Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have three older adult cats. Two are fine in the weight department. One female, 9 yrs old, is overweight---I adopted her from someone else and she came pudgy to me. I have had all of them to the vet and they are all on diet chow (no canned food). The food is set out in several bowls around the house for free range feeding. She eats too much---probably at least half the food put out every day. It is impractical to separate her from the other two. Any ideas?

Hi,

Dry food is loaded with carbs that can really pack on the pounds because cats cannot digest them properly. My recommendation is to switch to canned food given twice daily and to cut back severely on the dry food.

Cats are carnivores and a canned food diet is much more natural for them so they are more satisfied. It takes a bit more work to put food out at set times instead of free-feeding but your cats will be healthier in the long run.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Wow. Why did my vet never tell me that? I've been feeding them dry food for years because I was always told it was better for them.

Hi,

This is an excellent article explaining why canned food is better for cats and some problems that a dry food diet can cause:

http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canned_food.htm

You might want to share it with your vet...

Regards,
PHKitkat