This was Cagney when she first arrived here over a year ago with her sister and 2 brothers:
This is her in December of last year when she was returned to us (along with the others) when the family found themselves homeless. She was 27 pounds! I rushed her to the vet thinking she might be hyperthyroid- but all tests panned out negative. She was just fat!
Now, she weighs 11 pounds! Still fat but not as bad. This weekend will be her day- I take her later on to a lady who will photograph her and we will get her online and advertise her as a special needs kitty. She has a horrible habit of growling at the other cats and this can be off-putting. It has caused us some issues here and made us rehome her sister and two brothers because at every turn, she was out to get them. She wasn’t kidding either- so all the other cats are living in separate homes away from each other and doing splendidly.
I had to keep her with us to be sure she wouldn’t repeat the initial first day of aggression that she showed me. She has not- but will not allow any other cat in my lap when she is there first. She has to be the only cat in a home or disaster can result.
I will post her new photos in a bit after I go to Midge’s photo shoot- LOL This elderly woman is incredible- she has survived brain cancer twice and lives in a beautiful home by the river and wants to photograph all my cats to get them into home and also to put them on a calendar and offer the calendar for sale. We met at the cat food aisle in the local grocery store and struck up a friendship.
Here she is in her photo shoot:
We don’t currently have the funds to buy 200 calendars and sell at the upcoming Jamboree- right now, our priority stays with paying down the vet debt- now sitting at $2,169.88 (going down but ever so slowly). We really need donations folks. I don’t know how else to put it. I am about ready to lose my good standing with my vet 🙁 and we have two more males to neuter before they start spraying.
Twenty-seven pounds! Well, at least she lost that starving animal look. I wouldn’t say eleven pounds is fat at all. Perhaps it’s too much for a cat her size, but it’s pretty good that you were able to reduce by more than half. How was that accomplished?
I basically turned her loose in the cat enclosure and set her food bowls on the ramps and in the tunnels so she had to climb and exercise to eat. I blocked off her access to the house and allowed her outside during the day. Grass is a great thing for cats to nibble on when they are so obese, it helps with digestion and elimination. She loves grass now. I didn’t put her on a special diet that would have meant having to cage her and she needed to move and exercise which she has done. When I was outside with her, she would follow me around like a puppy, so we went for several “walks” around the four acres several times a day- and now she plays with Juno as well so that has helped her shed the pounds. I also gave her organic catnip over her food- it also adds fiber to the diet and helps them shed weight.
That was a lot of work, it seems, but it sure did the job.