Mary Allen
Is your cat so fat that mice are dancing all over it? With these tips, your cat can lose weight and go on a diet without starving.
Cats need to lose weight too. They are very similar to us in this respect: They also like to snack and eventually have to struggle with excess pounds. But how can the beloved pet lose weight without suffering?
There are numerous guides, information, and product packages on the subject. But do they really help? One thing is certain: With our 10 tips, your cat will easily lose a few pounds, lose weight and go on a gentle diet.
Plan carefully
Many diets for cats fail because of the lack of a concept. So proceed step by step: First, visit your veterinarian and get advice on how your cat can lose weight. What body type is your four-legged friend? What idiosyncrasies does he have and how did he get that far with being overweight? What is his weight now? And what weight should be reached?
The vet will then help you to draw up a nutrition plan for your pug friend. It also makes sense to plan visits to the vet during the diet. This way you will quickly find out if the new diet does not suit your furry Brummer. In addition, this is a great way to document joint successes during the diet.
Reduce the amount of food
Just as we eat less when we want to lose weight, this can also make sense for our own fur ball when the cat is on a diet and wants to lose weight.
However, a careful approach is required here. If you simply give your cat less food, it switches to a kind of economy mode, since its body assumes that it is currently unable to find enough prey to feed itself. This can be particularly dangerous for indoor cats, as the body then sends additional energy to the liver via fat. However, your cat does not need these at all, since it does not have to hunt. In the worst case, this can lead to liver failure.
You should therefore never radically reduce your cat’s food, but reduce it step by step after consultation with the veterinarian. It is also important that the cat continues to receive all the important nutrients from the cat food. When reducing, make sure that you give less of everything, but don’t omit anything completely – vitamins and protein are particularly important in nutrition! So the cat can lose weight gently and healthily.
Stretch the lining
In addition to reducing the amount of feed, changing the composition makes sense. Fiber comes in handy here. They fill you up, but not fat.
Diet food relies on this principle. If you prepare the cat food for the house tiger yourself every day, feeding cellulose is a good substitute. However, no more than 5 to 10 grams of this should be mixed into the feed daily.
Since the cat is a creature of habit, you “cheat” the diet food or cellulose feed in small amounts under the cat’s normal wet or dry food. Then gradually increase the percentage.
Consider the treated problem
It’s the same with animals as with us humans: It’s not normal meals that make you fat, but rather the treats between meals that make you overweight. If you want to spoil your cat, don’t do it with food, but with attention. So she feels rewarded without putting on fat unnecessarily.
If your cat is an outdoor cat, ask people around you (e.g. the neighbors) to join in or give them a lower-calorie alternative to cat food. Of course, you should also use these yourself. If you know that your cat is getting food elsewhere, you should also include this in her diet plan. This is the only way to effectively combat obesity in cats and eventually reach a healthy weight.
Feed smart
Your cat doesn’t tolerate any diet products and can’t handle the reduced amount of food? Even then there is a solution for being overweight: Distribute the food throughout the day so that the cat always gets something when it is hungry.
Instead of three large meals, you feed ten small ones. This way you can reduce the amount and take the cat off without your darling going hungry. However, pay close attention to the total amount! Since a feeding cup is often too imprecise, you weigh out the portions so that you are not tempted to give your cat more throughout the day.
And another tip if your cat does not tolerate diet food: It can also be helpful to switch to wet food. Dry food often does not fill you up enough. This is because wet food contains more water. If the cat does not drink enough of the dry food, it will quickly become hungry again and therefore eat more. So sooner or later she will get fat or stay fat if she already is.
If necessary, get advice from a veterinarian. Maybe a drinking fountain is a good solution to fill your cat’s stomach with fewer calories?
Tricks to help the cat lose weight
If just one cat out of several is overweight, it will be difficult to stick to a diet. The easiest way is to put all cats on a diet, for example using the diet food for all cats. So there is no risk that your somewhat stronger darling will grab the bowl of the normal cat food from the flatmate.
You should feed your slim cats more often or give them a portion of normal cat food outside of the normal eating times. Again, your veterinarian will certainly have tips on what to look out for.
If you want to strictly separate the cats’ food, you establish two different feeding places. Or use these tricks: place a piece of cardboard over the bowl and cut a hole through which only your slimmer cat will fit. It’s mean but effective.
A high feeding place, which your beloved chubby one cannot reach due to being overweight, is also a good way to prevent the chubby little one from eating the wet food or the morsels away from the normal-weight ones.
Make feeding a game
With this trick, you make eating a challenge. In order to get the food, the cat has to move and possibly also think. And that not only makes you slim but also happy.
Fill in e.g. B. a food ball with dry food. This has a small opening through which the feed falls out in small portions when moving. So your house cat has to push the ball around with its paws when it’s hungry.
Activity boards or food labyrinths, which are available in various designs, are another way to make eating more interesting in the form of dry food.
By the way: We have collected the best intelligence games for cats for you here.
Alternatively, you can also hide the dry food for your cats in the apartment, for example under the cupboard or behind the curtain. To motivate even more sporting commitment, you can also hang up a bag with delicious food and hang feathers or bells on it. This also promotes the urge to play and move and leads to better health in the long term.
With something this interesting, your darling might even be persuaded to jump. (Important: If your animal is massively overweight, you should avoid it to protect the joints!) With all these tips, it is important that your house cat has fun and has a chance of success.
Avoid fasting days
Fasting days when you don’t give your cat anything to eat only create stress. Under certain circumstances, your cat may not be so particular about finding the litter box as a protest and will do its business elsewhere. Protest is just one of the many reasons cats become unclean.
Should this happen, these tricks will help: Remove cat urine – The best tips.
From the fact that the cat can become grumpy, aggressive, or listless, you can see that this cannot be the right way.
In addition, there are health risks due to the lack of protein – the cat automatically lives off its fat deposits. As good as that sounds, a lack of important nutrients can be life-threatening. Therefore, you should never give up feeding dry or wet food completely, but better heed the tips for changing your diet for the sake of your health.
Activate the big buzzer
Of course, proper nutrition for cats is only one side of the coin. Your pug love needs exercise too. Playing together is ideal for losing weight, is fun, promotes health, and strengthens the bond between you and your pet.
We have more tips on the subject of “bonding” for you here: How to strengthen the bond with your cat.
If your cat is particularly lazy or sleepy, it’s important to encourage it regularly. So don’t be afraid to try out different toys like a cat rod or small stuffed mice and throw them to the cat or fool around with them.
Often it is enough to put something unusual like a nut or a hair tie to arouse the curiosity of the cats. All cats have this urge to play and discover, with some you just have to tease it out.
Do not give up!
The last tip sounds unusual, but not your cat, but above all, you must be strong during the diet! Fluctuations in weight throughout the weight loss program are normal, so don’t fret if your cat loses a lot of weight one week and almost nothing the next. If you want your darling to get better in the long term, the most important thing is that he gradually loses weight over a long period of time in good health.
As a guide, your cat should lose an average of one to three percent of its total weight per week to be on a healthy path. That’s only 50 to 150 grams per week for a 5 kg cat. So give her some time until she sheds her first kilo!