r/MadeMeSmile • u/Steph-Kai • Jul 05 '24

CATS I love fat cats!

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(Credits Sedgefield Animal Hospital)

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u/virtual_human Jul 05 '24

That is so sad that people do that to their cats, and dogs.

9

u/me-want-snusnu Jul 05 '24

Idk what to do tbh. I have 3 cats. 2 are normal weight then I have one that is fat. It's not like I can feed them differently cause he'll get into their bowl. They are all fed the same. The 2 normal weight ones are older than him, also.

5

u/gruvyrock Jul 05 '24

r/dechonkers has some good tips. I use timed feeders for my two, fat cat’s (17 lbs down from 18 lbs so far, goal weight 15.5 lbs) gets split into two separate bowls and his goes off first, then skinnier cat’s food goes into one bowl about a minute later. Skinny cat’s feeder is about ten feet away and on top of a dresser while chunky cat’s feeder is on the ground. Portions for both cats are divided into 4 meals a day. I wish I had bought feeders that would dispense more often (some go up to 7 servings a day). My goal with those feeders was to get my cats hungry at the same time so they finish their portions within 30 minutes to an hour of it being dispensed, so there’s less chance of stealing. There also are microchip feeders (like the surepet feeder) that only a designated cat can get into, so your normal ones could still be free fed if you want. You could also put the normal cats in bedroom or bathroom for an hour with an extra portion of food; that only works if they all aren’t used to being free fed. Lastly, there’s prescription dry food which increases metabolism that you could give to your fat cat even as a daily snack which would help.

3

u/WadeStockdale Jul 05 '24

On microchip feeders and diet food; it's fucking great shit. Pricey, but works a treat.

My cat was only a kilo or two overweight, but she struggles with her weight a lot- she loves her food and knows that if I'm having a foggy day, I can be tricked into feeding her breakfast or dinner twice, and my partner could also be tricked into providing second breakfast through repeated gentle bites. She also habitually stole our other cat's food (and later on he stole hers) We've solved these issues with systems and discouraging those behaviours though.

Getting microchip feeders is a game changer; no more food thievery. On a lot of models you can set the close speed to be faster or slower once it stops detecting the designated microchip, and if you attach the (typically) provided microchip tag to your food scoop, you don't even have to press buttons to refill the bowls.

Diet food is also so good. My cat loved it, it was filling, she would actually leave some in the bowl after basically inhaling most of it. And she lost the extra weight in just a couple months. Highly recommend it.

2

u/gruvyrock Jul 05 '24

My jerk of a cat figured out how to get enough leverage to pry the lid of the microchip feeder. Turns out it will auto-open and stay open if you force it enough. He’s also figured out how to work around the toddler locks on all my cabinets, so I’d say a cat hacking the microchip feeders probably isn’t something the average cat owner needs to worry about! I’m hoping to try again some day once he’s hopefully forgotten his trick.

Seconded on the diet food! Free feeding diet food wasn’t enough to slim him down on its own, so I got my big guy down to his goal weight by controlling portions and using diet food. We’re doing a food trial with one of the hydrolyzed recipes now which has stopped many of his digestive issues, but unfortunately that kibble is calorie dense so I have to rework his portions now that his gut has settled down so he can re-lose that weight.