Barry needs to lose weight & Pet Promise Food

Barry has been diet controlled since the end of Oct. '09. He has gained a lot of wieght and now weighs ~14.5 pounds. I found out DH was overfeeding him despite my instructions and another cat was supplying him with mice, voles, etc. (until winter hit). He also isn't as active as he was before he lost his best wrestling buddy.

How do I get weight off? I thought about adding psyllium husks or pureed green beans to make him feel fuller without added calories. He currently eats Pet Promise Turkey & Brown Rice and Turkey & Wild Salmon with a bit of water added as he has issues with lumps in his food. They also have Chicken & Wild Tuna. The food is being discontinued but I bought a bunch of cans at Big Lots. After it's gone I don't know what I will feed. I looked at the analysis on Janet & Binky's list but these varieties weren't on it and I am not understanding the information on the website. http://www.petpromiseinc.com.

http://www.petpromiseinc.com/nutrients/ ... e_cats.htm
http://www.petpromiseinc.com/nutrients/ ... n_cats.htm
http://www.petpromiseinc.com/nutrients/ ... a_cats.htm

Any help would be appreciated.

 

WHy not just feed less. However, I know when side effect is that the cats (at least mine are) always pestering me for more food.

 

He already pesters me for food. Feeding less has made it worse. He was extremely thin when I got him so he was given all the food he would eat. Great then, not so great now. That was why I was wondering about adding some type of no or very low calorie food.

 

I have to agree that the best way to have a cat lose weight is to safely reduce the food/calorie intake based on current weight and the ideal weight.
Jolly has been obese most of her life. She weighed over 22 lbs when eating dry food. I switched her to wet and waited until she was regulated. Only then did I reduce her food intake.
I followed the advice given on Dr. Lisa's website.
here is the link:

http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm

Jolly now weighs 15 lbs. A big drop from 22.5. I am still trying to get her to lose more. The important thing is to not get the cat to lose too much too fast.
Good luck.

 

You could also try adding water to the food. I put about 1/3-1/2 can of water in the food. While I'm not doing it for weight loss, it could work for that, as the water will make them full and maybe reduce the amount being eaten.

Of course your litter box will be busier and fuller! :lol:

 

I do add water to Barry's food and mash it well because he doesn't like lumps. He's not spoiled, really. He just licks the lumps around the bowl until he finally gives up. I've been feeding him according to the feeding instructions, actually less than they say. Reading Dr. Lisa's info, it appears he should only have 1 can and a 1/4 -1/3 of a second can at maximum (depending on variety). No wonder he's gaining weight. *sigh*

 

Those instructions are often DOUBLE what a cat really needs.

Calories in...calories out. If you eat too much....past your energy expenditure......you get too fat.......pretty simple for all living creatures.

 

Pet Promise is not being made anymore.

 

I know it has been discontinued. I have the opportunity to pick up a fair amount of it and am trying to figure out what to do. It looks like a good food and the price is good. The three varieties I can access are not on Janet's list and I have not been able to figure out the % protein, carbs & fat. Neither was math wiz DH. Can anyone help with that? I can get Turkey & Brown Rice, Chicken & Tuna and Turkey & Wild Salmon. Yes, we did read the FAQ on how Janet figures the numbers. The Pet Promise website provides detailed information. It's just not clicking for me. I even tried comparing info for the three varieties Janet has to what the Pet Promise website provides and still couldn't figure it out. I think my brain is fried. :?

Also, what is the % carbs I need to stay below for Barry?

I am extremely annoyed with the feeding directions on cat food. It seems to me that they are putting a cat's health in jepordy by recommending basically double what the cat really needs. I have read all of the info on nutrition, feeding and obesity and am starting to work on getting his weight down. I am also taking my three eating kibble of it and feeding canned. They will be very happy. I have another with renal issues who eats Wellness. Another eats both kibble and canned and has to have his milk (he goes through phases with that and has no GI upset from it). Luckily, they love canned and half eat gizzards. Barry will eat anything.

I would like to make my own food but now is not the time so we're going canned.

 

Pet Promise is one of those foods that I say...."hmmmmm...." when it comes to the accuracy of their stated values.

I called the company a few years ago and got the reported "2% of calories from carbs" value from them. Given that I could see quite a bit of rice in their canned foos, I questioned that value and still do.

Don't drive yourself nuts trying to search for an answer that nobody has....even the company that maded the food.

I have not read this thread - even your posts so I am not sure where you are at with respect to dealing with diabetes......but you may want to just feed this food to your non-diabetics.....or feed this food to your FD but monitor the BG to see what impact it has on him.

 

Barry's BG runs in the high 60's. Actually, I was looking at bloodwork from another cat and Barry's BG is lower than their range of 71-159. He was on Lantus from the June '09-October 23, '09. He's been diet controlled since. He was eating Friskies Special Diet but when the Pet Promise became available and three varieties on Janet's list looked good so we gave it a try. He's stayed in the high 60's unless he manages to get kibble. He loves kibble. I think he could stuff himself on canned and still find room for kibble. That shouldn't be an issue much longer, hopefully. If all goes as planned.