How to help my overweight cat lose weight and stop coughing?

It's great that you want to be proactive about Tiger's health! Feeding an all canned food diet can help a lot with weight loss in cats. There are also several prescription food options for weight loss like Hill's Metabolic that you may want to discuss with your veterinarian. Getting Tiger more active will also help him lose weight. I'd recommend setting aside 10-15 minutes a day to play with him with a laser pointer or other toy to get him moving. Because most cats are most active around feeding time varying the times of day he is fed will help stimulate more activity as well. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and good luck with Tiger!

I really think you should video tape her "heavy breathing" so your vet can see it. When you take her in for an exam she is likely not doing the behavior so your vet just sees her as normal. I think the vet seeing the behavior on video will help a lot with diagnosis/recommendations. X-rays of her heart and lungs would be a good idea as any problems with either of those organs can cause breathing issues. Sometimes the problem is not evident with just a physical exam. Finding out the underlying cause for her abnormal breathing is best. Heavy breathing as you have described in not normal in cats. As for helping with weight loss I would say she should be on prescription weight loss diet like Hill's r/d or w/d; you need a prescription from your vet. That being said, if she is 10 pounds as you stated above, then that is a normal weight for most cats. I personally would not be worried about a cat being overweight until the weight is over 13-14#. A cat that is 10# would not have breathing issues due to weight. Are you sure you are not just seeing the flap of skin on the belly that happens after they are spayed? Many people see that and think their cat is overweight. I think you need to discuss this more with your vet.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It would be recommended to have Hooch evaluated by his veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Possible causes of coughing include pneumonia, asthma, bronchitis, among other possibilities. Your veterinarian could also prescribe pain control medications as well as checking for possible reasons for weight loss such as hyperthyroidism, renal disease, cancer, among other possibilities. I really hope that he does well. Good luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The most common cause for what you are describing is feline asthma. It is most prevalent in Siamese cats. Being overweight can exacerbate asthma. Other causes of asthma are parasites (specifically lung worm) and feline heart worm disease. The treatment of feline asthma is steroids, bronchodilators and antibiotics if an infection is suspected. They actually make inhalers for cats! I recommend an exam with your Vet for chest X-rays, blood work, fecal and feline heart worm test. I hope this helps and I wish Sluggo the best!

Kit is very handsome! Thanks for posting a picture. Since cats are obligate carnivores, we think the most biologically appropriate food for a domesticated cat is a mouse which is a high protein diet. The closest we can get to that ideal diet with commercial food is a canned food diet. Canned food diets are lower in carbohydrates and higher in protein than dry foods. Since cats are obligate carnivores, they are not able to utilize carbohydrates effectively and will often just gain weight on foods that are higher in carbohydrates. The best website I have found to describe this well is listed below. http://catinfo.org/ The above website also discusses changing cats from dry food to canned food. I most commonly recommend Wellness canned food for cats. It is a very food company with a good history and cats tend to do well on it. The general rule for cats is that they should eat about 5.5 ounces of canned food each day for each 10 pounds of ideal body weight. But be sure to go slowly with any diet changes to prevent GI upset. As far as getting Kit to be more active, I would recommend looking at the website below for ideas to get an indoor cat more active. https://indoorpet.osu.edu/cats Good luck! I hope that was helpful and answered your questions. Thanks for using PetCoach.

You have to take Phat to a vet asap. It's very serious that he has a wheezing/hacking cough and has lost a lot of weight. He sounds very sick, and not getting him veterinary care is cruel to him. Please take him into a vet now.

The weight gain is somewhat of a vague sign, but I am worried when I hear of a cat "wheezing", as it suggests feline asthma, which is a fairly common malady and often presents itself as you are describing. I would consider this to be a fairly urgent matter and would get her into the vet for a thorough physical exam and chest x-rays as soon as possible; asthma can cause serious breathing compromise if not diagnosed and treated.