Own multiple cats and trying to get one to lose weight.. help?

Have you thought about trying to individually feeding them so that you can feed the overweight kitty the special weight loss food. Sometimes separating them during feeding times is good for them because they ten get the necessary vitamins and minerals they need to help them either gain or to lose weight. If you have to cage the overweight one every time you feed him so the others will not get into the wrong food.

We had a dog the same - she was HUGE when we got her & over time she has lost the weight, i went with smaller serving for her - feeding her separately. I also made sure there was veggies in her food & less fetty food - try something homemade - some mince, veggies & pasta - that should do the trick!

This works really well and my vet suggested. I have 4 cats and three are normal and then there's Tigger the 20 pounder. We always have dry food down and feed them one can collectively before bedtime. Tho Tigg's mostly muscle, he still needs to slim down at age 7. My vet suggested feeding them IAMS all cat dry formula that helps overweight cats slim down and normal cats develope better mucle tone. I swear after one month old Tubbo lost 1 pound and the others look real slick!

Like one of your other responses, I would recommend diet catfood. Our cat eats only dry cat food and never begs for "people" food, but she still manages to put on a couple of extra pounds in the winter. We mix one cup of Friskies to two cups of the weight control mix together and she loves it. I'm sure your problem will be much more difficult since you have other cats in the house. Is there any chance of confining that particular cat to several rooms of the house and feeding him only in his own area? I know that would be difficult, but sometimes that is the only answer. Or maybe, a relative with no cats would agree to keep him for a month or two to see if the diet food works. Once he is down a pound or two, it might be easier to keep him that way. Some people have certain feedig times for their animals and don't leave any food out for them in between feeding times. If you did that, you might feed them inside of cages, each one with his own dish of food. Expensive probably and a nuisance, but it just might work. Or even feed them in different rooms and then pick up the feeding dishes.

There are alot of specialized food for dieting cats. You can find them at almost all pet shops or vet clinics. I had the same problem with my cat, he was on a strict diet after that. It was hard to keep track of his eating habits especially when having 9 other cats around.

The dieting of the overweight cat is a serious step you must take. The only solution I can think off is taking cats apart for meals. You can put up a schedule that you feed all of your cats a couple times a day. The healthy cats get normal food in a closed room. The overweight cat get some light food that you measure on a scale (ask for advice in the petshop and use the kitchen scale you got to weight down the proper amount) also in another room (so he can not eat the leftovers from the healthy cats'food!). And the kitten get kittenfood on a separate plate. The kitten can maybe also already eat together with the healthy cats, that depends on the age of the little one. Otherwise, he or she gets a own plate for the kitten food. Watch the kitten not to eat from the normal food (or take him or her apart with you to eat in the kitchen). After 20 minutes you take away all the food, from every cat. If you dont do that, the overweight cat will go down the house to look for more food and he/she is on the diet food! You feed them that way about 3 times a day. Like we all normal have our meals. At first all the cats will be looking around for a little bit and a little snacktime. They will learn soon that its mealtime when you offer that to them, and after 20 minutes you take the leftovers away. Next time they will eat out more! Good Luck!!

I too, have the same problem, and it is a problem. I tried to cut down to lite diet food for the heavy one from the humane society, and the other cat got lighter, and he is a large tom, and didn't need to loose weight. She is still fat. I feed dry food. If you feed canned, it's easier. Just lock them up in differnet rooms with different foods. If on dry, I don't know what to say, as they all have different needs. Good luck.

I had a similar problem for a while. I had 4 cats, and whilst 3 were a normal, healthy weight, poor Wilby was vastly over weight. He refused the diet food, and just ate the others' food, as soon as I had gone out to work. Like yours, his fur was getting matted on his back because he couldn't reach around to groom himself:-(( But then in December I got a new kitten - just a couple of months old. Well - truth to say - she found me! Anyway - Wilby fell in love with her, and follows her everywhere like a protective big brother. And as little Lily has grown and started to play more, she has been runnning and chasing everywhere, and he is following her! The weight just fell off him with all the exercise, so consequently, I now have a slimmer, healthier cat who still eats as much as before, but takes far more exercise, and stays slim. So I would say try and encourage him to play more - even if at first you have to reward him with edible treats to get him to run and chase things - and itmay do the trick. Good luck!

You can get diet cat food, but it would be difficult to strictly supervise their eating with that number of cats together. When one of my girls was a bit tubby, she was also rather lazy, so we decided she needed more exercise. What we did was to get a cat climber - something with different platforms and scratching posts and other activities to keep them occupied. She loves it and since we got it she's been a whole new cat. Not only has she lost the excess weight through climbing all over her new toy all the time, but she's gained so much more confidence and energy. It's great. The other thing you can get, which is cheaper, is a laser light pen. They never tire of chasing the little red dot all over the room. They'll run for hours and all you have to do is sit there and move the thing around! Other than that, perhaps the vet has a few suggestions? Good luck. I hope you find a solution that works for your kitty.

i have a 34 pounder. first thing i had to do is separate his food from the other cats and change his diet to one for older,overweight cats.he was stealing from the other 4. he is still heavy tho-i suspect my family's guilty on that tho they deny it. he is leash trained,so we go for walks more often,and the laser pointer others have mentioned-he gets that too :)