How to diet a cat when family members keep feeding them
When other household members continue to spoil pets with treats and outdoor access allows them to scavenge elsewhere, strict weight management becomes nearly impossible. This undermines attempts to address serious health concerns like asthma caused by excess weight.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Checking with a vet to assess weightDid this help you?
- 2Visiting dedicated communities like r/dechonkers for weight loss guidanceDid this help you?
- 3consulting with a vet on how to get the cat healthyDid this help you?
- 4doing research on how fat the cat should beDid this help you?
- 5Putting the pet on a dietDid this help you?
- 6running a series of medical tests checking the heart, kidneys, lungs, blood, and urineDid this help you?
- 7changing the cat's diet to specialized renal foodDid this help you?
- 8switching to specific food flavors like fish to identify and avoid food allergiesDid this help you?
- 9Feeding high protein foods like boiled chicken, white fish, and chicken liverDid this help you?
- 10Leaving dry food always available for snacking between mealsDid this help you?
- 11Switching back to kitten foodDid this help you?
- 12Taking the cat to the vet for a checkupDid this help you?
- 13Giving treats frequentlyDid this help you?
- 14Leaving out multiple pouches of food per dayDid this help you?
- 15Considering switching to a high-calorie senior wet food or boiled chickenDid this help you?
- 16feeding only a measured portion of dry food once a dayDid this help you?
- 17looking into vet GLP-1 clinical trialsDid this help you?
- 18trying to play with the cat as much as possible to keep them activeDid this help you?
- 19using joint supplements like Solensia for mobility supportDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“year after year during her vaccination appointment we noticed her losing weight at her vaccination appointments, on the 1st year appointment she was 2.7kg and the vet didnt suspect much but during the 2nd year appointment she was down to 1.7kg which shocked all of us.”source ↗
“Any ideas for a diet? Big baby is a Lil chunky.”source ↗
“I feed him once a day, 1/2 a cup of dry food (hills science diet). He refuses to eat wet food and my vet recommended hills. He’s been eating this way for years and I don’t understand why he’s so fat. He doesn’t get into any food, never gets any treats, and likes to run around my house a lot.”source ↗
“The vet says he’s “fine”, but he was diagnosed with asthma 😐. I appreciate the link, I know he’s unhealthy Because of his weight but my mom keeps spoiling her cats with treats and It doesn’t help that all her cats are indoor / outdoor cats that eat all the food around the neighborhood.”source ↗
“I myself have a cat who needs diet, and although I joke often about how round he is, big boned etc, but the most important thing is his health.”source ↗
“We’re working on it 😩 she’s down 1.4 pounds”source ↗
“he stops playing, even tho he eat a lot of treats but he wasn't gaining weight, he was so thin and it's scared me a lot”source ↗
“I'm scared if I wasn't giving him good food, or he was suffering from somthing inside.”source ↗
“Hi, my 20 year old cat has been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and is currently on medication and the medication is working on his thyroids however he is still not putting on weight and today he's now struggling to breath a little bit.”source ↗
“He eats treats when we give them him and he eats all then, but he does not eat all the cat food (whiskers) He goes up to the food have a little bit of it then runs away”source ↗
“I wasn’t very satisfied with the vets response, as they also said you should put him down that day as well. I wish they told me what heart condition though.”source ↗
“My cat is exactly the same - the vet thinks it’s her natural metabolism. I guess I don’t have great advice for you, as my cat is 15 and dieting has never helped!”source ↗
Where this came up
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