{"id":4389,"date":"2017-01-11T04:23:49","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T10:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diamondcarepetfood.com\/?p=649"},"modified":"2025-10-20T16:05:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T21:05:02","slug":"five-tips-cat-weight-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/blog\/health\/weight-management\/five-tips-cat-weight-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Tips for Starting Your Cat on a Weight Loss Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many cat parents understand why their feline friends are known for being finicky eaters. Switching a cat\u2019s food for any reason can be challenging, frustrating and even annoying. Too often a cat will initially accept but then reject the new diet (hey, it\u2019s a cat\u2019s prerogative!<\/em>). Or a fussy feline will start begging, meowing, pestering and following their owner around more intently than before. It\u2019s no surprise these behaviors cause many cat owners to give up and give in!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re reluctant to put your chubby cat on a diet, here are five tips that can make the transition to a weight management program and diet a little bit easier.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t go it alone<\/h2>\n

You\u2019ve probably heard by now that fat cats are at greater risk for diabetes, arthritis, non-allergic skin problems, lower urinary tract disease, breathing problems, heart disease and a shortened life span compared to normal-weight cats. Tubby tabbies are also at risk for a potentially life-threatening liver disease \u2014 hepatic lipidosis, in veterinary-speak \u2014 if food intake drops too rapidly or if they stop eating for more than 36 hours.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why your cat\u2019s weight loss program should be supervised by your veterinarian. But it\u2019s not the only reason for having your cat seen by a veterinarian before starting a weight loss program.<\/p>\n

A physical exam and blood and urine tests are needed so your veterinarian can rule out potential health problems that may be contributing to your cat\u2019s excess weight. Your veterinarian will also obtain an accurate weight and assign a body condition score<\/a>. Then, assuming there\u2019s no medical reason for your cat\u2019s weight problem, your veterinarian can determine how much you should be feeding your cat for safe weight loss.<\/p>\n

An added bonus for a veterinarian-supervised program: Many veterinary health care teams can provide support, encouragement and insights during your cat\u2019s weight loss journey.<\/p>\n

Figure out how much your cat currently eats<\/h3>\n

Many cat parents have no idea how much their cats really eat. Too often cats are fed \u201cfree choice,\u201d and that\u2019s the main reason so many cats are overweight \u2014 in fact, more than half of U.S. cats are overweight or obese. Free-choice feeding<\/a> means plenty of food is always available, and a cat can eat as much as they want whenever they want.<\/p>\n

As part of a nutritional assessment, your veterinarian will want to know what food, treats and table scraps, and how much of each, your cat is currently eating. Be honest!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been feeding your cat free choice, you can still determine your cat\u2019s daily food intake. Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Fill the food dish as you normally would. Before setting it down, however, measure the amount of food in the bowl using a standard 8-ounce measuring cup. Set the dish down to allow your cat to feed.<\/li>\n
  2. Twenty-four hours after filling the bowl, measure the food amount that remains to determine how much your cat ate.<\/li>\n
  3. Repeat the process for two more days. Average the three amounts to estimate the amount of food your cat eats daily.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If possible, bring the package of cat food and any treats with you to the veterinary appointment. Your veterinarian can then calculate the calories and other important nutrients such as protein that your cat has been receiving.<\/p>\n

    No crash diets allowed<\/h3>\n

    You don\u2019t want to drastically reduce an overweight or obese cat\u2019s food and calories overnight. Instead, weight loss needs to occur gradually to avoid triggering hepatic lipidosis. According to Small Animal Clinical Nutrition<\/em>, a safe, realistic weight loss goal for cats is 0.5 to 1 percent of body weight per week. For a 20-pound cat, that translates to 0.2 pounds per week or less than 1 pound per month.<\/p>\n

    Use portion-controlled feeding<\/h3>\n

    While free-choice feeding allows cats to eat small, frequent meals like their wild ancestors, the amount of food made available to your cat must be controlled for weight loss to happen. That\u2019s why some veterinarians will recommend feeding two to four small meals daily and using a measuring cup to get the calories just right.<\/p>\n

    If your cat has been getting a significant number of calories from treats, those should be limited \u2014 if not eliminated altogether. But if treating your cat is important, treats can be factored into your cat\u2019s weight management plan. Veterinarians generally agree that no more than 10 percent of a cat\u2019s daily calories should come from treats.<\/p>\n

    Take time when switching foods<\/h3>\n

    As part of a weight management program, your veterinarian may recommend feeding a diet specifically formulated for weight loss, such as Diamond CARE Weight Management Formula for Adult Cats<\/a>. The key to switching a cat\u2019s food is to proceed slowly since some cats may stop eating if they\u2019re suddenly confronted with different food.<\/p>\n

    There are a number of ways to transition your cat from their current food to a new diet. Two common schedules for switching cat foods were discussed in a previous post<\/a>. So here is yet another option, known as the \u201c\u00bc every four days\u201d rule: Replace 25 percent of your cat\u2019s current food with the new food every four days until they’re completely transitioned to the new diet. (Yes, it\u2019s a variation on a seven-day transition to new food.) For the first four days, you\u2019ll feed a mixture of 75 percent current food and 25 percent new cat food. If your cat is accepting of the new food, you feed a mix of 50 percent current food and 50 percent new cat food for four days. Then you feed a mixture of 25 percent current diet and 75 percent new food for four days. Finally, you should be able to feed only the new diet.<\/p>\n

    Some veterinarians also recommend putting the two foods in different bowls, since some cats accept new food best when they\u2019re not mixed together in the same bowl. Put the new cat food in your kitty\u2019s current dish and have the current diet in a new bowl. You can use the same gradual replacement amounts of the new and current foods, and you can also provide the new food first when your cat is hungry to encourage acceptance.<\/p>\n

    When you first start limiting your cat\u2019s food, you may notice an increase in begging or pestering behavior. You can either do your best to ignore the behavior or use it as an opportunity to play with your cat. After all, recent research shows that as cats lose weight, they become more interactive and affectionate. Maybe pestering behavior is your cat\u2019s way of saying they want your attention rather than they’re hungry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Many cat parents understand why their feline friends are known for being finicky eaters. Switching a cat\u2019s food for any reason can be challenging, frustrating and even annoying. Too often a cat will initially accept but then reject the new diet (hey, it\u2019s a cat\u2019s prerogative!). Or a fussy feline will start begging, meowing, pestering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Starting Your Cat on a Weight Loss Program | Diamond Pet Foods","_seopress_titles_desc":"If you\u2019re reluctant to put your chubby cat on a diet, here are five tips that can make the transition to a weight management program and diet a little bit easier.","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28,241],"tags":[12,128,167,11,79,153],"class_list":["post-4389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-weight-management","tag-cats","tag-diamond-pet","tag-diet","tag-health","tag-nutrition","tag-weight-management"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}