How Can I Get My Cat to Lose Weight?
It's Time For My Cat Leo to Go On a Diet!!!
My cat, Leo (Leonardo) needs to lose weight! Leo loves to eat and has gained weight steadily over his short six year life. To put it simply, he was obese! I say "was" because I changed his diet and he has lost four pounds in two months. Way to go, Leo!!!
Trying to pick Leo up was like trying to pick up a water balloon. There is no denying how adorable he is in this picture or how ginormous he is. I fell in love with his sweet little face and his heart-shaped nose the second I saw him, but he has to lose some weight for his health.
In this picture he weighs close to 24 pounds! How did this happen? Well, there are a number of reasons that led to this huge weight gain:
1) He is an indoor cat and does not get much exercise at all.
2) We were feeding him hard chow and allowed him to graze on it all day, high in carbs. And...
3) We didn't realize how enormous he had become while he was becoming enormous.
If your cat looks like this...
It may be time to change his diet!
Sweet Leo
Feeding Time
Here is a picture of the food we feed him
Leo's Weight Loss
How I got Leo to lose weight when my other cats didn't need to...
We started on November 1, 2012 and Leo weighed in at a whopping 23.6 lbs! At the beginning of this journey, one of Leonardo's nicknames affectionately was "Leo-lardo." I hope that doesn't sound too bad to anyone. I know I could lose a few pounds myself but since he's a cat, he doesn't really know we're teasing him, haha!
We also are the cat parents to Leo's brother, Finnegan. Finn is orange and white, and even though they are different colors you can definitely see a resemblance.
In addition to Leo and Finn, we have another cat named Bentley. He's three years old and gray and white. Actually, he is my daughter's cat but we take care of him. He's just one of the crew. Bentley is very impish, but so so cute, and we love him too.
I had to feed Leo in a separate room away from Finnegan and Bentley which wasn't easy because they can smell the moist food a mile away. However, because I didn't want them to be jealous of the moist food I give them a taste (about the size of a nickel) which seems to satisfy them.
The difference between his portion sizes really made all the difference in his weight loss
This picture shows the difference between what Leo used to be allowed to eat on the yellow plate... to what he now eats pictured on the red plate.
Leo weighs 19.3 lbs. in this picture
He lost 4.3 pounds!
Way to go Leo!!! Doesn't he look fantastic???
We are very very proud of you!
The Friskies Pate is what I fed Leo to help him lose weight - He has lost over 4 pounds in 2 months!
Even though extra weight on cats makes them look even more adorable, it's not healthy for them...
- 8 Ways to Slim Down a Fat Cat - Tips on Life and Love
Here, kitty kitty! If your cat is looking a little rotund or losing energy to play, it's time to start looking at slimming solutions. Dr. Barbara Royal, author of The Royal Treatment, shares her tips—including very valuable advice about cats' carnivo
