I have a cat that is about 8yrs old, Shelly. She's put on a considerable amount of weight over the past few years and we've been trying to help her lose the weight but we seem to be getting nowhere. It started when we went away for a holiday in 2006 and we had a family member looking after the cats, and when we came back we could see Shelly looked bigger. I rather that though then her be skinny.

Recently we took her to the vet for her vaccinations and her weight the previous year was 3.9kg and it's now 4.3kg. I know you get some cats that average at that weight but Shelly isnt one of them, you can see her underlying of fat around her belly. Now the vet told us to cut down her food and perhaps feed her a Light diet. We went to Petsathome and they asked her age and said to instead of the Light, go for Mature/Senior since she is over the age of 7. We brought Advance Cat Nutrition (Dry) which is Petsathome's own brand which is 27% less fat and it mostly contains Chicken rather then having a load of ingriedents added and what not. She's been on this for about 3weeks now and we've yet to see the weight loss. We only feed her 35g in the morning and 35g in the evening and we've really cut back on the treats she gets. Does this kinda thing take a while before you notice any difference?

Shelly has a slight problem with her back legs, so she doesn't run or jump about as much as she used to, which has also added to her weight gain. She is 8yrs or just older but we never changed her diet to Senior and we always feed her Go-Cat/Whiskers/Felix and sometimes Sainsbury's own brand, wet food and a few times a week gave her dry. Are those above food really bad which could have hindered our efforts in trying to get Shelly to lose weight?

And also is Dry food less fattening that Wet? And is it best to give her Senior food or Light? I understand most in fact all senior food containts less fat as the Cats metobilism slows.

The food she is on now is dry and we only give her a pouch maybe 3 times a week. Can anyone give me any advice??

I would suggest buying Science Diet Light.

Try eliminating the wet food for a while and see how she gets on.

Is she being fed by anyone else, well meaning neighbours?

I have the opposite problem, my cat never eats enough.

Shelly is on pratically dry food atm and only has wet no more then 3 times a week. But isn't the Light for cats that are adults? Shelly is 8/9yrs and most have said buy Mature/Senior as it is less fattening anyhows.

I'd eliminate the dry food if you can and just feed wet food, it's fattening. A lot of cats who are fed dry food also commonly get urinary problems; there's nothing wrong with feeding wet food as you get the added bonus of the water content. Also, she doesn't need treats, even the smallest amount of food is a lot of calories to a pet. If you really want to treat her, try carrots!
Have you tried to increase exercise? Like laser pens, or those Kong toys for cats can be quite good.

Did you mention the problem with her legs to the vet? The weight will probably be making it harder anyway, however, if you think she seems painful, then perhaps some anti-inflammatories might be helpful.

Hill's are really good at obesity advice: http://www.hillspet.co.uk/en-gb/weig...ement/cat.html

Hope that helps, and Shelly slims down!

The vet knows all about her problems with her leg and they are pretty sure is nerve damage and if thats the case there's nothing they can do. We gotta go see a specialist soon, just waiting for a referral.

You say Dry food is more fattening? I assumed wet was??

When you look at the content, wet food is mostly water.

Hope the referral goes well.

My parents cat got fat and overweight on dry food and it was Science Plan light! They now give them biscuits in the morning and meat in the evening. But the vet did suggest feeding them supermeat for a bit.

I'll let you kno how it went at the specialist.