Pay attention, Sammy... From Yahoo:
LONDON (AFP) - The controversial Atkins diet, credited by a host of celebrities for helping them acquire a svelte figure, has a new figurehead -- a portly British cat which has shed half its body weight under the regime.Using a version of the no-carbohydrate, high-protein diet, dubbed perhaps inevitably "Catkins", Fidget has slimmed down from a hefty 22 pounds (10 kilos) to only 11 pounds, his owner said Wednesday.
Pet shop owner Shaun Kirk tried the new regime after Fidget, aged 18, found it difficult to crunch dry biscuits.
The newly-sleek cat, who used to tear open packets of food for himself in the shop whenever he felt peckish, instead tucks into tins of meat.
"I suppose you could say he's on the Catkins diet," said Kirk, from Tyneside, northeast England, adding that the weight loss had nothing to do with a new exercise regime.
First, of course, you really need to be sure you are playing with your cats and giving them regular exercise, not just letting them lounge around. Second, cut down the portions of food or even put the dry food away during the day or at night to slim them down if they are obese. They'll be healthier and (in reality) happier, and live longer...
Having said that; Rainbow was obese for much of her life and she lived to be 20 1/2. I'm sure it (cat longevity) is mostly "in the genes" but I really believe that regular play with them -- exercise -- is the biggest factor in keeping them at a proper weight. And I DO hate denying them food when they want it...
I'm rather intent on trying this, actually. My cantankerous Siamese is at least five pounds heavier than he should be, and nothing I try seems to get the weight off. He's not allowed to free-feed. He gets exercise in the form of playing with the dog and cat toys. He gets a set amount of a premium diet food a day that SHOULD be slimming him down but isn't, and I'm afraid to cut his ration back by much further because of the fear of hepatic lipidosis. He's basically healthy, but he's getting older and I want the pressure off his systems and his joints especially. And he's hungry all the time as it is.
For carnivores, the satiety signal is protein content, not glucose content or volume of food eaten. When we give Zydeco a little bit of raw meat as a treat, he stops eating quickly and also leaves his kibble alone longer. I found a company that sells commercially prepared raw diets for dogs and cats; they've been serving zoos and wildlife centers for years, so they seem credible. I'm going to try him on that as soon as his kibble is close to running out and see if it works; it won't be that much more expensive than the premium stuff he's already eating, and if he trims down it'll be worth it.
Posted by: LabRat at October 21, 2004 08:45 PM