More cat advice needed. I’ve always thought for a cat, you kept the food bowl full and they eat as they want to eat. Boots is a fat cat! When he comes up the stairs, it sounds like an elephant! I’m thinking coming up and down the stairs might be good exercise for him but I don’t know.
Yesterday we bought him some toys. He reaches over, slaps at them once or twice, then lays there waiting for one of us to come and play with him. He’ll play with them if we dangle them in front of him or roll them past him but I was hoping he’d slap it around and chase it. He’s probably 7 or 8 years old now.
He throws up and for several years I’ve been putting that hair ball toothpaste looking stuff on his mouth, he licks it off but I can’t tell that it’s improving anything. Recently, I’ve started giving him food in the late afternoon. By morning, his bowl is empty but I don’t given him any more til later in the day. At first, he meowed and whined and wanted more food but yesterday when I put the food in his bowl, he wasn’t even interested. I went down later and some of it was gone but not all of it.
Am I doing the right thing? What do you do about an overweight, lazy cat?? If he’s healthy, that’s ok but I know the vets have always wanted the dogs’ weight to stay down. Boots was at the vet in Brownwood in May and the vent commented on him being a big cat but didn’t ask me to put him on a diet.
Here, with him in the house, we’re picking him up more and he’s really heavy. I just want to do the right thing with his eating/weight but don’t want to have to pay for a vet visit til it’s time to take him in for shots or if he needs to see her.
Thanks!
Cathy W. says
I use to free feed my cat too and she got fat. Read the bag of the cat food bag and see how much he is supposed to get. I measure my cat’s food now. My cat has long hair so we brush her. Boots needs to be brushed. Keep giving him hairball medicine too. They will still have hair balls occasionally.
Judy Laquidara says
I have seen hair balls occasionally but he’s just throwing up food . . I’m not seeing any hair in it about 95% of the time. Since I’ve cut back on what I’m feeding him, he isn’t throwing up much. Vince didn’t realize I was doing that and filled his bowl to the top the other day and sure enough, he threw up twice that night. I will continue to give him the hair ball meds and we brush him a lot. He does love to be brushed.
Lyndsey says
I free feed our dog and cat. Both have dry food that I buy from our vet. I put the right amount in the bowl for their weight as stated on the packet and both of them nibble throughout the day. The next morning the bowls are empty and they sit while I wash them out and refill. Cats are all different and some types are large, some small. Our cat Casso is an oriental cross so has long legs and a slim body. He puts weight on in the winter because he stays indoors more and slims down in the summer when he goes out. If your vet thought he was fat rather than big he would have told you. I’ve never known a vet hold back on that.
Judy Laquidara says
That definitely wouldn’t work for Rita. She’s a hog. Every now and then, I’ll feed her. Vince doesn’t know I’ve fed her and he feeds her and she gobbles every crumb of it up.
I do think Boots is just a big cat and you’re right . . that old vet we used in Texas never held back. I kinda expected him to tell me I needed to lose weight once when he was talking to me about Rita’s weight.
DarW says
There are charts online to determine how many calories Boots should be getting daily, based on age and activity level. Consult with several and average them. That’s a better indicator than what the bags of food say. All cat food has the calories per cup listed so it’s simple math to figure out how many cups of food per day he should be getting. Divide that into 2 meals and give him only that amount. Obese cats are prone to developing diabetes; we just went through this with our cat. Since you already prepare Rita’s food, you might consider the same for Boots. A raw diet is healthier especially for a male cat and is more filling, and better at reducing hair balls, but it isn’t for everyone. Also read the label. Meat or meat meal should be the first ingredient; corn and grain-based foods are inferior for cats, who are carnivores. I’ve had indoor cats for 42-plus years and am always learning new things. You might consider a fishing rod-type feather wand for Boots to chase; one brand is called Da Bird. It’s more interactive and if he likes it, I’m sure Addie would have a ball playing with him!
Judy Laquidara says
Thank you! I hope to not have to pay a vet bill til time for his annual physical/shots. I mentioned it earlier but we have the fishing rod type feather thing in Texas and yes, Addie loves playing with him with that. I’ll check into making cat food. Seems easy enough since I’m making Rita’s food, so long as it isn’t too gross! 🙂
Dottie Newkirk says
We always free fed our cats and all of them (over the years) digested the food differently. We had some that were skinny mini and others that were chunks. A lot of the time the skinny ones ate a lot more than the chunks and their metabolism seemed to work better than the chunks.
One of the things we learned about our cats 30+ years ago is that they started discovering that more cats had thyroid problems – either hyper or hypo. Our first cat was diagnosed with hyperthroidism back in the 80’s (at that time the vet thought she might have diabetes but those tests were OK – he then checked the thyroid – when it came back positive, he shook his head and said “we just don’t see this”). Anyway, she was a tiny thing and STARVED constantly – ate anything and everything that was locked down. With medication, she lived until she was almost 20.
Our second cat with a thyroid problem had hypothroidism – she lived until almost 20 also.
BUT, as far as Boots is concerned, maybe reduce his food a bit and as someone suggested, the fishing pole with a feather (ours has a “mink” tail on it) on it is GREAT idea. You’ll get bored swinging it around for the length of time Boots will like it, but I bet Addie would love to play with Boots with one of those.
Judy Laquidara says
We did have those in Texas and bought one this week for here but haven’t opened it yet. He does love that and yes, Addie loved playing with him with that too.
Debbi Best says
I have 3 cats. The only thing that reduces their hairballs is regular brushing, so they don’t lick and swallow as much loose hair. Good luck!
Kim A Paventy says
Ask your vet for advice, measure the food and give that amount.
Judy Laquidara says
We brush him a lot and even had him shaved early in the spring when he sheds the most and that didn’t do a whole lot to help the barfing so I’m wondering if it isn’t more of an overeating issue for him.
Kathy S says
I agree 100% with DarW. I’ve never free fed any of my animals.
Helen says
We used to “free feed” our cat, but that won’t work for her. Plus, she barfs a LOT. I stopped feeding her dry cat food and the barfing has slowed way down. Lily is somewhere around 14 years old. She gets ONE can of cat food daily, doled out to her in several meals a day. She LOVES to eat, so she “asks” for food many times a day. She will get a slightly larger portion of the can at her morning and late night meal. Other meals are like a teaspoonful.
If you try feeding Boots like this, it might strengthen your bond and he may start liking you more than Vince!
If you try it, let me know how it goes.
Andrea in MO says
Boots might just be a big cat, not a fat one. We had one who was the runt and only weighed 6 pounds as an adult, but I’ve had friends who had 20 pound cats. They’re a lot like people and come in various shapes and sizes. When they would chase each other through the house it was so loud! I couldn’t believe how much noise that little six pounder could make.
We had kibble available all day and would give them a bit of wet food in the morning and evening. Sometimes we did the hair ball stuff and sometimes we didn’t. I don’t think you can ever completely eliminate them, but you can reduce their frequency by brushing to eliminate excess fur.
Our cats would play but not for long periods of time. They quickly bored of a toy, so we would change what was available. If they hadn’t seen it for a while I guess it seemed new and interesting again. The one thing they never tired of was the ring from the milk cap, and they liked the caps themselves.
Lee Young says
We have a “fat/lazy” black and white cat with the cobby (chunky) body-style, she looks a lot like Boots. I think it’s a lot just their genetic make-up. We also have a “skinny minnie” – you’d think she was starving by her appearance. Dry food is always available, they get 4 or 5 kitty treats morning & evening. Only in the past year or so (and both kitties are 9) have they been getting canned: a half-can split between the two in the morning, and again in the evening. Fat cat (Raven) would play fetch as a kitten and the two do chase each other around for about 5 mins in the mornings. Raven walks stiffly like maybe she is arthritic as well. Neither cat would eat any kind of ‘human’ food, not even raw meat of any kind. And many of the canned foods, they’ll turn their noses up and walk away, though they may come back later and pick at it. Never in my 67 years have I had such finicky cats and with the same food availability, have such different appearances of the two. Both are also strictly indoor kitties…I personally think that status is what contributes to obesity in cats (and dogs) today, but that’s a different topic and can be quite controversial.
Cinda Moulds says
Was Boots rotund in Texas or has he added weight since the move? Here in Michigan most of our cats put on some weight as the weather gets colder. Maybe his system is adjusting to a different temperature.
Judy Laquidara says
He was big in Texas. He never went out and was in an air conditioned room so, for him, he probably hasn’t noticed any climate difference.
thequiltingprofessor says
Oh, lucky Boots. We keep a small measuring cup in our kitty’s food, and she gets that amount each day, no more. As for play, only kittens stimulate their own play to the extent they need. You will need to use the fishing pole to interest him . A skinny strip of fabric is also stimulating – just tie one end in a knot so you can throw it … or you could get a kitten to keep Boots company, lol !!!
Judy Laquidara says
Just what I need . . another cat in the house. 🙁
Linda B says
Our cat’s favorite play thing is us using the laser pointer. Gets a lot of exercise with that. Our 16 year old orange long hair male had gained a lot of weight over the last few years. I switched him to a science diet salmon dry food. He loves it and gradually lost the weight. Guess carbs aren’t that good for cats either. Sometimes cats just regurgitate food too just from eating too fast.
Sara says
Our tuxedo cat was also long haired and he threw up frequently too. Not usually a hairball but our vet suggested it was possibly from eating “bent down” over the bowl. We raised his food bowl about 3” and the vomiting became much less frequent. Big dogs have the same issue.
Judy Laquidara says
Thank you! I will try that.
Shari says
Some cats just scarf and barf as my vet calls it. I have one that does that and another that never does. If it’s shortly after eating, I would not be alarmed.
Carol H says
Of all the cats we have had over the years… stray rescue or pure breds, male or female,skinny minnies or portly pusses … only in the last years have we had cats who upchuck a lot and they were all related! And it seems to be related to dry food and the fact that they eat VERY fast. So we’ve cut back on the dry and feed only one small can (nutrish or sheba or similarj, dved between the two we currently have in the morning and one small can, similarly divided, in the evening. I have also read about elevating the food dishrs…
As for playing, older cats are lazy and even DaBird won’t tempt all. One toy our former cats (can’t say it is true of our current ones) j have liked is a pipecleaner twisted in a pretzel shape, tossed for them to fetch. They would let us know when they tire if the game by not brining it all the way back. And loose ones lying around often be batted around until they lost them. Every time we moved, there would be dozens trapped under the fridge!
Oh, and we’ve found that long haired cats like Persians seem to be certain that play is beneath them; they prefer to pose and look beautiful and only play when noone is watching.
cindy says
My last cat loved the cheap sparkly pom poms from the dollar store. Fortunately they were cheap because he would lose them under the shelves and cabinets in my room, but then he would find one and throw it around himself. He also loved the laser pen and i was able to get him to run and chase it even though our space for it was small. The other toys he loved were fishing pole toys with (edible) feathers on them. He would meow a lot to go outside, so i put a harness on him and took him for walks occasionally — just around in the yard gave him the opportunity to explore the outside world.
Carla Wilson says
I have a cat who scarfs n barfs also. My sister (a vet tech) suggested dropping a small handful of his food from about a foot off the ground directly onto the floor so it “scatters”. He is forced to eat it piece by piece rather than wolf it down and it does help.
Edith says
We had similar issues with our cat and he got diabetes. We put him on 100% protein food, no grain and he did much better.
Carol says
I have had cats all my life and I have to agree with previous comments that, like people, cats come in all shapes and sizes, temperaments and habits. There could be several benign reasons for Boots vomiting. But if his vomiting is not due to hairballs, I would suggest having your vet test him for hyperthyroidism. My current cat is like most cats and will occasionally vomit but really doesn’t have a problem with it. Two years ago she started vomiting more frequently. My vet ran some tests and found she had a hyperactive thyroid. She had no other symptoms except that her coat seemed slightly different, a little coarser and not quite as glossy. If caught early, there are several ways to treat the condition and the cat continue to live a long and happy life. My Emma is 15 years old now and doing just fine.
JustGail says
Our Leroy would have nothing to do with toys, even a laser pointer, except for one little rubber ball with spikes on it. That one toy he’d chase and chase. I think finding what Boots likes is key. It might be feathers, or fur, or crinkly sparkles, it might be anything as long as someone is playing with him. A good meat based food, either dry or canned is key. After we gave up the cheap grain-based stuff, they needed less, litter box wasn’t *quite* as stinky, and they seemed to shed less. One thing about dry vs. canned – dry may lessen tartar build up and needed cleanings, but if a cat doesn’t drink enough water, canned may be needed. Free feeding dry food is OK, but it might need to be given in multiple sessions. Sometimes they eat too much too fast, it wells up in stomach and up it comes.