It’s been one month now since I changed the way Yella Fella is eating. As you may recall, I told you his vet said he was at risk of developing diabetes and needed to lose some weight. After pondering advice offered by our vet and by our readers, I made a choice on how to change the cats’ diet. So… how’s Yella doing?
Pretty darn good!
I don’t know if he’s lost weight because I don’t have a way to weigh him. But he seems to weigh less, based on unscientific lifting of my baby to give him loves.
I can say his fur is softer. Yella has suffered from dry skin on his back, and that has greatly improved even though the heat in this apartment is drying my skin out.
Yella’s activity level is much higher. He likes to play, both with me and his siblings. He has put up more of a fuss when Hissy Fit Jones gets on his nerves. And he loves to lie beside me and purr, much like he is now as I write this blog post.
I am feeding the gang Friskies pate canned food. Why Friskies and not a more expensive food? Well, because compared to some of those more expensive foods, this is a healthier choice and one I can afford (here’s the guidelines shared with me that I used to make my decision). Yella’s no longer acting as though he’s starving and isn’t gobbling down food so fast I fear he’ll choke. I feed them 3 times a day. I leave dry out on a counter for the others and they do eat it, but Yella only eats at scheduled meal times. Once he can jump up on the counter the dry will be put away for good.
FYI, the other cats are also healthier and more active.
I’m grateful to each of you that offered your suggestions for helping Yella Fella lose weight and improve his health. So far, things are working well.
Keep my sweet boy in your thoughts as he continues his journey to better health.
Dogpaddling Through Life 
great plan, i’ve recently changed my own orange kitty’s diet in the same way, with positive results
Yay! And thanks for sharing that because it helps reinforce I’m on a good path.
Maggie sets her own food intake. We gave up trying to tempt her with variety following vet advice. If she likes it, stick with it, he said. Dried food, meaty chunks, (not available in the 20k bag to save money,) not the variety with biscuits which is available in bulk. Oh no, her shaped biscuits have to be separate as treats. But saying that, being the only animal in the house, we can leave her food down and if she’s hungry, she’ll eat, but never to excess. Her weight has been constant between 14 and 15 kilos all her life (apart from puppyhood), so it suits her.
Yella Fella is looking great, and there is a definite difference in the last photos. Handsome puss.
There are no easy answers with pets, are there? There are 4 cats here and while 2 were a bit overweight, only Yella was obese, and I feed them all the same. Take care!
Great positive results though and that’s what matters. 🙂
Glad to hear it’s working for all of you! I quit free feeding 30 years ago, and quit feeding dry 10 years ago. I also feed Friskies pate and a few other pate only foods for variety, and added homemade raw and cooked in the past few years. They all enjoy great health and long lives. The same for you!
Thanks. I’m hoping the same for my cats and yours.
Oh that’s good news and he sure looks content in the photos. You’re a great kitty mama.
He is a sweet baby for sure. Yella Fella was abandoned soon after birth and I bottle-fed him, so I’m his mama.
This brought back memories. I had a diabetic cat and monitored his food. He liked gravy and all the gravy ones are high in carbs. For my 4, I use Friskies and Fancy Feast (the new cat will only eat FF) because it’s widely available and reasonable. I wish I could convert them to pate but they all prefer some gravy. I may try again though. BTW the way I weight Hazel (my dieting cat) is by weighing myself and her on the scale. Then I weigh myself alone and subtract. That won’t help if you don’t have a scale. It does look like he’s lost weight.
I thought about that but wasn’t sure. Thanks! I’ll try it.
hugs and lots of weim-power to you …;O)
Thank you Phinney!!!! ❤
He’s Definitely Looking good and looks a little slimmer to me.Healthy weight loss takes time any way but he looks like the scheduled mealtimes is working so all good.sigh. with Speedy its a constant battle especially when you have some one sneaking treats and banana at night…..doesn’t help when he has had lots sent as Christmas presents so I won’t be buying any for a long time cause they will be all broken up to spread them out….should last the until Christmas next year,xx Rachel
Ah, the perpetual problem with treats. I have quit giving my gang treats so Yella doesn’t feel left out. In my case I’m feeling more guilty than they are feeling left out. LOL Hang in there Speedy!
It seems his daddy has been sneaking more treats again so yesterday he had a good telling off.And I have cut back again on Speedy’s pellets so even less of those, now we just need to get Speedy moving a bit more even though he’s slowing down not he’s getting older,My baby boy is not so Speedy anymore,xxx Rachel
Growing older is tough! Hard to believe my guys are all 9 years old.
Really?well they look Spritely and well,xx
Looking good Yella Fella!! he definitely looks slimmer & from your post is doing MUCH better! Well done Jenn. You’re a terrific Cat Mum!
(((hugs))) Sherri-Ellen
Thank you! Who knew this diet would be harder on me than on him?
He still looks cute but has a way to go on his diet. I’m glad he’s feeling better and is more active. When he gets used to it, he’ll stop complaining that you are starving him to death (his words, not mine).
Leave it to you to point out the negative. 🙄
Yay! We love good news!
So glad Yella Fella is doing well on his new diet. That’s so encouraging.
And thanks for posting the chart. It was really easy to understand. I shared it with my sister whose cat is often a hungry boy.
Sure. I can attest Yella’s transition to canned low-carb food has made a big difference in how much he eats.
Good for Yella – and for you !
I’m so glad to hear that you feel much better after starting current diet Yella Fella! To be honest, I like a little over weight cat, but it easily causes health problems like you now concern…. so we have to think what our cats eat….Oh by the way, it made me laugh when Jen talked about you like ‘ he used to gobbling down food so fast, I fear he’ll choke’ .I know it is not funny but just I imagined how you are eating….:)
P.S. I keep you in my thoughts as you continue your journey to be better health, Yella Fella. 🙂
My diabetic cat eats Friskies Pates as do my other 3 indoor cats (and our outdoor cats although their dry food is a cheaper variety). It is one of the best foods for diabetic cats as well as other cats because it’s low carb. My indoor cats also like dry food but most dry food is high in carbs. They eat Young Again Zero Carb. It’s only available online and is expensive but very dense so they don’t eat large quantities of it. My diabetic cat also gets boiled chicken as a treat. The foods that vets sell for diabetes is really not good for diabetics.
Which makes one ask: why do they sell it????
To make more money.
May 2018 be a pawsitive and healthful journey for you and the whole crew.
Awesome job, Yella Fella and Jen! It does look in those pictures like Yella’s lost some weight, and we love that his activity level is so much higher. 🙂
We weigh our cats by first standing on the scale while holding them, then doing it again without them. A little subtraction and there you have it. It’s not totally scientific, but it works.
Hey, happy new year to you. Thank you for being our friends!
I like when I’m going through a build up of emails and I find some good news! Cheers,H
Happy New Year!!!!