Is Fancy Feast making my cats fat? How can I help them lose weight?

Thank you for submitting your question! Most indoor cats tend to be a bit over weight as a result of plenty of food and little exercise. First off, encourage plenty of play time. You can feed them on elevated surfaces so they have to jump up to get a meal. You can also hide kibble around the house (out of their pre-measured daily amount) to engage them in their natural hunting behavior. This is mentally stimulating for them and encourages more exercise. Science Diet is a high quality food and would be a good choice for them. I do not typically recommend grain free formulas as they are high in carbohydrates and result in weight gain. Measure the food daily for each cat and feed them separately (several small meals throughout the day). This way you will how much each cat is receiving. Lastly, feed them less than recommended for their weight bracket since they are both overweight. Good luck!

Hello and welcome to Boop by Petco. Simple answer- feed him better quality/less fat food, and feed less. Hills has a very good diet called w/d, and it is designed to help animals feel full, but are providing less calories (basically vegetables vs. fat in the food). Also, just by feeding less he will lose weight. I recommend chatting with your vet about a weight loss strategy, as fast weight loss in cats can be very dangerous. The can get a condition called 'fatty liver disease'. Increasing exercise can help a lot as well. Laser pointers, cat toys, walks on a harness, etc, can help as well. Best of luck with your little guy!

The appropriate size of a cat is dependent upon their body structure. Some cats with a larger frame will be 17lbs at a healthy weight and some small framed cats are only 6lbs! Here is a link that describes body condition scoring and ways you can determine this at home. It also includes pictures to illustrate the levels: https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-do-i-determine-if-my-cat-is-overweight/ If Jazz is at a healthy weight, you don't need to really change anything. If he is over weight, you may want him to lose weight. It is important to note that weight loss needs to be very slow in cats or they run the risk of developing a potentially deadly liver disease. Due to that fact, before you begin a weight loss program, I recommend to call Jazz's veterinarian to get an exact calculation of calories to feed every day. The following article gives some practice information and advice about weight loss: https://www.petcoach.co/article/characteristics-of-a-good-weight-loss-diet-for-cats/

Thanks for trying to be proactive about Fici's health! It's a shame you cannot get the Metabolic diet shipped to you as this diet is great for weight loss. An Alternative for Fici is Royal Canin Weight Control. I'd recommend feeding an all canned diet as this is more likely to help with weight loss than dry foods. If you cannot find any prescription diets then another type of canned food may still help with weight loss. Weruva makes canned foods that tend to be lower in calories and are available in pet stores or online. Thanks for using Boop by Petco and good luck with Fici!

Ask this to 10 different vets, and you will get 10 different answers! First, congratulations on getting Ginger to lose weight!! This is an extremely daunting task and you have done wonderfully! I prefer my patients to be on a canned food diet if they will eat it. Canned food is higher in protein and lower in carbs than dry cat food, and contains extra moisture, which is great for kidney and bladder health. If Ginger likes canned food, then a perfect maintenance diet for her would be 1 can of Fancy Feast twice a day, and no dry food. If you try to mix canned and dry food, you can easily overfeed and she could start to gain weight again. There are many good brands, but I feed my cat Fancy Feast!

Thanks for using Boop by Petco! Yes, you can cut back a bit on how much you feed her. Ideally, this is based on your veterinarian's recommendations on how much to cut back which is based on how much she weighs and the kind of food she eats. Another alternative, is feeding her a weight loss diet that works great called Hill's Science Diet metabolic weight management diet. This is something you can buy online or at your local pet store. Good luck and have a good night!

Feeding the overweight cat 100% meat wet food and no dry kibble will keep him feeling full and help him lose weight. I also like to give them plain canned pumpkin as it increases the fiber in the diet and has minimal calories. Most cats like the canned pumpkin surprisingly. Cats are carnivores and the carbohydrates in dry food often makes them fat. As far as the others go they can eat both wet and dry. I try to have the dry available only when you are monitoring who's eating or when you have Brian separated so he doesn't eat any. He should lose slowly about .5 kg a month. I'm glad you are addressing his weight as it puts a strain on his organs, joints and many overweight cats get diabetes. Thanks for using Boop by Petco to help you care for your cats.

I recommend you switch to the Royal Canin light 40 food. https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Canin-Cat-Light-400g/dp/B000T5MCTI/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1504529362&sr=8-3&keywords=royal+canin+light+40 You feed them based on the recommendations on the bag according to their "ideal" weight (not the weight they are now) which I would say should be 10-11 pounds. Whatever the bag tells you to feed you can split anyway you like - into 2 feedings, 3 feeding, whatever you want as long as that is all they get for the day. If they still don't lose weight, you probably need to see your vet to get a prescription weight loss diet. You are right to be concerned. Overweight cats often get diabetes which is really not fun to manage in a cat :( Hope this helps. If you have more questions feel free to post again! Best wishes!

Personally I have several patients that seem to do well on Fancy Feast. As long as he is maintaining a healthy weight and does not have other health concerns I think it would be fine to continue to offer canned Fancy Feast. The foods without gravy tend to be lower in carbohydrates which might be better nutrition for cats, but again if he seems to be somewhat picky and has been underweight in the past you may want to stick with what he likes. It also might be a good idea to double check with your vet and see if they have other recommendations.

I'd actually recommend focuses on calories per cup rather than the percentage fat. The percentage that is shared on the bag doesn't really mean whole lot. You want less than 300 calories per cup for it to be a weight loss food. I don't recommend grain free diets because they can be lacking in important nutrients, are linked with heart disease in dogs, and we just don't know enough to figure out exactly what the problem with them is. I would definitely recommend trying to do some canned food and give him just a bit of dry food. Think of canned food as the protein and dry food as the carbs -- if you eat carbs all day it's hard to control your weight AND you want to eat more. You can also try to get Pepe to be more active with toys like this: https://docandphoebe.com/ Finally, before you switch foods or otherwise changing things up, consider just giving him a bit less. If it was working, you may just need to adjust down a bit.