Well I have posted before about my fat grumpy cat but he really is driving me to distraction!!! Has any one else had a cat that was constantly obsessed with food?
I have lost count of the number of people who have asked me when 'she' was having her kittens. When we got this cat 2 and a half years ago, from rescue, I was confident that we would get the weight off him but if anything he is just getting bigger. Although we buy him a prescription diet, he does supplement this by stealing food any chance he gets including while the kids are still eating it! (they are scared of him) Also he drives me crazy with first meowing for food, then if I don't respond he rips the carpets for my attention, then if that doesn't work he just has to bite me. He really does not give up easily. He is also totally inactive apart from looking for food. Hence his alarming weight problem, I am at my wits end with him!! (Luckily when he has a full tummy he is very affectionate so not all bad) P.S. he is over 10 kilos.........

It's easy to solve if you can do a little tough love. :-)

Firstly when food is about, put him outside, so as not to scare the children, (may also force him to do a little exercise walking up and down the garden :-D ) or in a room where he can't scratch up the carpet! His weight and what goes in his mouth is entirely up to you, not him, or anyone else.

Remember giving in to him and allowing him to eat more than his fill, you are shortening his life span, your not doing him any favours, just making him unhealty.

So, remove him from from the food, ignore his meowing and you will all eventually live happier lives. :-)

I would definately NOT let a cat steal food from my kids   he wouldn't get the chance, he'd be in a cat carrier if that was the only way to stop him.

If he's on dry cat food you can get treat balls to put his ration in :)  that way he'll have to work to get his food and it'll keep him occupied.  My indoor cats loved theirs :)  It will also take longer to eat - giving him time to feel like he's eaten :)

Definately don't give in to him ;)  if he starts scratching the carpet a jiff lemon filled with WATER fits in the hand nicely and will stop him in his tracks.  Make sure you don't tell him off at the same time tho, or he'll connect the water with you.  It needs to come from the sky :D :D  It won't hurt him - only his pride ;)

A jif bottle filled with water sounds like a good idea. Also a treat ball maybe, but he does not usually bother with toys.
I know it sounds tragic but I do often give in for some peace, and I tend to avoid putting him out because he often gets attacked by other cats and needs vet treatment.
We have to be so careful with food because there is not much he won't eat and it is hard to always pay strict attention whenever the kids have some food.
I have never come across  a cat so utterly food obsessed before it seems like he is never satisfied!

Just have to add, I am not convinced what goes in his mouth is entirely up to us.......in our previous house he used to lie in the garden and with seemingly very little effort, catch shrews which he would eat whole one after the other!! Also my husband pointed out the other day that when we do let him out he returns smelling of smoke, and maybe he is visiting someone else as well? He has been known to work out the cat friendly folk pretty quickly and visit for extra dinners. I find cats are harder to control diet and exercise wise than dogs.

Very true :D

Cats are very good at the half-starved orphan look - even when they can hardly waddle!

Maybe the only option is to confine him, but if he's used to going out it may seem cruel :( 

Could he be persuaded to wear a large sign saying "Diabetic Cat Please do not feed" whenever he goes out? :D :D :D  It might stop whoever is feeding him extras ;)

Or you could just tell the vet " He's just big boned" :D :D :D

Hee hee yes he certainly is big boned....unfortunately big bellied as well!! I am sure people must think we feed him junk food. We have had quite a few cats in the past that were given more than him and were not overweight at all! Yes a sign, what a great idea!! Or at least I might have a word with any likely suspects for giving him extra meals.  

To be honest, I think some cats are just destined to be saggy old bagpusses ;)   My sister's cat looks very overweight but it's all fur.  She does look like she's got a huge tum tho, but stroke her and there's nothing there    I had a short haired moggie tho and she developed a large tum after neutering.  She wasn't overweight and was well muscled but just had the saggy tum :)

My 2 Burmese each weighed twice as much as her, yet they looked slinky and weren't fat at all - it was pure muscle!

Is he actually large for a cat?  Some can be much bigger-framed than the average cat and would be bound to weigh heavier ;)  clutching at straws here :) :)

I've seen Smokey and it's definitely not 'big bones'!!!  ;) 

Ooh yes he is definitely very overweight! He is a big cat, but has an enormous fat belly which usually gives people cause to stop and stare! I am going to have to be extra strict though can't easily force him to exercise. It is hard going because he goes nuts on the meagre diet rations and the weight barely comes off! Anyway will try the water squirter and get tough, poor old thing.

Has he been checked for thyroid, or other problems? Sorry if you've stated this elsewhere - I've got a memory like a sieve just now :D

If you think that someone else is feeding him locally could you not put up posters with a photo asking people NOT to feed him as he is on a special diet? They did this at our local supermarket as there is a cat that sits at the door and people were giving him tidbits. ;)

I was thinking the same thing LindyLou.

I think I must own your cats sister Honeybee.  My cat is enormous and soo greedy and like yours makes such a racquet if there's food about.

Like yours she is on prescription food but supplements her diet herself. She has come home with a sausage and once carrying a  full kebab, pitta and all!

She also eats mice bodies, we find the heads allover the garden.

I'm not sure what the solution is as keeping her in just isn't an option long term.  

Goodness I am slightly relieved to know that I am not the only one with an enormous greedy cat! Generally all the cats I see are so slim and active, it is embarrassing. I was just remembering that with previous cats we left dry food down if we were out for the day, and they could eat as they pleased, however if we leave a bowlful down for Smokey he eats it all at once, then would tend to throw it all up!!! He does not seem to have a clue when he has had enough. It is interesting that a couple of you have suggested maybe a Thyroid problem - I have once or twice asked the vet about this possibility but I was told it is not possible in a cat (?)

Reading this I just keep getting an image of fat cats on a moggy size treadmill with a stick and a mouse attached to the end to make it get some excercise :D :D

Or a kebab in Muffymoos sister's cat case :p :p

One thing we try and do with our kittens and dogs is change their feeding times so they don't get conditioned to expect food at the same time everyday :)

lindylou do you refer to the very fat but lovely kitty outside forfar tesco?

Hyperthyroidism is quite common in older cats but this usually comes with weight loss but I can't find anything on under active thyroid's.

Yep. that's the one! Nice and plump grey and white :) When he's clean Very friendly though :)

Yes HYPO thyroidism is VERY rare in cats, they get hyper, unlike dogs -so weight LOSS.

I did a Fatty Diet Camp for my mothers cats... it worked (until she gave up on it).

1/ Limit going out, if cat is eating at other peoples houses. Also visit these places if possible and request for medical reasons that they do not feed your fat scrounger.

2/I am unconvinced by prescription diet foods (other types maybe. say for kidney problems), I put my mothers three vast cannonball-cats onto a raw diet. They got meat with a small amount of vegetables blended and mixed in, raw, 2 times a day, and each cat was supervised eating it. For teeth cleaning several times a week they got a chicken wing tip each.

3/ Exercise - with the aid of drugs... catnip, and lots of toys they had several HOURS of play time every day and as the weight came off, they got more interested in playing (and as they didnt have outside to play in, they were also more interested in playing).

Catnip is the key though, you are unlikely to get a previously sedentary adult cat who is also very hungry, to play with out the catnip and without food treats, so cut back hard on the meals and with raw food there really is just meat and a touch of veg, no sugar, no extra fats no flavourings, just what they need - and use a few cat biscuits or a few bits of ham to get the kitty active.

Thanks for the interesting reply and all the useful info and I will have a serious think as to whether it is time to try a different dietary approach, and do my utmost to limit scrounging elsewhere. I do think though that I will also ask for a blood test at the vets just to be absolutely sure he does not have hypothyroidism, even though it seems to be very rare in cats. I just found a description of it which says that a cat with this condition would have a bad coat full of flakes of dander, which he has (he has been checked for mites) and also probably behavioural problems with tendencies toward aggression which also fits the bill. I think it is worth checking just to make sure as his behaviour can be really odd. He has just been sitting with his face up to a kitchen cupboard and swiping at it, and the other day we got up to find he had pooed in the bath!!!

My sister took in my uncles cat.  He was a big boy - VERY VERY OBESE weighing in at 44lbs.  This cat was so big, he actually got stuck under the bed, and my sister had to take her bed apart, to get him out.

Anyways, the cat was with her for just over a year.  During that time, with the advice and constant supervision from the vets, the cat went on a diet.  They started feeding what a 17lb cat should eat.  (The vet said it would be his target weight).  Slowly, but surely the weight started coming off.

From his obesity, the cat had magnesium crystals.  So he was on some meds, and a special veterinary diet for the urinary tract. 

Eventually, though, sadly, from a lifetime of being obese, and having health problems associated with it, the cat had to be PTS.  He started getting real ill, having seizures and bleeding from the urinary tract.

When he did have to be pts, the vet weighed him before to see what category for euthenasia he was.  My sister had gotten this cat down to 25lbs.  But unfortunately help came to late to spare him of medical problems associated with a lifetime of being obese.