Her name is CHUBBY…
Friends who are close to me know that I’ve been hysterical about my cat this week. She’s lost hair all over the place. I woke up next to a mountain of fur that wasn’t her, but the remains of her. At six a.m., naturally, I screamed. She hasn’t been eating and she’s been a little sullen. Not her usual playful self. I take her to the vet on Saturday morning, which is a xanax-inducing ordeal in and of itself. Sophie does not like cars, does not like sudden, loud sounds (like horns, cars, loud voices or anything that normally occurs outdoors). I spend SIX DOLLARS on a car service that takes me SIX BLOCKS and two avenues to the vet and Sophie is howling the entire way. At the vet, she continues to howl. All is well until the place little Sophie on the scale. The conversation goes something like this:
Sophie is a little overweight, the vet says.
I nod. Full-figured, I say.
Chubby, she says.
I shake my head. Just a little excess baggage, I say. LOOK AT THAT FACE! THAT FUR! Her weight, I think is part of her charm.
Felicia, Sophie has a weight problem. I’d like her to lose about two pounds. Get her down to eleven and we can take it from there.
TWO POUNDS?! For a cat who spends most of her day asleep or sprawled out on the bathroom floor? I consider kitty treadmill. I consider smuggling her to Crunch with me. Get her on some weights, have her climb that big ball. My poor little rotund feline.
Then there is the discovery that she needs some dental cleaning for plaque and other sketchy gum build-up and then…THE BLOOD TEST. I was not prepared for some of the sounds that came out of Sophie’s mouth. The crying, the writhing. I burst into tears when they couldn’t find her vein because she is SO DAMN FAT. I left the room, had a breakdown and called Susan (who knew I would pull this drama trip) while they took Sophie to the tecnicians since the vet couldn’t get blood.
After two hours of my little slice of hell, I take Sophie home and she hides in the closet and comes out to clean herself for two hours. We don’t speak for another few hours. Today, there is speaking, purring and a little affection. But she stares at the carry case as if it’s pending doom. And Susan is now allowed to make fun of Felicia, the drama queen, who lost her shit at the vet.
But more importantly, I welcome ANY AND ALL SUGGESTIONS on how to get my little porker’s weight down. Feel free to either leave or comment or drop me a line: felicia -AT- feliciasullivan -DOT- com
July 24th, 2006 at 12:07 pm
I don’t know what your cat eats but you could try changing her diet to something like Iams Indoor Weight and Hairball Care.
Here’s a link – http://www.iams.com/en_US/jhtmls/product/sw_ProductDetail_Page.jhtml?pdi=116&li=en_US&bc=I&sc=C&pti=PD&tc=1&bsc=&lsc=&_DARGS=%2Fen_US%2Fjhtmls%2Fproduct%2Fsw_ProductList_droplet.jhtml.4_A&_DAV=1
July 24th, 2006 at 12:09 pm
Thanks, Autumn! I’m a little resistant to Iams because the have a lot of byproducts, but I’ll check out hairball care. THANKS!!!
July 24th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
I get a prescription cat food called “Eukanuba?” or something like that. Part of the issue with Grace is that she has a lot of hair which she gets stuck in your belly which causes weight issues. So this helps control that and she lost about a pound on that.
But, I got an issue of “Living Without” magazine which is talks about an organic, raw diet for cats and the stats on how the cats acted so much better (going from fat to slim to lack of energy to thricing) has me interested in starting this.
Some links for that: groups.yahoo.com (click on “raw diet cats” for local raw feeding groups, http://www.ahvma.org – find a vet familiar with the diet
July 24th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Hmm, Alex, this sounds smart. I can’t find this Living Without magazine in my local B&N; I think I might just have to bunker down and subscribe, sounds delish.
Thanks for the links – I’m all over it this week.
xoxo, f.
July 24th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
There was an article in last Tuesday’s New York Times (science section) about overweight cats. I read the article quickly, so I don’t remember all the details, but I think there are some helpful tips. I too have an overweight cat, so I clipped it for mysaelf, but maybe you will find it helpful.
July 24th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
Thanks, Stacy! I’ll check it out.
Cheers, f.
Update: GOT IT: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/18/health/18brody.html
July 24th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
awww, she is such a cutie, isn’t she.
i would opt against Iams personally. they have horrible testing practises.
Eukanuba is really good quality stuff. is there anything sophie likes chasing? pelei loves to go fetch hairbands (i know, odd) and bring them back. we play the “fetch” game for ages. perhaps she was a dog in a former life…
July 24th, 2006 at 8:54 pm
I am ALL ABOUT THIS Eukanuba food. I tried playing with Sophie and she leaned back and yawned.
thanks, lor!
July 24th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
omigosh. i almost cried when reading about sophie at the vet. i, too, get totally emotional taking my hermia (or my step cats, jack and betsy) to the vet.
the same thing happened with hermia– they couldn’t find her vein because she’s a little, ..erm, overweight too. they had to shave a part of her neck and take it out from her jugular! i almost collapsed. my stomach hurt so bad and the little cry that came from hermia’s mouth, and seeing the blood in the needle. and hermia looking at me with that little face, that look of “why?” in her eyes. oof.
anyway… i totally understand.
we use science diet– light formula– and we also bought a tiny laser pointer (for about $10) that the cats LOVE chasing. it gives them some exercise. we’ve also just tried our best to give the cats smaller portions when we feed them.
good luck! sophie looks beautiful!
big is beautiful!
July 25th, 2006 at 6:46 am
Rob,
It’s like I had the same experience at the vet. Sophie looked at me with the WHY eyes and I lost it. I had to leave the room and hear her howl from outside. It was so wrong.
I didn’t think of the pointer. That could be incredibly successful.
thx! xoxxoox, f.
July 25th, 2006 at 12:15 pm
I had a cat that weighed 22 pounds at his heaviest. We got his weight down with some Science Diet prescription food that worked wonders, then maintained it with Science Diet Light. Unfortunately, the damage was done and he developed diabetes. Though he lived for several years with twice daily insulin shots before finally dying from overactive thyroid, I have always regretted letting him be so overweight for so long. Cats CAN lose weight, but you have to be vigilant about how much and what food they get. I wish all the best for you and Sophie. May you have many more years together.
July 25th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Sharon,
You’re so right! I need to stop thinking that pudgy is adorable and think of it in more serious terms. The idea of losing Sophie is too traumatic to bear. I’ve already moving on the diet food – but THANKS for writing.
Cheers, f.
July 25th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
My Olivia is fifteen pounds–about four-five pounds overweight–so any suggestions you get will help me too.
July 25th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
Iams actually has one of the highest fat contents around. I, too, have a fat cat, but he’s been stable for years on Science Diet Light–it was recommended to me by a vet, who used it for her own cat. It’s also one of the best–if not the best-cat foods out there.
Also, don’t leave food out for her all day–just feed her twice a day, and take the dish away when she’s done. This is challenging, but crucial!
Finally, it’s gross, but: wet food is actually more satisfying to cats than dry, because it’s mostly protein, while dry food is mostly carbohydrates. So the cats can eat less and feel more satisfied. My other cat lost weight this way, and both are happier with the wet food. You could try one of the little cans of Science Diet–half in the AM, half in the PM.
Sorry to blather on and on….
July 26th, 2006 at 6:51 am
Erica,
Thanks for stopping by! I do actually feed Sophie wet food, Wellness, however, I’m getting into this Eukanaba food. I’m having a trying tip with removing the food bowl (my holistic pet store told me to do this to get her used to feeding times) but i need to getg more disciplined about this.
I’m nervous about other kinds of food as I don’t want to feed her anything with animal byproducts, etc.
Cheers, f.
July 27th, 2006 at 2:47 am
I was at Whole Foods today and they had this mini-freezer that had frozen dog and cat food in what looked like little salami wrappings. It’s raw meet (chicken, fish and something else) with egg whites and minerals. It has serving portions on it and it’s all organic.
I’m going to try this with my cat since it’s natural and healthy. The problem with dry food is that it often has so much filler in it the cat isn’t really full and can over eat or can’t break down the food. It’s like someone who only eats white bread – eating but not getting full and getting fat. Or like a Celiac who can’t break down certain things. So maybe a more protein, natural diet would help?
It was about $5 a pop and looked like it had 10 servings.
July 27th, 2006 at 8:36 am
A,
Hey there! I actually don’t feed Sophie a lot of dry food – she’s mainly on a wet diet. Dry food was just a supplement, however, I think I’m going to try the Eukanaba stuff
xoxox,.f
July 28th, 2006 at 10:40 pm
MIGHT I JUST SAY PEOPLE that Sophie has gone MAD, star-craving MAD for the laser light thing. ROB, I HEART YOU.
Sophie was running about the apartment, hysterical, and then fell into a thump on the carpet.
NICE