He was the biggest cat in the litter…yes, the same litter my dog brought in 12 years ago. I named him Dickens, because his behavior seemed to always leave me shaking my head, saying “You little dickens, you!”
The weight started piling on, until one day I realized my boy was no longer big-boned – he was fat! He weighed in at 23 lbs. on my shipping scale. Twenty-three pounds!
About 3 years ago Dickens and I agreed it was time to do something about his weight. Obese cats are susceptible to many serious health problems. We’d been lucky so far – Dickens had never been sick a day in his life. I wanted to keep it that way.
The first thing that had to go was the free-feeding station. It may have been high-quality food, but it was also high-quantity. I cut his dry food down to very small portions, and went almost entirely to wet food.
That was the answer! All those carbs in the dry food had led to Dickens ballooning up to a very unhealthy weight. When we went to mostly wet food, the pounds began to come off.
Three years later, Dickens weighs in at 14 pounds! He’s not just thinner, his activity level has tripled! He runs and jumps and plays like a kitten…and I’m sure all that activity helps to keep the weight in line, too.
I want to spend as many years with Dickens as I possibly can. I’m sure you feel the same way about your critters. If you’ve got a “large” animal, I hope you’ll talk with your vet about the best way to bring that weight down. You just might be adding many more happy years to their life!
Chris
Lighthearted Press
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2 comments:
That is a great story.Good for Dickens to lose that weight. We have a cat here that is fat too but he will NOT eat canned food. So I have put him on the dry grain free food and it has helped him lose some weight too. Dickens, you sure look a lot better.
Have a great week end.
Hi Marg - I'm glad the dry grain-free food has helped. Too bad your kitty won't eat canned food. Thankfully, Dickens LOVES it!!
Cheers,
Chris
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