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The Blue wilderness weight control dry food is high protein and low carb.
You are right - junk diets are not healthy for cats.
And that food you mention is the epitome of junk diet. Cats are strict obligate carnivores, they need a diet high in moisture and foods sourced from meat to thrive. Many people find that just putting the cat on a good quality wet food (or raw or combo) diet solves the weight issues, not to mention many other issues.
I can promise you that if you put your cat on a wet diet, about 3-6 months after the complete transition, you will be amazed at the difference. And if you went raw....you just have to see it to believe it. .
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Originally Posted by Lola4
That food has about 40% carbs.
Not all proteins are equal. It is a trick that pet food manufacturers use to make consumers believe a food contains a lot of meat...when it doesn't.
Most of the protein comes from all the peas and other ingredients that a strict obligate carnivore should not be fed.
Also, ingredients are listed by weight, before being cooked. Once cooked, chicken goes waaaaaay down the ingredients list.
A less expensive WET food would be a much better choice. Cats NEED moisture IN their food. A dry fed cat is always dehydrated. A cat won't make up the needed moisture at the water bowl.
Not all proteins are equal. It is a trick that pet food manufacturers use to make consumers believe a food contains a lot of meat...when it doesn't.
Most of the protein comes from all the peas and other ingredients that a strict obligate carnivore should not be fed.
Also, ingredients are listed by weight, before being cooked. Once cooked, chicken goes waaaaaay down the ingredients list.
A less expensive WET food would be a much better choice. Cats NEED moisture IN their food. A dry fed cat is always dehydrated. A cat won't make up the needed moisture at the water bowl.
And that food you mention is the epitome of junk diet. Cats are strict obligate carnivores, they need a diet high in moisture and foods sourced from meat to thrive. Many people find that just putting the cat on a good quality wet food (or raw or combo) diet solves the weight issues, not to mention many other issues.
I can promise you that if you put your cat on a wet diet, about 3-6 months after the complete transition, you will be amazed at the difference. And if you went raw....you just have to see it to believe it. .
Thank you both for the information.
Unfortunately, my overweight male kitty died last year from kidney disease.
My older female cat (almost 18) eats mostly wet food with a little bit of Royal Canine gastro dry food. She eats meat from our table too.
She loves meat whereas my male kitty would not eat meat/table scraps. He loved dry food and that is all he would eat (plus treats).
What do you mean raw? Like raw chicken, beef, etc.
It is funny because my husband and I were discussing this very topic (cats are carnivores) the other night when I got back from the vet's office.
Our cat was always big and the vet was very clear we need to watch his weight. I measured everything (with a measure spoon for the dry and quarter cans for wet food). He hardly got treats (poor guy). Unfortunately he never played much, he rather watches TV with us :-)
I also put him on high quality grain free food. Every morning he was starving. Literally. And we fed him several times in small portions so he has the feeling he gets a lot.
It’s amazing how much a cat should eat when you read the description on the can / dry food. Whenever gave him that much and he still didn’t loose weight. Indoor cat food etc didn’t help either.
I was given a cat, "Mr. Biggs", who was quite overweight. Other people let this happen before I was "on watch" so to speak. Anyway (after a few years) he developed diabetes. So I treated him for about 2 more years, before he died of other issues. I learned a lot taking care of Mr. Biggs, but the main thing is that you don't want to let your kitty be a fatty. Not to brag, but I am smarter than the average bear, and have really good hands, so dosing Biggs with insulin was easier for me than it would be for most. But the best way to treat a diabetic cat, is to get them back to a healthy weight before they develop the condition.
Agreed, a low-carb diet is what a cat needs to be healthy.
My cat was a big cat, with a long body. He got pretty chubby.. up to about 18-19 lbs by around age 14. But then he developed IBD. The only food he could tolerate was raw turkey. Anything else caused vomiting and diarrhea. I bought a pre-made raw product by a local company.
This change in diet allowed him to live another 4-5 years, and on it, he dropped down to a healthier weight. It wasn't until I saw him in his more naturally lean state that I realized how fat he had been before. Clearly, cutting all the carbs out of his diet led to the weight loss.
We can't change his food. He has a history of kidney stones and must be on a specific type of food to shrink the stones and stop them from forming. If he eats anything else, stones form and it's bad news all around.
That type of food is only supposed to be fed short term, because the way it shrinks the stones is by using Dl-methionine, which acidifys the urinary tract. Those stones are struvite, caused by a tract that is too alkaline. Fed for too long, that food will over-acidify the tract, which will cause calcium oxalate stones, which must be removed through surgery. The ingredients are also very non species-appropriate, often way too high in carbs, which will lead to weight issues.
Best diet for any cat is high MEAT protein, moderate in fat and low in carbs (preferably 0%).
This site ought to be your Bible for nutrition, weight issues, and for dealing with urinary tract issues: catinfo.org.
I'm more of a dog person, but I do have a cat. She's on a wet diet with a very small portion of grain free "crunchy" food to keep her teeth clean (it seems to be working). But maybe your cat needs a playmate? My cat gets tons of exercise playing with my dogs. They're always chasing each other through the house.
When the semi-feral cat I adopted many years ago started looking like a bowling ball after her companion died, I just was pretty brutal about cutting her food back. She was NOT happy, but eventually she lost the weight and was just looking "well fed" in her latter days. She lived to be 17. She had a ton of food sensitivities and I ultimately ended up feeding her a grain-free duck and pea kibble. She absolutely REFUSED to eat wet food until she was literally on her death bed (and then only the cheapest and most disgusting kind, which fortunately did not cause an allergic reaction somehow). I could have forced the issue I suppose, but once she was on a grain free food that did not cause open sores, I wasn't going to push the point any further.
So my thought is keep reducing the amount of food and exercise the cat. Get a flirt pole and keep him moving or get another pet that's young and active. The semi-feral cat eventually bonded hard with my male border collie, but by that time they were both seniors and all they did was nap together a lot.
I believe the companion animal could be effective because when I got my last dog, she was very young and playful. She engaged my other dog in play so much that I had to double his food after his ribs started sticking out a few weeks after I got her. They remain devoted companions, but the frenzy of playtime has subsided a bit.
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