...my question is about DIET cat food. Two of my cats are overweight and my vet told me to put them on diet food. The food I get cannot be bought in the store. It's Eukanuba dry for weight loss. The package said they should not be on it for more than a year. At first they lost weight, but after awhile it just came back.
Well it's been probably longer than a year, so in order that they get protein I started to add a little of the regular Eukanuba which is more nutritious. They haven't gotten any fatter, but they haven't lost any either. I don't feed a lot of treats, but I do give them little bits of people food once in awhile or occasionally a cat treat. But I don't think I'm overdoing it.
These 2 cats are grazers -- they eat little bits but often. They do get moderate exercise. I have an upstairs and they go up and down the flight of stairs frequently and they chase each other a lot. I know overweight is a serious problem. I'm stumped!
Traci -- In reference to the post about food
Re: Traci -- In reference to the post about food
If you mean the Eukanuba is the prescription food, right, no prescription food should be fed long term unless it is for a specific health condition (i.e., FLUTD, kidney, liver or heart disease, diabetes, etc)
My suggestion would be to get both kitties weighed and ask your vet if he feels they are now at an optimal weight. If they are not, you can continue the Rx until they are (providing your vet has calculated their required feeding amounts per serving, etc....free-feeding a prescription diet is not really the ideal situation, especially with more than one cat because you can't accurately monitor the amounts eaten per day per cat)
If your vet determines they are now at optimal weight, you can probably do as you're doing now (by mixing the Rx with the regular), and slowly omitting the Rx over a certain amount of time, but do ask your vet for a time frame in which to adjust the diet, and get them weighed at least once a month to determine if the adjustment is working or not. Keep them active and entertained as well, as exercise is a vital role in maintaining weight.
I'd also nix the table food, not knowing what types of table food you're giving occasionally, don't know if they are too fatty, etc.
My suggestion would be to get both kitties weighed and ask your vet if he feels they are now at an optimal weight. If they are not, you can continue the Rx until they are (providing your vet has calculated their required feeding amounts per serving, etc....free-feeding a prescription diet is not really the ideal situation, especially with more than one cat because you can't accurately monitor the amounts eaten per day per cat)
If your vet determines they are now at optimal weight, you can probably do as you're doing now (by mixing the Rx with the regular), and slowly omitting the Rx over a certain amount of time, but do ask your vet for a time frame in which to adjust the diet, and get them weighed at least once a month to determine if the adjustment is working or not. Keep them active and entertained as well, as exercise is a vital role in maintaining weight.
I'd also nix the table food, not knowing what types of table food you're giving occasionally, don't know if they are too fatty, etc.
..........Traci