belly”, hair loss, flaky skin, darkened skin, yeast in ears.
Hypothyroidism usually just causes a bit of lethargy, voracious appentite, seeking out cool places.
In cats, the symptoms are similar and are listed here.
Cats with Cushings often have thin skin and can be diabetic, in addition to the symptoms I listed above.
Both disorders will take a trememdous toll on the major organ systems and so you really should ask your vet about it.
Is she a frisky cat? She’s fairly young so she should still be playing a lot. Perhaps you could set time aside every day to engage her in active play. My cat, who considers himself rather above the typical cat toy, likes toys that make noise (like balls with bells in them), and LOVES to chase around after a laser pointer (you can get one at an office supply store, like Staples or Office Max or even a drug store. Ok, so upon preview I realize that I have no idea if you have Office Max or what-have-you in Ireland. I will personally send you one if necessary. A laser pointer. Not an Office Max.).
Consult with your vet first, you don’t want to give an overweight cat so much activity that you jeopardize her health, but if there are no other health problems there’s no reason why you couldn’t start Cookie Monster on 5 minutes a day and work up to half an hour. The laser pointer is nice because you can just sit on the couch while you watch the news and watch kitty scramble around after it.
(Probably not necessary to mention, but just in case – do not point laser pointer in eyes, human or feline)
As Astro said, “Don’t feed the Cat a lot”.
BTW theu aren’t good mousers when they have a full belly)
I’ve always heard to limit the feedings to once a day only, but it sounds like you’re already doing that.
What about . . .
maybe you could get your cat used to going for a walk?
get a dog for a pet and let it chase her around to wear off calories;
perhaps you could train her only to eat the low-fat variety birds, and no fatty mice whatsoever;
do they make a ‘big-fat-cat-sized’ hamster wheel?
one-word: lipo-cat
if all of those fail, I think it’s time to prepare the rotisserie and invite the gang over for potluck
(sorry)
Find a big fat dog and let them chase each other about. 
Did you get this beast from a shelter? My critter was adopted from a cat house, about 100 cats on the second floor of a home for cats. He had psychological issues regarding food. My take is the competitiveness of eating with 99 other cats made him pretty much stuff his face. I had a gravity feeder (constant food available) and after about two years his gut was dragging the floor. Luckily, he is a big boned cat, and carried it well. Plus it kept the floors swept.
We went to controlling the amounts and times, and he grew out of the anxiety pretty much. He still pukes just-swallowed food about once a week, but he is a slim and trim 15 pounds or so.
My pleasantly plump female Abby lost some weight when I got my new kitten. She was so upset she didn’t want to go near the food bowl. The bad news is that my pleasantly plump male cat Bo didn’t get upset at all by the new kitten, and didn’t shed an ounce. So a new kitten won’t work for weight loss in all cats.
But it might work - have you considered getting a second cat? A playmate might result in more exercise.
We have two about 5 year old males – Simba and George. They each weigh in at about 15 pounds and nobody who saw them would call them fat. I think the big reason they are BIG is because they get fed only in the morning and spend the rest of the day doing one of four activities – fighting between themselves, yawning, and snoring accompanied by a generalized lying about. Of course the smaller of the two does purr real loud – as in you hear him from the next room with the TV on.
Your cat might be hosting an alien larva, which is fast approaching “maturity,” from the sound of it. When these things finally hatch, it ain’t pretty.
I’d get it checked out.
Funny you should mention this.
I adopted two 8 year old cats two weekends ago.
Max, the thinner one, was taken to the vet ($500 later) because of illness. He possibly has diabetes but that will not be for sure until Tuesday.
Monty, he’s a big fat boy, he probably wieghs 18-20 pounds and he’s fat.
So between the two, I discussed it with my vet what kind of food is best for them both.
Canned kitten food is your best bet. Just like the Atkins diet, it’s a lot of protein and the carb content is extremelly low. You give the cat 3 oz in the morning and 3 oz in the evening. That’s it. If your cat is a grazer, it might take a while to get used to the regimine.
This helps regulate the cat’s blood sugar (important to head off illness like diabetes and since your cat is fat…) and keeps in line with their lineage aka, the fact that they are almost strictly omnivores in the wild.
So, talk to your vet about it. My vet was trained at CSU (Colorado State University) which has an excellent, probably one of the best, veterinary schools in the States.
They say to ward off gum disease to feed your cat crunchy foods. I agree to a point but they do have diabetic cat food (from Purina that my vet dispenses) of the dry kind if your cat refuses wet foods if you are concerned about that.
That should be carnivores, dangit, carnivores.
< sheesh >
I agree on getting another cat if you’ve ruled out medical causes. I’m sure my two would be lardass apartment kitties if they didn’t have each other to wrestle with and chase around.
I’ve also heard that some animals will actually gain weight on a restricted diet because they get anxious about their food supply. My cats get free-choice dry and they’re pretty unconcerned about food (except Pounce treats).