Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Poor Xena......
I have had to put Xena on a diet, I didn't want to do it, but she has gained alot of weight, and I know it is because I spoil her....It still saddens me, I just don't think it is right ( we are on Day 3, so now is when the guilt and regret seeps in)....She is 13 , and I just think that in her Elderly Years, she should be able to enjoy all that she loves...fish, and cream, and chicken with gravy,and shredded Turkey and American Cheese. ( I am a great cat chef). She started really gaining after we took in the sick stray ( who turned out to be a HE....now named Harry and weighing in at 17 pounds). I think she was eating out of depression, but now I think she eats out of joy....she purrs while she eats....She has a lovely perch in the Kitchen that lets her look out the window while she eats, and when she is done she can bath and lay in the sun. I really don't want to do anything to take away her pleasure.....
All I know is that when I am old, I hope someone cooks me chicken on Sundays and saves the last of the Cheesecake for me....
What do you think....should I have my Old Lovely on a Diet ?
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7 comments:
i have the two yahoos on a diet. they were waddling around the house and eating so much that they barfed. i cut back to one tiny can of food a day split between them and dry food in their bowl always. they slimmed a bit and are more active. my sister's cat is a bit round but he's 20 years old- and yes, he's on a diet :) he gets a tablespoon of wet in the morning and 1/4 to 1/2 cup dry a day. he sleeps and watches cartoons daily. :) my opinion is no people food but that's me.
Yikes! That looks like ME on the scale!!! ;)
I put her on 1 tablespoon soft day- and Old Fat Sedentary Dry Catfood is in her bowl....always...and I don't give her much people food....I do cook her Chicken every Sunday- but I have done that since 2000, I am not stopping that now, it would break her little heart.....I put her on a diet...because she was having a hard time coming up the stairs to bed at night....she sleeps by my head...so I figured it was time....but I still feel mean....she hates the new dry food....and is Boycotting it....sigh...
It is indeed a Battle of the wills now...
John that is not you !!!!....you are so funny.
( hmm, so you think you look like my cat ???meow...)
I am of 2 minds about this issue. I know extremely overweight animals are subject to all kinds of health effects like diabetes, thyroid probs & arthritis. But I also know how hard it is to deny an older cat something she enjoys.
I think the key is a slow reduction in food. Nothing drastic, or no one will be happy. Just like people, sometimes it's the snacking between meals. I'd first try cutting out the cream, gravy, cheese, and cheesecake & see what happens. Make sure you've weighed her accurately before you start & be happy if she can drop 10% of her body weight in 2-months & keep it off.
It is possible she will totally reject the new dry food, just because she doesn't like the taste, so you may have to experiment with some other brand. Just remember, if you're reducing canned food & relying on dry, she will need LOTS of water, or you'll end up at the Vets with an expensive emergency bladder prob. Personally, I'd keep her dry food at whatever her previous level was (but sub a low-cal kind) & supplement it with a good am't of a low-cal canned.
My thin cats always got a heaping tablespoon of canned twice a day. I'd put out about a cup of dry ea AM & not refill it until next AM. No snacks, except the smallest little bites of cheese. Oh & Tuna Water (the water from the can), they just LOVED that!
This is all wonderful advice...I think that it will need some finetuning.....since her happiness matters as much as her health...I also think that she has been coming upstairs less, but she is tired and she is 13 ...I need to work on it....thanks for the great advice DK....
I say yes to the diet. It's hard to do with pets because even though they are fat, they still look really cute, maybe even cuter than thin ones! If they were fat humans there would be no question in our minds that there needs to be weight loss.
I've got a 20 pounder here (cat), and we are trying to limit his food (he wouldn't eat the lo-cal stuff at all) but he has not lost anything. :-(
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