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

Hi Nikki I had a cat named Alex. I free fed him and he became HUGE! He was very active and was going to be large anyway, but I believe he maxed at 16-18 lbs. Anyway, as he got older, he got diabetes. He lost a lot of weight before they realized what was wrong with him. So the poor cat would hide every day after eating and we would have to track him down and give him shots between his shoulder blades. Well, we continued to give him shots but were unaware that he actually had transient diabetes. They kept changing his insulin doses and before they realized what was wrong, we had to take him to the ER in the middle of the night because he was seizing. He was horribly by thin. Anyway, once he got staightened out, he led a great life. He lived to be about 16, but I know he could have lived longer if it hadn't been for all of the weight ups and downs. Hope this helps. Sharyn

Funny thing.all the dogs and cats I have had in the last 56 years have always been fat,lol wonder why,I felt they were always hungry like me and felt sorry for them and fed them.

Cindy, That is so easy to do! I have to keep myself from "loving" my animals with food or overfeeding because they must want to eat! Thanks for your comments! Best, Nikki

Hi Sharyn, Amazing how much cats can be like us humans, isn't it? Thanks for sharing your story. Yhat was just the sort of thing I was looking for. Best, Nikki

Nikki, we had a really fat cat, Cali, who is no longer with us. She was a tiny, tiny stray when we found her. We started her out on a high nutrition special diet, because that is what our other cat ate. She grew and grew and grew, and we had to switch her to diet food. We free fed at first, but she kept eating and eating, and gaining and gaining. Finally, we had to just feed her 1/2 cup of the diet food, once a day. We NEVER let her eat anything but that. In fact, she didn't care for snacks at all. She just wanted her portion of diet food and she wanted it ON TIME!! Eventually, she settled in at 18 lbs. and remained at a steady weight until she died of a complication of the weight at about 4 years old. Her only co-morbidity was caused by the fact that her weight prevented her from having good hygeine. She was unable to clean her bottom because she couldn't reach it. This led to a series of UTI's, which led to a kidney infection and other complications. We finally had to let her go rather than put her through the hell of more treatments. It was one of the saddest days of my life. I was particularly bonded to her, more than the rest of the family, maybe because I identified with her obesity, who knows? If you decide you need a pic, I might have something, but don't know if it would be of a quality that you can use. Vicki Carver

Vicki, I am so sorry about your loss of Cali. Sounds like a really tough situation. I would love to see a picture of your kitty, even if we can't use it in the end. Thanks so much for sharing your story. Best, Nikki