Gizmo is a very handsome, sweet and loving cat who happens to be very overweight. He was adopted at the age of 1 and dad says he was already overweight at that point. By the time Giz was 6, he had reached an outstanding 22 pounds! He was a free fed kitty eating however much he desired which happened to be A LOT! Unfortunately this lead to him being so overweight he had to be shaved as he was unable to groom himself and became very matted, his coat was dull and flakey nor was he able to play with his favourite cat nip toys.
Gizmo was eating a high protein grocery store bought dry food but was switched to a weight management and hairball control food as he was having very loose stool. By February 2015 he was down to 21 pounds but dad knew something had to change. So at this point he stopped free feeding but still had no idea how much he was getting each day. Giz was then introduced to the treat ball and this is how he ate all his meals. If he wanted to eat then he was going to have to work for it.
In March of this year Gizmo decided to sign up to be our clinic spokes-cat so we could monitor his progress and help him reach his weight loss goals. First weigh-in came in at 17.8 pounds and with some measurements and calculations it was determined our first goal would be 14.5 pounds.
What we know about cats is that this has to be a very slow process with a weight loss of only 1/2-3/4 a pound per month. Cats can develop whats called ‘fatty liver disease’ which is when the fat is immobilized in their liver and in essence it clogs their liver which can potentially be life threatening.
Gizmo is now being fed Hill’s Metabolic dry and his meals are now weighed instead of measured as its more accurate. Dad also purchased an automatic feeder which dispenses the right about of kibble several times a day. In May Gizmo weighed in at 17.1 pounds and was already acting more playful, his coat was improving, he seemed more satisfied after his meals AND to the owners surprise the new diet was costing him less than his old one which he was very skeptical about in the beginning.
In June Giz weighed in at 16.5 pounds and was right on target and doing great so we made no changes and told dad to keep up the great work.
By the time our boy came back to us in July the changes were really becoming evident. His coat was shiny and soft and he doesn’t need to be shaved anymore. He’s constantly wanting to play with his toys and has all but stopped crying for more food every time dad walks into the kitchen. And he weighed in at 16.2 pounds!!
Gizmo is on the road to success and we’re so happy to be on this journey with him. Dad and kitty are very pleased with their results so far and we’ll update later as he approaches his goals!
Awesome work to both Gizmo and dad!!
Written by Erin Pettipas, CCS
