Fat Cats and Portly Pooches?

Hi all,

I am working on an article on obesity in animals for ObesityHelp Magazine. Have any of you (like me) had an animal with a weight problem?
If so...
What was your pet eating when it gained weight?
How often was it fed? (did you free-feed?)
What did you do to help your pet lose weight?
Did your pet develop obesity co-morbidities?
Did those co-morbidities resolve when the weight came off?

I'd love to hear from you.

Send me high-res pictures if you would like us to consider printing a picture of your pet in the magazine or on the magazine website when the article goes to print.

Please reply to this post or send me an e-mail at [email protected].

Thanks!!!

Nikki Johnson
Managing Editor
ObesityHelp Magazine

I have 9 pets (7 cats and 2 dogs) All of them free feed. I keep fresh water and dry kibble down at all times for them to eat whenever they like. Ok here is where the fat cats come in. Of all 7 cats I have, 2 are very fat (Patches and Grey) Yeah I know such unique names! Anyway they only got fat AFTER I had them spayed, but of all my cats (and they are all neutered/spayed) those two are the only fat ones. The rest of my cats range from thin to slightly overweight. I think cats too suffer from combinations of genetics and environment which can lead to cat obesity. Kia 284/203/155

You know, Kia, that reminded me. When I questioned the vet about my "fat cat", he said he thought it was a matter of genetics, too. I guess we humans are a lot like out animals, aren't we? Barb in S. GA

Hi, Nikki, I have three cats that will be one year old on August 11. They were born prematurely when the vet started to spay a female and discovered she was pregnant. They almost didn't survive but got round-the-clock care and are so beautiful and healthy, now. The two males(Tiger and Little Bit) are short-haired tabbies, lean, mean, running machines. One is much smaller than the other and has ADHD (don't laugh, the vet agrees). I should have named him "Jitterbug", as he can't stay still. The vet thinks he has a little brain damage from lack of oxygen at birth. The female (Lucy) is black and white, medium-haired. She is so fat that I took her in, thinking she had a tumor or something. The vet said it was plain ole fat. Interestingly, she doesn't eat as much as Tigerand Little Bit. I split a small can of Little Friskies three ways, twice a day. Dry food is always available, as is water. This has proven to me that females will just gain weight on water and air, while males can pig out and never suffer the consequences. The vet told me not to worry about her, just let her be. She seems perfectly content, and her vitals are good, so I'm just not going to worry at this point.

Hey there. What a kewl article to write. We have four cats. Actually all four of our kitties are "normal' weight but for their breeds. Teddy is a 7 year old pure Maine Coon and weighs in at 18 pounds. With the long hair he looks even bigger too. But he stands almost to my knees. Hannah is a six year old DSH tri color feral and is about 11 pounds. She is extremely muscular. Now the next one Bailey, I always worry about her because she looks fat. She too only weighs about 11 pounds, is a 3 year old grey tiger DSH. Thing with her though she is pudgy looking because she actually has stumpy limbs (about half the length they should be) but the vet told us she is normal weight for a kitty her age. Another factor that makes her look a bit 'fat' is due to the fact she had chronic diarrhea for about her first year being allergic to the dehydrated dairy in their dry food. First year she looked like an Ethiopian refuge, almost skin and bones. It took us the first year of having her to finally find a dry food that agreed to her and it was just like feeding that Ethiopian good food and she got a big paunch. The last one, Tucker is a Russian Blue and not quite a year old. He is holy terror, LOL, VERY hyper, about 6 pounds but still fairly young and like Barbara's one Tucker is very ACHD (and a talker, LOL). They have free range feeding dry food (now eating Friskies Feline Favorites but only since about December, before that it had been Science Diet Sensitive Stomach) and fresh water 24/7. In order to get the feral to make an appearance I began feeding wet food to the older two about 5 years ago. As we add to the family they share the wet. I only use one can of wet a day, They get half a can split four ways about 5AM and the other half split four ways at 7PM. Tuck gets a bit more in his bowl. Teddy and Hannah share a two side bow and Bailey gets her only. It's a given someone wont like the selection and tries to bury it so the other three go and 'fight' over it (whoever gets there first, hehehe) Once it's gone that's it until the next feeding time. My babies are 100% indoors, none of them have EVER been outside. We did screen our front porch last year so they go out on it for fresh air. All four are all four feet declawed and spayed or neutered by the sixth month of age. Let me know how the article goes. -- Lisa