I haven’t noticed how big shes gotten since she was spayed till I took this pic of her
That’s like three of my cat.
Before changing anything, talk to your vet. There are conditions that can cause your cat to put on weight and your vet may want to check on that.
You could well be right that her getting spayed was a trigger in putting on weight, though. Cats’ metabolisms can slow down after being spayed or neutered resulting in them burning 20-30% fewer calories. Feeding the same amount after spaying as before can cause your cat to gain weight. You might try reducing the quantity per feeding or switching to a less calorie-dense feed.
As for feeding three times per day, if your schedule permits it, go for it. Many cats do just fine on two feedings per day but they will be happier with smaller more frequent meals.
Again, talk to your vet first to rule out medical issues and get their thoughts on if and how you should change your cat’s diet.
Meow meow meow meozempic.
Do you feed wet food already? The cat can eat so much more of it while taking in way less calories compared to dry food. Also generally healthier and you get some water into them. Our cat only gets a few dry food snacks in a food puzzle over night and day in between her two meal times.
Wet food is kinda expensive all the time where I live but I do water her dry food till its mush for her
Nah. Put her on the paper towels.
Chase her around some more and only feed 2x/day (every 12 hrs essentially+take it away after 20 minutes. No more free feeding
Thats the thing tho, she isnt free fed. I feed her about 3 times a day (morning, afternoon, and night) and its only 1/8 cup each time. But I should play with her more, I know I haven’t been doing that enough lately.
She doesnt need to eat 3x/day tho. It might be a process for both of you to adjust but she’s better off 2x/day and up the fun making. Also, what I have found helpful to reduce begging or harassing for food is to have a ringtone that only plays every 12 hrs so she learns yo associate feeding as being preceded by that tone rather than an ad hoc thing she can endless renogotiate you over chronically.
Does she have a cat tower/tree? Those are helpful to keep them active and jumping up and down and shit
The ringtone is a great idea. Classic operant conditioning.
The question then is whether to scale back the third meal bit-by-bit, or to switch straight to a twice a day feeding schedule.
I actually set mine to the sound of the fire alarm so if there’s ever a fire (hopefully never) rather than freaked out I hope my cats will run to the food bowls.
I would just switch immediatey to every 12 hrs do it for your wakeup time and 12 hrs later. Maybe be more generous with how long you leave it out the first week (maybe like 30-45 mins vs 20) but try to get that down.
She will eat to satisfy her hunger first. Anything after that is likely boredom or just something to do. You have to make and enforce that choice for her health
Slow and steady on the weight loss: try using a little scale to weigh the usual portions you give her (you can include the scoop as long as you always use the same one) and after you have an average over a day or two, start making her new portion size just a few grams less. Between that and more playtime she’ll slim down without being too mad at you.
If you have only been doing dry food you could also try changing one of her meals to wet food, keeping the same amount by weight. Dry food is more caloric per gram because water is heavy. The extra hydration will help her feel satisfied and be good for her kidneys.
I read the majority of cats are obese in the US. Obviously it’s the food.
I’m very grateful that my Sphynx is an overactive nutcase. He free feeds and gets wet food at 6pm every day and is at his bowl every 20 mins when he’s awake. He’s so fit and jacked that it blows my mind haha
We have one of those cat wheels and he’s on it for a decent amount of time every day
Depend on the age
She just turned 4 and was spayed last year
What’s her weight? I know some male cat will become chonky after spay, not sure about female cat.
I just weighed her and it said 13 1/2 pounds 😭
That doesn’t sound too chonky, but don’t quote me on that 🙈
At least she’s not papertowel crushing chonkers