Hi, Alfie is almost 7, he's a big, long cat to begin with, he's also an indoor cat (two floors and a terrace), I don't overfeed him (one 5.5 oz can split into 4 meals so every 6 hours) and a handful of dry once or twice a day and he's still gaining weight (18 lbs at yesterday's checkup, he's labs are normal too). I went to a new Vet and she is also pushing Science Diet prescription formula to get his weight down. What is it with Vets pushing Science Diet? I hear mixed reviews on this product. I never see it listed on cats.com best food list. It took some time for me to figure out Alfie is best on non-grain limited ingredient food (wet and dry), I used to go to Banfield vet clinic and they never had food suggestions for me except Science Diet. Any thoughts on this would be so appreciated. Thank you.
Hi Annee,
Thanks for reaching out with your question.
Many vets do recommend prescription diets for weight loss as it’s an easy way to reduce calories and its often a familiar brand that they use regularly. There may be a particular reason that the vets were recommending this in your cat’s case.
However in general cases of weight loss, I don’t always recommend these diets and I find that controlling portion sizes along with feeding a high quality, species appropriate diet can be enough. I see that you’re already feeding a limited ingredient diet which is great.
One suggestion that I would have, is to feed wet food only (unless your vet has suggested some dry food for a medical reason). I find that this is often enough to help with weight loss in most cats. If he seems extra hungry, you can increase the frequency of his feeds throughout the day.
I would also be sure to cut out any treats or cat milk that he eats as these are often high in calories.
Along with an appropriate diet and portion control, I would also try to increase his activity. Introducing a couple of play sessions throughout the day is a good way to burn off some calories.
In general, the best way is for cats to lose weight slowly and gradually, approximately 1% of their body weight weekly. We have some tips here on how to calculate how much to feed your cat for weight loss;
https://cats.com/best-cat-food-for-overweight-cats
I hope this helps and feel free to ask more questions,
Aisling
You'll find that there is a bias here against the big bad commercial food companies like Science Diet and Purina, in favor of small boutique brands. You can see the dismissive comment in Aisling's reply that a prescription diet is recommended because it is "an easy way to reduce calories." I have had extended discussions with all of my veterinarians, and they universally recommend staying away from the boutique fad-of-the-day foods. You'll see "species appropriate" mentioned a lot around here, as well as an obsession with which ingredients are the first several on an ingredient list. My veterinarians are impressed with neither, and explain that the scientific formulation of the food designed to provide the animal with all of the nutrients needed is far more important than an ingredient list, which anyone can make look good. They also point out that the boutique brands rarely employ a veterinarian, and usually rely on "consultants," while the Purinas and Science Diets of the world employ full-time a couple hundred veterinarians and veterinary nutritionists. These big brands' certification of their foods being AAFCO compliant are based on AAFCO-compliant feeding trials conducted over many years, while the boutique brands tend to just proclaim themselves AAFCO compliant. Cats have been living for 20+ years on basic Purina Cat Chow since before any of these boutique brands existed.
I was a relatively new cat owner and used one boutique food sporting a 59% protein content highly recommended here, and when my boy started throwing up I took him to the vet and she said that the protein content was far too high and much more concentrated protein than he would get nature, and was stressing his kidneys. I switched to another "highly recommended" boutique brand and my boy had urinary problems. That's when I went on my investigation into the actual basis for these "recommendations," which turned out to be ingredient lists and lab reports that confirmed the ingredients. Nothing about formulation or feeding trials. My boy is now doing great on Science Diet Prescription C/D. I learned my lesson.
I do agree with the recommendations of feeding wet food if your cat will eat it, and strict portion control, especially if you have to use dry food (accompanied of course by plenty of water). Other than that, I would follow the science, not the fads.
Mitch.