Fat Cat

[smurfchops]

My five year old cat has been neutered and weighed 4.5 kg. However for the past couple of months she has been extra hungry and is putting on weight around her tummy. I feed her hiLife pouches or cans of Whiskas with some dry food, not large portions but three or four times a day she asks for food now. Can you recommend a better diet for her, would cooked chicken or fish be better? Or a different brand of preferably wet food? She is not an indoor cat and otherwise healthy.

[ponkle]

Maybe she has worms.

[rowanwitch]

Feed appropriate to age and size and ignore any other attempts to get food.

[ummmm]

My cat has 4 pouches a day. He's also 5 and mainly an indoor cat (by choice) and he's not at overweight.

I assume, like humans, they put weight on at different rates.

[smurfchops]

She has been worked by vet a couple of months ago, could it be an illness like diabetes?

[smurfchops]

Wormed ....

[ummmm]

How big has she got?

[smurfchops]

Haven’t weighed her but tummy bigger at sides and she is heavier ...

[smurfchops]

I will weigh her and let you know

[smurfchops]

She has put on half a kilo in around four weeks.. what food would you recommend is healthiest and should I see the vet as there are no other symptoms?? Thanks all

[pastafreak]

"tummy bigger at sides..."
That...to me anyway...sound like pregnancy bulge. It's what the females that I've had that got pregnant looked like.
Are you SURE shes been spayed?

[smurfchops]

Yes! She has!

[campbellking]

If she's like my Campbell cat she may also be getting food from other sources, Campbell has at least 2 other people feeding her down my street ( she manages to put a very convincing argument forward that she is starved)

[smurfchops]

That’s possible but I have been feeding her more lately as she has been asking for it, first of all I wondered if it was because cats eat more when weather is cold. But she has never been so hungry before so I am just worried if there could be something wrong with her, if this is symptoms of something wrong, or if she is just suddenly being greedy!!

[smurfchops]

And how to feed her more healthily in future ... which food is best??

[ummmm]

I would tend to agree she'll probably be eating elsewhere. Plenty of times I've walked into my kitchen and someone elses cat has been eating from my cats bowl. These cats both look well looked after with collars so they aren't strays. I've never got to catch one though...they leg it.

They are fickle little things who think with their belly.

[ummmm]

It could be the weather. That was my first thought about her hunger. And if she is eating somewhere else she may have just got used to eating more. A bit like humans..

[smurfchops]

So you don’t think I need to see vet for blood test? Sorry if I am over reacting ... my last cat was always hungry and had thyroid problems but he was 12 ....

[ummmm]

You sound worried so if it puts your mind at rest. I wouldn't be worried just yet.

[smurfchops]

Thanks all. Silly cat woman! I will just feed less and maybe more fresh chicken or fish instead of whiskas ... x

[furrypusscat]

Check with your vet first but Hills Science Plan and Royal Canin do a light diet in wet and dry cat food. If you have a Pets at Home close to you, they tend to have specially trained staff who can advise on these matters.