How do I put my overweight cat on a diet for healthy weight loss?

Related Answers from Veterinarians

• Answered By Ann Dion, DVM

  Veterinarian

  Published on November 3rd, 2018

  Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.
  
  Simple answer- feed him better quality/less fat food, and feed less.
  Hills has a very good diet called w/d, and it is designed to help animals feel full, but are providing less calories (basically vegetables vs. fat in the food).
  
  Also, just by feeding less he will lose weight.
  
  I recommend chatting with your vet about a weight loss strategy, as fast weight loss in cats can be very dangerous. The can get a condition called 'fatty liver disease'.
  
  Increasing exercise can help a lot as well. Laser pointers, cat toys, walks on a harness, etc, can help as well.
  
  Best of luck with your little guy!

  

  1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

• Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

  Veterinarian

  Published on July 28th, 2017

  It can be very difficult to get an overweight cat to lose weight, but keep in mind that every little bit helps. Diet is more important than exercise although getting Oliver to move more will help :try moving his food up high to get him to move, and you can certainly use catnip.
  
  I typically recommend using a therapeutic diet to help with fat loss and muscle retention for my patients. Some cats do better with canned, some with dry. Your veterinarian can estimate Oliver's ideal weight and calculate exactly how much food he should get in a day. Avoid all treats and table scraps.
  
  Oliver should lose no more than about 1-2% of his body weight per week so keep in mind that it may take several months for him to reach his ideal weight. Good luck!

  

  1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

• Answered By Casey Smallwood

  Veterinarian

  Published on July 9th, 2018

  I hope you and Tesla are doing well, and good for you on taking a proactive approach to make your pets life healthier. Overall, for a recommended weight loss program is to feed your pet overall less. Ideally, there are tools out there to calculate the number of calories they need in a certain day and then apply that based on the food you are feeding him. That being said whatever the number is for his weight currently will be too high as that will be what he would need to maintain his current weight. For weight loss, we typically recommend feeding 80% of what their current diet is and it may take some measuring of the food make sure this is adequate. Even more helpful is to check out some of the veterinary nutritional blogs such as petfoodology.com at Tufts University or to consult an actual veterinary nutritionist on the healthiest way to help Tesla lose weight.

  

  1Pet Parents found this answer helpful