Monday, October 13, 2008

Is there an Athena division for kitties?


This is Lily. She is now the official Athena Kitty of the household as her doc has decreed that she is overweight. I used to think that, as she was bred for colder climates, she was just mostly fur, even though she nearly squeezes my innards out whenever she walked on me. Denial. Then, the vet visit.

"Oh, you mean she's too heavy?"

"Oh, my goodness, yes!" was the reply.

I never really knew how much to feed our three cats, so I just put down a couple or so cups of catfood each morning in a single bowl, and filled it up when it was empty. Just imagine my surprise when I found out that they're only supposed to get 1/4 cup per cat of food a day. Thereby enabling her overeating and food addiction. Oops.

I don't know why I thought that the cats could be self-monitoring in their eating and/or generous enough to make sure there was enough for everyone. If they were that social, they'd be owning us, and besides, I, who am so much more intelligent than a cat, can't even monitor my own eating much of the time.
I've caught Lily zealously guarding the food dish and hissing at the other, "normal weight" kitties.

So, They are all on a diet. Each night I mix up 3/4 cup of dry cat food mixed with a couple tablespoons of tuna in a covered bowl, and each morning I divide about half that among three bowls and its--MEOW--breakfast time.

Lily, as you might understand, is cranky these days. I've caught her twice batting the other cats away from their bowls so that she can cheat on her diet.

Poor Lily. If only she could have some pumpkin spice kisses. As it is, I'll have to eat them for both of us.

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6 comments:

  1. From my observations and conversations with other cat owners, it seems that cats are pretty good about eating within their limits when they are "only cats," but are more likely to gorge when there are other cats (competition) around.

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  2. The Boarder, having lived at the edge of starvation, took a long time to believe he did not need 3 tins daily for sustenance!

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  3. I have one overweight cat too. I know this because I spent $300 on tests a few years ago to find out why she was bloated...only to be told that she was obese.

    The other has a normal weight.

    It's hard to manage their eating. I put food in both of their bowls and the fat one eats all of hers and then pushes the other cat out from his!

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  4. I can understand the "only cat" thing. I know that as my kids have gotten bigger and eaten more, I've sometimes hidden treats away in my room, like a squirrel. I don't share them with anyone.

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  5. I had the same problem with my only cat a few years ago. She was a bit plump, but I wouldn't have called her "obese." The vet said otherwise, so she went on a diet which, ironically, turned her into a lap cat. She's lost 5 pounds since then putting her at 7 pounds, which I thought was too thin, but the vet says it's her ideal weight. She still wants more food (duh) but her health is more important. Good luck with Lily !

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  6. I like chunky kitties...and I feed them a lot.

    Have you put them on the Indoor food I see in the stores? Poor Lily. But she IS a pretty girl!

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