Here's a better picture of our new cat. We've pretty much decided on the name Igmutonka (Mountain Lion or Great/Large Cat in Sioux). Though she'll probably end up with several nicknames, like the other animals we have owned. ChubChub seems to be my husband's favorite.
You can see in this photo how truly fat she is. We're actually getting a step for her so she can get up on the bed herself. She can manage the couch, but the bed is too high.
she kinds looks like y best friends cat. His name is foster but we call him "Fat Louie" or the "Beast" and he weighs 34lbs!!! yea freakin fat cat. More like a small dog
Just a suggestion that my boss, the vet gives to chubby cat owners - feed a can of wet food every morning - it has far fewer carbs than dry food and will help your new kitty lose weight (weight being one of the biggest contributors to early death in all our pets, sadly) - also, make sure that food is one like Fancy Feast - but not with gravy, the regular old fashioned kind that comes out in a big clump.
Diet and exercise are definitely on our agenda for her. When we chose her, we decided that since hubby and I were very fat and trying to lose weight, taking in a cat that needed the same wasn't a terrible idea. She's now our TOPS club's unofficial mascot. (We meet on Monday nights and I took her picture in to show everyone).
Even for treats, we chose bonita flakes, because they're extremely low in fat and calories (a half ounce is like hundreds of servings because they're just little tissue thin flakes of tuna). She's not on a reducing diet yet, because the humane society vet advised against it for a few months, unless our vet recommends otherwise at her first checkup, later this month. His rationale is that they have no ideas what she's been fed, and even though overweight, she could be malnourished. Still, we're monitoring her food intake and keeping track of it (she's going to have her own food journal, just like mommy).
Testing for diabetes and thyroid problems isn't typical, but because of her weight, we're going to ask our vet to check those too. She also seems to have some arthritis in one of her hips, so we'll ask our vet about that too.
She's going to be easier to exercise than I thought, because she did have fun today chasing a string. I kept the game short, because I don't know how much is too much for her yet.
We did weigh her today and she weighs 17.2 lbs (when she was sleeping on my feet last night, I thought she was heavier than that). We'll get an ideal weight for her from the vet.
As I just said under the sucker thread, we found out last night that she CAN get onto the bed, by herself. It doesn't take a cat long to discover and manipulate your weaknesses. She's very good at the guilty stare while we're eating (which may be how she got so big).
But, with hubby and I dieting, that one we're prepared for.
She is a love sponge though. And she's so "fair" about it. She's been spending equal time with hubby and me (taking turns every few minutes), and last night our friend John came over and she started splitting her attention (and request for attention) equally three ways. Such a ham!
She's adorable. Our third tortie Sadia is our "pudgy cat" but not that big! What a ball of fluff! Sadia's not big enough that we're at all concerned about her weight. Her only problem is that she's very small and a little heavy so sometimes she'll have to try a jump more than once to chase her thinner, leaner sisters around the house. She can get onto the bed but sometimes it's a jump, grab and pull sort of event. Thank goodness for Softpaws! (Of course, other times she'll just stair at the windowsill and offer a pitiful meow as someone walks by. The human elevators are usually forthcoming.)
One of my girls is a little pudgy. She is almost 9 lbs and when i asked the vet if she was overweight, he said she wasn't, but then I asked if she was an ideal weight, he said she wasn't that either I think she is just kind of on the edge of being overweight.
She also loves string although it took her a while to learn how to play (her previous family didn't play with her - at least I don't think). She is now just starting to get into mice. She loves food though, she is like her momma in that respects My other cat could really care less about food and is on the verge of being too skinny.
Just a suggestion that my boss, the vet gives to chubby cat owners - feed a can of wet food every morning - it has far fewer carbs than dry food and will help your new kitty lose weight (weight being one of the biggest contributors to early death in all our pets, sadly) - also, make sure that food is one like Fancy Feast - but not with gravy, the regular old fashioned kind that comes out in a big clump.
Enjoy your new friend!
The only problem with that is wet food tends to rot animals teeth, esp. cats. They need the hard food to clean their teeth and keep their gums healthy! My vet says NEVER feed wet food consistently but it is okay for a treat or if the cat doesn't have teeth. Funny how it varies!
As I said, we've been monitoring her food intake, and she's eating very little. Much less than any cat, I've ever owned. Unless she's sneaking into the fridge at night, I'm not sure how she ever got this fat. Either a hinky metabolism, or she was fed poorly. Too much human food is my guess, because of her begging while we eat.
She begs for food and treats a lot. She comes to where you're sitting and just sits and stares at you expectantly. Each day she gets a few greenies (2 calories each) and some bonita flakes (they're dried tuna shavings, without added ingredients, so a big pinch has maybe a couple calories. A half ounce fills the 8 oz jar, so the whole jar would be less than 50 calories, and there has to be a hundred or more servings in the jar). If she hears you eating, she will come running and beg. The other day I opened up a frozen fruit juice bar, and she came begging for it.
I don't know if she will eventually make the connection that we're not going to give in to the begging and compensate by eating more of her food (right now she isn't eating as much as the bag of science diet senior recommends for a 12 lb cat).
I'm sure our vet will help us work it out for her. If she recommends wet food, we'll have to address the tartar issue somehow. Our GirlyGirl had really bad tartar build up when we got her, and she had been fed wet food (She didnt' seem to recognize the dry food as food, and would scratch at the cupboards. I got out one of the cans of catfood the humane society had given us when we brought her home, and she started love rubbing the can, so we deduced that she had only been fed wet food). The vet gave us some dry treats that she called a cat toothbrush, as they're rough and take a long time for a cat to chew. When we gave Tonka one, she bit it in two and swallowed each piece whole (I don't think a toothbrush is going to do much for your teeth if you swallow it).
Tonka's pics
She is adorable. I have a very fat cat too. We adopted her from a shelter as well but we kept her original name, Kahlua!
Sadia's not big enough that we're at all concerned about her weight. Her only problem is that she's very small and a little heavy so sometimes she'll have to try a jump more than once to chase her thinner, leaner sisters around the house. She can get onto the bed but sometimes it's a jump, grab and pull sort of event. Thank goodness for Softpaws! (Of course, other times she'll just stair at the windowsill and offer a pitiful meow as someone walks by. The human elevators are usually forthcoming.)
