How Do I Help My Cat Lose Weight?
Are you wondering, How do I help my cat or dog lose weight? There are a number of reasons a cat or dog can be overweight including medical, diet and hormonal as well as metabolic. Common reasons for this include simple overfeeding as well as a slowing of the metabolism due to being spayed, neutered or aging. If you want a great, diet cat food with real ingredients, here is my recommendation. For now I would like to focus on metabolism itself. It is possible to achieve natural weight loss for cats and dogs if metabolism is improved, and I have found a wonderful supplement that does that.
Supplement for Cat and Dog Metabolism
Regardless of the food that is put into the body, if the metabolism is not functioning properly the nutrition in that food is not able to be fully utilized. When this happens, you or your pet can feel hungry even if you are eating enough for a normal human or pet. This encourages overeating since the body is hungry for nutrients it isn’t getting. This is a vicious cycle that results in too much food being consumed, not enough nutrients being absorbed, and resulting fatigue and tiredness. This can lead to less interest in movement and exercise and the cycle continues.
Effects of Spaying and Neutering on Metabolism
Spaying and neutering a dog or cat changes the balance of hormones and this in turn often slows down the metabolism. While spaying and neutering are a good practice and I am not suggesting otherwise, it is important to understand the affects this will have on your pet. Many veterinarians recommend feeding your pet less food to combat weight gain. This can work, but in many cases there is an underlying condition causing the problem that is bigger than simply amount of food. You can see this when you have multiple pets that eat the same amount of food and one is fat while the others are healthy. Obviously there is another reason that individual is overweight. So how can you help your pet lose weight? While diet foods are popular now, I like to find a food that is natural, grain-free, full of real ingredients, without fillers etc. But that is a whole different topic.
How Do You Fix It?
How do you combat a slow metabolism? I found a great supplement for metabolism that helps my tubby kitty lose weight! It can be used for cats and dogs. It is from the PetAlive brand which I love. It is called SlenderPet. It helps my cat lose weight and also gives her energy. She is like a young thing again, full of spunk, getting into everything, checking things out and talking to me. This is quite a change from her normal sleeping on the bed ALL day and night!
Recently, I took two of my cats to the vet and they both lost weight! They are also on a great food by the Solid Gold brand which has also works for Tigger’s sensitive stomach. With the Slender Pet and being careful not to feed them too much, Tigger had lost a pound! That is a lot for a cat.
I tried the PetAlive brand product called Energy Tonic and it helps, but honestly the SlenderPet is better. It helps with weight and energy better than Energy Tonic. You can get PetAlive products from Amazon.
SlenderPet helps increase metabolism, eliminate fat from the body and aids the liver. It also helps support thyroid function and processing toxins out of the body. Like all PetAlive products, it is all-natural, made from organic ingredients with no preservatives.
Milk Thistle (Sylibum marianus) for liver support The active ingredient Silymarin is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It is used for human liver support and is thought to help manage cholesterol and control diabetes.
Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosis) for thyroid support. Bladderwrack contains iodine important for thyroid function as well as other minerals such as magnesium, calcium and potassium.
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) for liver support, fat processing, antioxidants and weight control.
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) for liver and gall bladder health. Dandelion contains many vitamins and minerals such as vitamins A, B, C, D and minerals such as zinc, manganese, iron and magnesium as well as lecithin and more.
These come in capsules but it is easy to twist them apart and pour the powder into the pet’s food. I mix it into wet cat food and the cats don’t mind.
So if you are wondering, How do I help my cat lose weight?, maybe try SlenderPet. If you are wondering how to help your dog lose weight, the same bottle can work for both! It is a much cheaper alternative to expensive prescription or veterinarian brand foods and honestly I think it works better. It is great to see your pet healthier with such an easy solution. Natural weight loss for cats and dogs is possible without side effects or starvation diets. You will still have to feed a reasonable amount of food. If unlimited food is available, some cats and dogs will overeat and a healthy supplement will not be enough.
Another great way to help control overeating and therefore control weight is to use a puzzle feeder. This way cats have to get a smaller amount of food out at a time and cannot simply put their face in the bowl and scarf the food down. Here is my review of two unique styles of puzzle feeders I have tried. Cat Food Puzzle Feeders.
If you have questions or thoughts please feel free to leave a comment below. Also, if you have a weight loss tip or product, let me know!
Jessica
Jessica at Thrivingcat.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Hi Jessica,
I loved this post and your explanations. I’m glad that this worked so well for your cat. It’s amazing that the supplement helps with both weight and energy. Usually we think of food with energy, so it’s clear that this addresses the root cause of the weight gain instead of just the symptoms. These ingredients are fantastic and super clean. You’ll find all of them in liver support for humans as well, and since liver has such an important role in synthesizing hormones, it’s wonderful that there is a product like this to help cats and dogs.
Excited to see what else is in store for you!
Elizabeth
Thanks Elizabeth,
Yes, I take milk thistle every day myself and I feel better when I do! I was happy to see it as an ingredient in this supplement and that is part of why I tried it! I got blood work back recently and was happy to see my liver function was really good. I was worried since I take soooo many supplements. I think the milk thistle really works for me.
I am really excited about this line of pet supplements. The other one we can’t live without is the Gumz-n-Teeth. It is amazing how much it improves the kitties breath, gums and teeth.
Thanks for the comment,
Stop back by!
Jessica
Hello Jessica
A really interesting post. I am always struggling with my cats weight. She has liver disease so is on a very special diet. She must not lose too much weight and not gain either!
I will ask my veterinarian if she I can give her this supplement.
As it contains pure ingredients it might be possible, milk thistle is also good for the liver so I hope it might be something I can use.
I will let you know!
Hi Elizabeth,
We use PetAlive brand “Immunity and Liver Support” for all our cats. It helps keep them healthy when they normally get upper respiratory infections constantly. You should try it! It has milk thistle also. I have a review of it with ingredients listed here. http://thrivingcat.com/how-to-treat-an-upper-respi…
My vet was so impressed with another one of the PetAlive supplements that I use for my cats, she now recommends it to her other customers. This one is called Gumz-n-Teeth. It prevents tooth and gum disease so your cat doesn’t need to go to the vet so often for teeth cleaning. My cat had such bad gingivitus and tooth decay that he needed teeth pulled every year. Since I started him on Gumz-n-Teeth he has not had bad breath or any teeth pulled and we don’t need to have his teeth cleaned with anesthesia at the vet. It has been amazing! I truly believe in this brand.
I have noticed that my cats still need calorie control/healthy food to lose weight. The Slender Pet alone might not be enough but I think it is very healthy for them.
Thanks for the comment!
Jessica
You are right about neutering. With that missing hormone production in the system, my friend’s cat was suffering from some serious obesity. I thought it sounded funny when he told me that his cat is obese. I was thinking, what, his cat is just a little fat, and lazing around all day at her pharmacy. She literally just rolls around. She doesn’t even bother to run away if you tickle her. I can recommend SlenderPet to my friend to see if it will help her cat. Thank you for the information.
Hello Blame,
Yes, it is really hard to keep a cat (or dog) at a healthy weight after they have been spayed or neutered. These supplements are made for both cats and dogs which is handy if you happen to have both. My cats still need a diet (and grain free) food and portion control so this supplement may not be enough on its own. If they eat a ton of food it may not be enough to counteract the calories. With many pets even a restricted diet can’t get the fat off however and this can help. It also helps keep them healthy!
Thanks for the comment,
Jessica