He’s a meatball:
He’s a meatball the Vet declared, as he slammed Bootsie’s case file down on the stainless steel examining table for emphasis. “Oh really, what makes you think that?'” I wanted to retort. My baby isn’t fat, he’s just...he’s just...
OK, he’s a teeny tiny bit overweight. For some reason the Boo wants to eat, and eat, and eat. And then he would like a second helping if you “meow” please.
I guess you could say that at 12 pounds, and a small frame he was at risk for developing diabetes when he starts to age. At least that’s what the vet threatened us with during the visit, and when he found out that Boo had gained another 500 grams...well that was the last straw. My protesting that we had switched him to a low calorie canned fell on deaf ears. “It’s not good enough, you are over feeding him.” I made the choice to try the vet’s recommended brand, with some misgivings.
This is the solution?
We left with a much lighter pocket book, and a food that should assure the Boo of loosing those stubborn pounds. According to the “experts” on the net, he would dislike the food, pets tended to shy away from vet prescribed, and very expensive brand. I saw that as a positive, if we had to beg him to eat, it might make for a interesting turn of events. Unhungry kitty, equalled weight loss.
Obviously not the solution
Following instructions I carefully mixed a little bit of the new dried cat food in with Boo's regular low cal brand. He needed to be introduced to the new food carefully in order to stop any tummy troubles, and erupting...well you get the picture.
That night we were awakened by a odd scratching noise in the middle of the night. Our normally sleepy time kitty was wide awake, and full of the midnight munchies. Standing on his hind legs and pawing at the cupboard door that held the new food, he was determined to chow down.
He begs for this new food, is always ravenous, and despite deworming, still wants to eat until his tummy is as round as a football.
Advice needed
After a Doctors visit you are sent home with some instructions on the best way to loose weight. Although we love our wonderful Vet, we have no other recommendation then cut his intake down to 1/2 can of moist, and 1/2 cup of dried, per day, Boo would like to have that per hour. I have no idea what other cats eat, but isn’t that a little on the skinny side? Isn’t that the end result we are aiming for? I guess so, but.
We have tried many ways of distracting him, playing, petting, hugging, and other avenues to deter him from his relentless pursuit of begging for more food. Nothing works. He gets angry, meows ferociously, bats at our legs, bites, and follows us around underfoot all day long.
How do we tame the fat furry one? Or do we just give in and feed him as much as he wants? Does that make me a bad kitty friend? I suppose so, but I am tired of being woken up at 4 am by a begging ball of black fluff.
Help me out here please, or at the very least tell me horror stories of your pet’s carnivorous appetites.
Oh, and the Boo would like to know if those bricks behind him make him look fat?
Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams
Oh goodness! You need to stick to the diet if possible... just think of it as making sure he lives a LONG and healthy life!
ReplyDeleteBuying earplugs might help.
Gosh I wish I could help you. All I can say is that with little kids, babies and such anything you want to break them of takes 3 days. Three days max of screaming, stamping feet and whining but then the habit is broken, along with your heart but the end result is what you are holding out for.
ReplyDeleteOf course my darling children only took 2 days. They saved the third days up through the years and let them loose on me when they were teenagers.
Jen I can surely sympathize. We adopted a kitty some years ago and when we brought her to the vet he proclaimed "MY she's certainly.... rotund". I still laugh at that memory. She slimmed down a bit with some play and outside time but she was never a skinny cat. Our present feral kitties sound like your Boo, they meow all day begging at the window. One would think they're starving but their weight has increased substantially in the last year. Thankfully they live outside so I'm not woken at 4am by their calls. The only way I've found to get around a begging cat is absolute refusal. Like kids, if they know that even once you'll give in, then they'll bug you forever. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteFirst, no, you tell him those bricks are very slimming.
ReplyDeleteSecond, LOVE your blog. Great photos and humor. Looking forward to following you for more!
Jen I am coming out of my lurking status to give you this link for your beautiful Boo. I read and enjoy all your posts :) catinfo.org I love this site and after having lots of kitties in our life I learn so much from this site.
ReplyDeleteHi to new visitors, and those lurkers that have come out of hiding. I am sure you might have mistaken this for a food post, but no .... it's about my beloved Boo.
ReplyDeleteThe link that Rural Rambler left in their comment is full of a wealth of information on cats. Take a few moments and read the parts that apply to your cat, it's time well spent. I wholeheartedly agree that grains and scented, non clumping litter do not go well with kitties.
catinfo.org
This is one link that I will bookmark, and refer to many times.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Jen
Boo's story sounds like the story of my life. I'm always hungry. I'm afraid its hopeless. Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteHe looks like he's saying...Got milk? heehee! ♥
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be no help at all. I don't even think he looks fat! OK, maybe a bit chunky, but certainly not health-threatening. And I've had friends with some very fat cats. He looks quite sleek and muscular.
ReplyDeleteI've been dieting lately, so I know how he feels!
Haha...upon reading your comments, I have to say I'm with Allison. All her words ring true with me too:)
ReplyDeleteAnd tell him I think he looks marvelous!
What a handsome cat! My poor kitty has the same problem. We didn't buy any of that expensive vet stuff, just iams dry food - the weightloss/indoor variety - 1/4 cup in the morning and 1/4 cup in the afternoon. I know it sounds like so little, and kitty complains about it, it is really important for the long term health of the cat... and you can always sneak some tuna (canned in water) for a healthy treat! Our cat has been loosing weight this way, and after almost 1 year is getting close to a healthy weight.
ReplyDeleteTo try to get rid of that night time whining... well, my husband has somewhat successfully trained our cat by not giving her food if she makes noise about it, only once she can settle down and be calm... but every cat is different! Best of luck!
Its definitely the bricks that make him look fat! And remember, the camera adds a couple of pounds, so in reality, he's half the size :)
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem with my cat and his constant need to feed ...
We've had a similar situation with a couple of our kitties here. We've discovered that not all kitties are created equal. Even though they all have access to the same food, some are thin and petite while others are on the "meatball" side. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhen we tried low-cal food it caused similar anger and grumpiness in more than one of our kitties. Not good. We found a good balance regarding the food, however. When we cut all foods out of their diets that contained any corn products (and most grains), we saw a drastic change for the better in physiques, eating habits and regurgitating problems. It turned out that the carbs were not only causing weight gain, but it was causing the kitties to eat more and crave more.
So our new routine is as follows and it's really worked:
-We keep Blue Buffalo brand dry cat food out in bowls at all times for grazing.
-In the mornings, we separately feed three of the kitties one pouch of Wellness brand Healthy Indulgence so they get increased liquid intake from the gravy. Then the leftovers are put out in the open for the others to graze on throughout the day.
-Before we retire for the night, all the kitties get to share one can of Blue Buffalo wet canned food OR 5-7 Whisker Lickins tartar control crunchy treats (we alternate every day between the two).
-And the dry food is replenished for any middle-of-the-night munchies to prevent us from being awakened by rudeness.
Bloggers do love a good animal story, for Boo has a lot of attention. Stick with the diet. It does take a few days to form new habits. For humans 21 days to break an old habit and begin a new one. Divide those day by cat years to decide how long it will take him to adjust to the new food. I teach English so I am not good at math :). Or give him his old food, just less of it. We have two old cats (15 years old) and they are on the thin side, while the youngster at 5 years is hairy and quite fat and they are all fed the same. The old ones stay in most of the time and the kid is outside most of the time. Who knows. Just love the Boo and have a chat with him. He is a handsome dude, a bit sexy too.
ReplyDeleteYou will have to update us on what works as I have the same problem with our female kitty, Ellie-May. :)
ReplyDeleteJen, Good luck with him~Cats are not easy to dissuade from their way! After all, they've worked hard to train us. He's a handsome boy...gail
ReplyDeleteI just want to say that your lovely comment really brightened my whole day. You, my dear, are a photographer extraordinaire!
ReplyDelete(Hope the cat troubles sort themselves out...)
Aw ... wishing you a good night's sleep, Jen ... have you seen the treadmill for pets!
ReplyDeleteOh poor Boo..hungry boy..some cats are just fat..yum ..big boned. I would cut down on his food a little at a time..to much at once is making him cranky and hungry..he thinks you are starving him to death...it should be gradual..yes it is better for him to be thinner..and he will be eventually:)
ReplyDeleteI haven't been by in a while, but glad I made it today, Jen! I not only enjoyed the post but the hilarious comments, too.
ReplyDeletePoor Boo. I have a ravenous golden retriever who lives for mealtime and romps, but we feed her raw food (veggies and meat) so she has never had a weight problem. It takes time, but my vet says she's in amazing shape for an old girl.
I hope you win!
My advice for Boo would be to feed him a high quality food (no grains). I've more experience with dogs than cats, but haven't heard much good about the low-cal stuff. And like dogs and kids, you just have to put up with the whining and crying, which will probably get worse before it gets better. If you give in and feed Boo because he 'demands' it, then he'll try even harder the next time to get you to give in.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it would be easier if you gradually reduced the amount he gets, instead of suddenly changing from what he was getting to what he should be getting.
Please? may I make a suggestion? Cats are by nature, carnivors. They need meat more than anything. Commercial cat food, dry or moist, does not contain the kind of meat protein cats need and are too high in carbos for their health. I can pretty much guarantee your sweet kitty is begging not for more food, but for straight meat. Here is a sure fire way to get the weight down...instead of the commercial foods, give him tuna, sardines, and some minced raw chicken. You will find that over the next week or so, he won't seem to hungry and he will start losing weight. After a couple of weeks, just add a little bit of pureed veggies in with his meat. He's just begging for meat, the real thing! I hope I'm not stepping out of bounds. I just happen to love cats and know a little about their nutritional needs.
ReplyDelete