Posts tagged "biggestloser"

Wherein I try to get my pets to a healthy cat weight. Catch up on past posts here.

I've learned a lot since putting my cats on a diet. First off, I now know just how easy it is to get an animal to diet (provided you don't mind their 3 a.m. renewed bursts of energy). But I'm also finding out there's a lot of great info out there. Between my own searches and e-mails from friends who've been following the saga, I've got a whole little library going.

A coworker forwarded this article about how to gauge proper portions for your pet. Since many pet food bags recommend a ratio based on the animal's current weight, your pets can get too much food. It's better to feed them the correct amount for their ideal weight.

My friend Laurie and her cat Mr. Scrubby sent me an article about National Pet Obesity Awareness Day (it was last month, but you can still send me an e-card if you find one appropriate). This article has tips on easy ways to help your big babies burn more calories.

One of my favorite resources is still this article from Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine that shows how to tell if a cat's overweight just by its silhouette. (Tino used to be a 4, I swear.)

PetFit.com has a human-to-animal weight calculator that shows you just how un-funny animal obesity is. My cats may be "only" five pounds overweight, but that's the equivalent of an extra 53 pounds on me. I guarantee I would not find that very adorable.

So far, however, I have yet to read about a reliable way to weigh my cats. Any suggestions? I knew my bathroom scale wasn't exact since I can vary by as much as two pounds within the same minute, but today it said that DeeDee had dropped three pounds since last week. Ah well, we'll chalk it up as a win and see what happens next week.

Have you seen good info on overweight animals? Leave the URL in the comments for everyone to appreciate!

Wherein I try to get my pets to a healthy cat weight. Catch up on past posts here.

The cats have been dieting for over a month, which is a quite a milestone for them. They celebrated this week with another milestone: Tino (I'm assuming) caught his first mouse. He alerted me to this by placing his prize in the doorway to my bedroom, which I suppose is better than if he'd brought it to me in bed.

I have several theories about the timing of this. Let me know what you think:

1. My previously spoiled pets were so starving on their new canned-food diet that they were forced to turn to the wild to eat. Sad stuff.

2. The somewhat skinnified cats now have the energy to play and pounce on things that they otherwise would have let walk all over them. DeeDee's shed approximately 0.4 pounds, while Tino is down a whole pound -- the equivalent of almost nine human pounds!

3. The unfortunate rodent was woozy and disoriented on its own and wandered into my room, where DeeDee unwittingly laid down on top of it.

Wherein I try to get my pets to a healthy cat weight. Catch up on past posts here.

Previously on DeeDee and Tino's Weight Loss Blog: I realized that my cats weren't judging me for staying out late and not feeding them at the same time every night; I was judging me... and they didn't need six tons of food to compensate for it.

The cats seem fine with their new regimen of twice-a-day wet food, but every now and then I'll serve them a flavor that they don't quite love. I learn this when they retaliate by letting me know at 5 a.m. that they're hungry and they'd like some food.

DeeDee and Tino may not be able to see very well -- a respiratory infection when they were kittens left DeeDee with just one cloudy eye and Tino with scarring on one of his -- but they aren't blind to the fact that I hate being woken up. So when they get hungry, they begin a series of antics including but not limited to: jumping on my head, growling and hissing at one another, and loudly sharpening their claws on my new couch. They know that I lack the motor skills at that hour to use a can opener and will likely just reward them with scoops of food.

In the past, that meant 8 ounces, but since their weight loss is now a priority, I've adjusted. I switched the stash of dry food to kitten food, since it's supposed to be more protein-rich and satisfying. I give them about an ounce of dry food, just enough to shut them up until I can prepare a proper breakfast for them. And on my next trip to the pet store, I'll replace their morning 5.5-ounce can with the smaller can to make sure I'm not overfeeding.

The craziest thing yet? They really are losing weight. Maybe it's my imagination (like the way you can feel like a slob but then after one workout feel ripped), but I swear I can see Tino's neck and hipbones again.

Wherein I try to get my pets to a healthy cat weight.

Previously on DeeDee and Tino's Weight Loss Blog, the vet informed me that I was feeding my fat cats too much. Like, way too much. I was advised to dole out two 5.5-ounce cans of wet food each day instead of just a single can plus the 16 ounces of kibble I was allowing my two to graze on all day.

Why 16 ounces of kibble? With an unpredictable schedule, I worried that if DeeDee and Tino didn't have access to food when I was out they'd grow hungry, hurt and distrustful. You've seen these two patheitc creatures -- haven't they been through enough in their lives?

But my vet assured me that the cats would be fine -- the extra protein from the canned cat food would sate them, and the weight would melt off. She even said it was possible Tino's diabetes could reverse itself. With that said, I started the diet ASAP.

The first week of the new diet, I stayed out late one night. I felt guilty and came home dreading what I would find. I pictured the cat equivalent of a Save the Children commercial, with Sally Struthers imploring me to spare 80 cents a day to help the poor emaciated pets inside. Or perhaps they'd cried so loudly that my neighbors had called the "Animal Precinct" on me, who'd be poised outside with elephant guns drawn (that's what kind of weapons animal control officers carry, right?).

Imagine my shock when I walked into my apartment and discovered... nothing. The cats were fast asleep. Not only were they not howling to be fed, they still had some wet food left from their morning feeding. It turns out that sleeping 22 hours a day isn't as metabolically taxing as I'd thought.

This week I learned that my cats don't actually require non-stop food in order to feel cared for; I was projecting my own fear of going three hours without food onto them. Who could have imagined that their diet would result in my Dr. Phil moment? And while I still don't entirely trust the numbers on my bathroom scale, they seem to have started to lose weight.

Wherein I try to get my pets to a healthy cat weight.

After finally accepting the fact that Tino and DeeDee must lose weight, I made an appointment with the obeasts' vet for advice on a game plan.

It had been a little over a year since the two had officially been weighed and I knew both had added on some chub. It wasn't until they got on the scale that it became obvious just how much had been added to their heft. DeeDee weighed in at over 19 pounds -- a pound or two up from last year. Tino, meanwhile, was over 18 pounds -- less than DeeDee, but considering he was 14 pounds just last year, that meant he'd put on about 30% of his body weight. Ruh-roh!

In medical terms: "That's insane," according to my vet.

Game Plan
I was asked, how much was I feeding them? Brace yourself. They split a can of wet food at night, and then have a "couple of scoops" of dry stuff throughout the day. My vet asked me how big a scoop was, then winced when I held up a one-cup measure. I was then informed that DeeDee and Tino should only be getting the canned food plus a 1/4 cup of dry food each. Oops!

I mentioned that Tino had been drinking more water than usual, so the vet tested his blood sugar, as weight gain and water drinking can be a sign of diabetes. Sure enough, his sugar was off the charts, meaning not only does Tino need to be on a diet, but he needs insulin injections and urine monitoring. Fun.

With this diagnosis, she recommended that the cats be switched to only wet food (a suggestion many of you made in the comments last week).

Health Stats
Diabetes is far from the only risk for fat cats. Veterinary researchers at Cornell University found that obese cats are also more likely to suffer from lameness due to arthritis or muscle injuries and non-allergic skin conditions. Read: Two things I'll have to be on the lookout for.

Even scarier? The report also found that fat cats are "twice as likely to die in middle age, which for cats is 6 to 12 years." Tino and DeeDee just turned 10, so they really have to pull it together! Diet starts today.

Wherein I try to get my pets to a healthy cat weight.

The obesity epidemic in America is a major health threat that affects almost half of all citizens. But what many don't know is that the pet obesity epidemic is nearly as prevalent. In fact, it currently affects up to 100% of all the cats in my household.

Meet Tino and DeeDee. They're brother and sister, rescued from the mean streets of Brooklyn by good people, then adopted by me, only to be overfed into rotund walking risk factors.

DeeDee and Tino recently turned ten years old and have started to slow down and plump up.

My vet had previously recommended they lose weight. I briefly tried to put them on a diet, but gave in when they started complaining daily at 4 am. When I noticed they were actually getting bigger, I was too embarrassed to take them to the vet again. So they just kept ballooning.

Recently I bought a scale and did that old weigh-yourself-then-weigh-yourself-with-the-cat trick to gauge just how portly they'd become -- and both cats clocked in at around 20 lbs. Eek!

I shared this information with my helpful brother, who'd noticed Tino's weight gain. JP responded, "I told you. Living in Kansas for six months now, I am able to be considered an expert when it comes to fat. I know a thickburger when I see one." The bottom line? These cats have to drop some pounds, so I took the first step in any human diet and fitness regimen: Procrastination.

Then I made an appointment with the vet to get professional advice on the healthiest way to successfully get them in shape.

Join the three of us here weekly as we check in with the tubs to measure their progress. I also hope you'll share in the comments your own experiences with helping your pets lose weight.