Weight Loss Wednesday - A New Plan

Tanner has a new diet plan!  We spent a bit of time at the vet on Monday asking questions about his weight and trying to devise a plan to help him lose weight.  Tanner currently weighs 19 lbs 14 oz.  He is abundantly obese! The vet would like to see him down to 15 pounds...so he needs to lose almost a quarter of his body weight.

 

Here is the plan...Tanner needs about 250 kcals a day.  He will be getting two cans of the Royal Canin Calorie Control food a day for a total of 200 kcals.  He can then have a scant more than 1/8th of a cup of RC Calorie Control dry food.  This dry food will be placed in a egg toy and placed in a different location each day.  Tanner will have to 1) walk to find the egg, and then 2) work to remove the food. 

 

We are slowly transitioning over to this much canned food, so it doesn't upset his stomach. 

 

I gave him a can yesterday and he enjoyed it and gobbled it right up!  He's never been one to shy away from new foods.

 

We are to continue to weigh him weekly and report back to the vet mid-August.

 

Fingers crossed this plan will help him.  I certainly don't want him to become diabetic and I know as he ages, we are pushing our luck.  I also don't want him to blow a knee out or something jumping with that extra weight.

 

We have also started him on the Adequan injections for arthritis.  Smokey and Cousin Sophie take this every two weeks and it has helped tremendously.  We are hoping this will help him to feel better and therefore he will want to move more.

 

We'll keep you posted his progress and would appreciate some serious "thin" thoughts coming our way!

Mancat Monday

These two unsuspecting souls will be heading to the VET tomorrow morning.  It is time for annual check-ups, rabies vaccines and blood work. 

 

I am hoping to get a new diet plan for Tanner, since the food he is on does not seem to be working.  We have eliminated all chances of snacking by installing the second cage for Smokey.  Tanner only gets his allotted portion each day, along with one lean treat with his morning pills.  AND STILL HE GAINS!

 

Smokey is doing well at the moment.  He is a touch on the thin side and could stand to gain about half a pound.  He seems to get hairballs more frequently now, even while eating hairball formula, so I want to ask the vet about it.  Maybe there is something else we can offer him to help.  Hoping his blood work comes back normal this time.

 



Mancat Monday

Smokey and Sophie wear magnetic collars, which allow them access to food inside a cage upstairs.  This food is available at all times, since they both need help maintaining their weight and quite frankly could stand to gain about 1/2 pound each.

Here, Smokey shows off how the magnetic collar attracts many strange things around the house!

Here is a photo of the upstairs cage...

This cage is 24x36 inches and quite large.

Smokey and Sophie use this cage daily for their meals and snacks.  There is hard food available at all times, and at night a can of food (with crushed hard food added to it) is also available.  Recently though, Smokey has taken to sleeping harder and sometimes does not remember to go upstairs to eat during the day.  His weight was going down and I decided to get a second cage for the downstairs, so he would have options.

 Here is our handyman friend over installing the new door in the new cage...Smokey was just checking it all out!

The new cage, with Smokey inside :)  This cage is much smaller...I think it is 18x24.  It is a little bit short, but he and Sophie fit and will go in there to eat.  We started out with just dry food, but have now resigned to putting some canned food in there as well. 

The things we do for our older babies!

Two times Two on Tuesday

Canned food is a nightly treat at our house.  Everyone gets a fourth of a small can...sometimes we mix lysine in each portion, and sometimes we add a bit of Missing Link.

 They aren't always so bunched up like this eating...I guess everyone was hungry when the food was ready to serve! 

Some of the favorite flavors are "Chicken and Liver", "Ocean Whitefish and Tuna", and "Turkey and Giblets".  Auntie is standing guard because Tanner eats faster than the rest and will try to finish their plates too!