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How to diet an overweight cat that constantly begs for food?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Male | neutered | 4 years and 4 months old | 18 lbs

My cat Carl is about 5 years old. He weighs about 15-20lbs. I try to put him on diets but he wakes me up at all hours to feed him, he gets fed DAILY at 430AM because that is when i have to take my ADHD med so im not up all night. How do i successfully start Carl on a diet to lose some weight?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on October 5th, 2018

For pets like Carl who feel hungry all the time, I would first make sure that he is not pre-diabetic. I can see that he is severely overweight and we want to make sure he doesn't have any underlying health problems first. If he checks out ok, then I would recommend getting him on a diet that will make him feel fuller longer. There is only 1 food on the market that I know will do this effectively and that is a prescription diet called Royal Canin Satiety. Ask your vet for a prescription card, because this is a prescription diet food. Best of luck with your pet Carl and much success to getting him to lose the weight!

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    Answered By Lindsey Edwards MVB, BSc, IVCA

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    I would recommend using a specialist diet formula such as hills metabolic or royal canin satiety support, weight daily to ensure he is getting the correct amount and reviewed every 2-3weeks depending on progress. Weight the food each evening into a resealable box and feed from this for the follwoing 24hours, placing half into his 430 feed and offering smaller snacks throughout the rest of the day.

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