5 Best Cat Foods For Your Overweight Cat
The pounds will fall off 💪
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You may have noticed that your cat is looking a little overweight these days. And if you’re trying to get him back to a healthy size, you’ll need to reexamine his diet.
Luckily, there are a whole bunch of cat foods just for weight loss that’ll keep your cat full for a while — so he’s not snacking 24/7.
The Dodo spoke with Dr. Antonio DeMarco, a veterinarian and president of medical operations at GoodVets in Kansas City, Missouri, and Dr. Cristina Bustamante, an associate veterinarian with Caring Hands Animal Hospital in Florida and founder of Dr. B. Vet, to get some recommendations for the best cat foods for weight loss.
How to help your cat lose weight
In order to help your cat lose weight, it’s important to know how he’s gaining it in the first place.
“Cats are overweight due to eating too many calories and not getting enough exercise,” Dr. DeMarco told The Dodo.
To exercise your overweight cat, you can try interactive toys, like a wand toy or a laser pointer.
We tried this KONG feather teaser on our own cats, and they loved it!
Get the KONG feather teaser from Chewy for $3.29
Or try this laser pointer from Chewy for $12.28
A diet of prescription cat food designed specifically for weight loss can also help your overweight cat shed some pounds.
“To treat obesity, feed a measured limited-calorie diet formulated for weight loss,” Dr. DeMarco said.
How to find the right weight loss diet for your cat
For your cat’s weight loss diet, look for food that’s high in protein and low in carbohydrates. It’s also a good idea to opt for cat food that’s high in fiber because that’ll keep your BFF full for a while.
“There are good options such as Hill’s Science Diet prescription r/d (formula for weight loss) or Royal Canin Satiety Support diet,” Dr. Bustamante told The Dodo.
Best diet cat food
There are a whole bunch of great wet and dry cat food options just for weight loss, so The Dodo did some digging to find the very best ones. (You need a prescription for these, so make sure you chat with your vet.)
This chicken-flavored formula contains L-carnitine, which can help your cat’s liver metabolize fat. It also has fiber to make digestion easier as well as vitamins C and E to amp up your cat’s immune system.
This is a high-fiber dry food designed to help your cat’s digestion while keeping his hunger under control and allowing him to feel full between meals. The formula is low fat and high protein, so it’ll have him building healthy muscle in no time.
This is essentially the wet food version of Royal Canin’s weight loss formula. These morsels in gravy will help your cat build muscle thanks to the low-fat, high-protein formula. Plus, the fiber will help keep him full between meals and make digestion easier, too.
Here’s a grain-free option from Blue Buffalo for cats with sensitive stomachs. It’s loaded with fiber to help your pet feel full for a while, which will curb his appetite. The formula is made with specific fat and calorie levels in mind so your cat can get the most out of his weight loss plan.
This is Blue Buffalo’s canned food option for weight loss. It’s also high in fiber to give your cat that nice, full feeling. But since it’s wet food, your pet gets a little more flavor and moisture from the broth. The fat and calorie levels in this formula have been optimized for safe, healthy weight loss.
So if your cat’s packed on a few pounds, at least you know a simple food swap can work wonders.