Diet Food for Overweight Cats: Cats are animals that tend to gain weight quickly, in a short time. For this reason, it should be known that the health of these pets is more in danger than those that are not overweight, since they have fewer years of life due to the diseases they can attract. So that this does not happen and for our cat to be in good physical condition, it will be important to adapt its diet to its nutritional need.
The most appropriate thing is to provide the necessary nutrients, but never without exceeding the adequate amounts.
You can also provide vitamin and mineral supplements. You can buy this type of cat food in specialized pet stores, both physical and online. If we see that this does not work, it is best to put your cat on a diet to regain its ideal weight and good health.
Diets for Overweight Cats
Many are the people who think that only human beings can eat a diet. However, obesity is a factor that has a very negative impact on cats’ health, not only that of people.
Problems that can occur due to this reason are hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, kidney disease, or other cardiovascular problems. The most important thing is that the owner acts as soon as possible and tries to get his cat back to its proper weight as soon as possible to prevent it from falling ill.
And it is that cats have to get used to a new routine, to new eating habits. For example, when putting food on the plate, you have to ensure that it is only for the meal’s duration, not always having its plate full.
It will be a hard process for the animal, but little by little, it will get used to having food only at its corresponding times, which will be 3 or 4 servings distributed throughout the day. Most owners of overweight cats serve their pets a buffet of food throughout the day, something that makes them compulsive eaters.
One trick that may help your overweight cat to lose weight is to put the feed in water for a while before giving it so that the food absorbs the water and makes the cat more satiated. In this way, the animal will need less quantity, and you will help it to hydrate more. The important thing is to provide adequate calories.
Put the feed in water before giving it to the cat, and you will satiate it
Another important fact is, if you have more kittens, feed them separately. And it is that just like some pets eat more slowly, and others are more voracious when it comes to eating and can affect the rest. Everyone should take their own eating rhythm, so placing dining rooms in different parts of the house is a good idea.
This allows you to know what each pet has eaten if one of them has lost their appetite, food has been left on the plate, and this may turn out to be a sign of illness, or if someone else has swallowed the food quickly.
Sport, a Key Factor to End Being Overweight
Spending time with your pet every day is very important to forge a closer relationship, but also to help her not be bored. And it is in this state when cats eat more, when they have no one to play with, with whom to run, jump, and resort to compulsive eating. In this way, you will encourage her to do that exercise that she needs so much to lose weight.
You should also know that if you are playing the same game with your animal all the time, it will get tired. You should have several toys to keep him distracted for as long as possible.
You can use balls of wool, fishing rods so that it tries to catch what is on the hook by jumping and running, and you can throw things to make it go up and downstairs, ping-pong balls, that is, light objects that can be used to move it around.
Unexpectedly and quickly. There are millions of options, and you just have to give free rein to your imagination.
In addition, it is true that it is good news that your cat does not go out a lot because it can avoid disease, damage, or trauma, but this does not mean that it has to have a sedentary life.
It is advisable to walk your cat in good weather and wear a harness to stimulate its senses and breathe fresh air. If you want, you can also release it through a patio where you know that it will be safe without the presence of other animals entering and leaving and inciting it to escape.
On the other hand, you can adopt another cat so they can relate and play together. Eating is sure to be your last thought! You can also take advantage of the option of sponsoring a cat, thus helping both parties, both your overweight pet who gets bored and that cat who has no one to grow up with.
This is that people can help maintain those pets that are in shelters, something that does involve some money but nothing equivalent to all the expense that would entail keeping it at all hours. What you can do is do activities with him, take him out for a walk, and even take him home for a few days. There is no excuse!
The steps to sponsor a kitten are the following: The first thing is to contact an animal shelter that has the possibility of sponsorship, not just adoption. If the hostel you have contacted has this option, you will have to provide your information, that is, name, address and contact telephone number. Then you will have to reach an agreement to know the way in which you will contribute your financial aid.
Do not think that sponsorship is very expensive, as they are usually small amounts of money that have the objective of helping with the basic needs of the sponsored cat for the duration of their stay in the shelter. The objective is to take care of that animal until someone appears who wants to be its owner and take care of it personally.
Types of Diets for Overweight Cats
The most appropriate thing is to take your pet to a specialist such as a veterinarian to give you some recommendations and instructions to follow in order to give your cat a correct diet. And it is that not all cats have the same needs or characteristics; each cat is different.
It is clear that these pets require a balanced diet based on fresh and moist meat that you can make at home with some recipes, or buy it in a specialized store. The problem is that there is still a lot of ignorance as to what foods are harmful to your health. For example, croquettes are very harmful.
Even so, a good diet option would be, as long as your vet approves it, give him low-calorie feed.
However, it should not be abused because this type of food does not have the nutrients that your skin and hair need to stay in an optimal state. Another option is to relieve this type of low-calorie feed with a homemade diet, a natural diet like this that we are going to see below. The ingredients we will need are:
- 2 eggs
- 500 grams of pumpkin
- 200 grams of minced meat (can be beef or poultry)
- 100 grams of beef liver
- 100 chicken liver
- 100 peas
- 2 carrots
It is important to know that you should not use oil, salt, or spices of any kind because they are not good for the health of these animals.
Once everything is prepared, the first step will be to boil the eggs and vegetables while the cow and chicken livers are simmered in a pan. Chop everything into small pieces and put it together in a deep plate. Add the raw minced meat, having frozen it before to kill the bacteria, or slightly cooked. In addition, if you add a can of tuna without oil, it will provide your pet with Omega 3.
The next step is to stir everything until you get an even dough on all sides. Make balls and put them in the freezer separately to be able to separate them as it suits you when giving them to your cat.
As you can see, a quick and simple recipe with which you will benefit your cat’s health, as well as with wet food. And it is normal that at the beginning of a diet, the cat rejects raw food due to its habit of dry food. This will involve a process in which the first step will be to stop giving your cat canned food.
Little by little, you will get used to a diet composed of fresh products, which are much healthier. However, you have to be careful because raw food cannot be abused either, since it favors weight gain. The owner must be clear about the consumption of calories that her cat can take.
