Hi everyone,
Today’s guest post comes from Jennifer and her cat Butch:
My 14 year-old cat Butch has always been big. Nose to tail, he is a long, 99th percentile kind of cat, and as such he is not going to weigh the same as your average feline. However, Butch has been battling obesity for some time now.
My husband and I have taken him to the veterinarian several times for help with this issue. In the first appointment, when we placed Butch up on the table and he rolled onto his back and began purring, it was immediately clear to our vet that Butch’s general laid-back disposition was part of the problem. He actually doesn’t eat any more food than our other cats, but Butchie’s normal way of life just doesn’t burn that many calories.
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| Butchie’s favorite activities, L to R: sleeping, watching TV with dad, and sitting. |
We purchased prescription diet food, brought him to the doctor for regular weigh-ins, and progress was slow to nonexistent. At his highest, Butch tipped the scales at about 31 pounds. There were sure to be ill effects from the weight later on in life (just like for humans), but nothing seemed to work. At one point he downright refused to eat the prescription food and we kind of abandoned hope.
Then, last fall, we thought he might really have lost some weight. There had been false alarms before, when one or both of us thought Butch had slimmed down, but it turned out to not be true. We don’t have a scale in our home but are actually able to weigh our cats on the Wii fit game system. When I weighed Butch a few weeks ago, I was shocked (and, honestly, skeptical) to find that according to the Wii, he’d lost more than 7 pounds! Not wanting to trust a video game, we made a vet appointment to double check his weight and make sure there were no health problems that led to the weight loss.
Much to our relief, Butch was given a clean bill of health! He weighed in at twenty-two pounds, which means that in one year he’d lost more than twenty-five percent of his body weight! We talked with our vet about Butch’s overall health. There has been only one major change in his lifestyle in the past year, which was the arrival of this little rescued bundle of joy into our home in July of 2012.
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| Fernando! A lot of name for a little cat. He weighed one pound when we found him! |
Butch and his younger sister Abbey at first didn’t know what to think about their new baby sibling. It was like two college students suddenly having a toddler to deal with. There were several tense conversations in the first few weeks:
But before we knew it, Butch and Fernando were inseparable. We actually think that Butch thinks of Fernando as his baby, and as such he spends a lot of time grooming and wrestling with him. He has not, however, abandoned his favorite hobbies. He just does them with his new buddy (or, more often than not, his new buddy does not let Butch do many things alone).
And in the meantime, all the increased activity from Fernando joining our family seems to have been the missing link to Butch’s weight loss. Previously, we’d been unable to really get him to be more active (Exhibit A would be the cat harness and leash collecting dust in our basement; Exhibit B would be the motorized mouse toy and the collection of laser pointers in the hall closet), but it seems that a kitten was just the ticket! Butch now has someone to take care of and also someone who relentlessly pursues him for playtime. And the results are amazing! He just had another checkup at the vet in August 2014, and he’s lost another pound! 21 is the lowest he’s weighed in a decade (and this time around he was purring so loudly on the table that it was hard to hear his heartbeat).
It was tough to get a good picture of Butch’s newer slimmed-down physique. Like anyone who’s undergone a significant weight loss, he is understandably still getting used to his new body and is a little camera shy. (Also, it is tough in general to get a cat to pose for a photo.)
To find out more about him head over to his Facebook page by clicking here and for his mum Jennifer’s Blog by click here.
We hope you are looking forward to more fun stories @Katzenworld!
Thanks,
Butch’s top photos really shock me. Glad that he slims to normal size
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Indeed. And all thanks to his little friend. 🙂
🙂
Reblogged this on Linda's wildlife garden and commented:
thank you for sharing have a blessed day
Great story, loved the solution for his weight loss. It’s a simple idea but I never would have thought of it. We tend to think of multiple pets as a solution for loneliness not weight loss.
Yep. But it is true. If you have the right two pets they can keep each other active! 🙂
Poor kitty. I’m so glad he got a friend to help him take the weight off. Great idea.
Yep. 🙂 and so much better than a diet!
Marc,
I had a female cat who got overweight, not as much as Butch. I put her on a diet but it never worked. She was not obese but a tad bit too heavy. She refused to eat the diet food. So I cut her food down. Still didn’t work. At the time I couldn’t afford to get another cat but I had a Corgi dog she played with so she got exercise with him.
I had a Tuxedo cat also at one time. He was so cute and used to hang on me by the waste when he was little. He would not leave me alone. But I didn’t mind as long as I was wearing old knock around clothes. LOL!
Awwww it’s do nice when cats and dogs get along. :). And your tuxedo cat sounds like he was even more attached than my lil tuxedo haha. 🙂
Marc,
Right now I have a 108lb German Shepherd and two cats. They all get along great. You should see how funny it is to watch one of my cats, Zima and Merlin play hide and seek. They are hilarious. Zima thinks she is a princess and if she gets on my bed, Merlin gives way to her. Nothing like a 7lb cat ruling that big Merlin. 🙂
One of my friends has a Labrador who brought a kitten home once. She disappeared in the garden and re-appeared with that kitten. She adopted it and never let it go again. My friends mum is allergic to cats btw xD so permanent antihistamine for her. But you just can’t separate those two 🙂
Marc,
That is an adorable story about the Lab. Rescuing a kitty. How remarkable.
🙂 thank you
Very sweet story – I had a 22# tuxedo cat (Billy) at one time and I have soft spot in my heart for these big B&W beauties.
:). I love B&Ws too. Despite their tendency for mischief. In fact it just makes them cuter LOL
Exactly – “Billy’s” other name was Mr. Bad Thing 🙂
That is fantastic news! The purrfect prescription for weight loss-a kitten 🙂
Indeed :). Glad you liked their story!
Losing weight is always a struggle but it’s worth it!
Billy xx
How could you let a cat growing fat like this ? Anyway, the weight-loss result is amazing ! Concatulations to Butch and family ! Stay fit now ! Purrs
They will. :). It’s cool that the kitten solved the issue when the vet and diet couldn’t. 😀
Like humans, sometimes just a change of pace does the trick. Beautiful story!
Thank you. 🙂
I have the opposite problem; I wish
I could get Brenna to slow down a bit!
Haha! Brenna and Oli would get along in that case. Oli is too energetic too. 🙂
What a great story and what a wonderful way to lose weight. The best way in the world.
Haha indeed. 🙂
OMG! CUTENESS OVERFLOW!
Thank you. 🙂
My gravatar is my cat and also in weight loss challenge
Ah! It’s not easy with cats at all. Maybe you should try the get a friend diet :)?
Oh you mean to have another cat? if yes there are kitties and dogs in the house but he is really antisocial, because he was a stray
Oh. That’s difficult in that case! How many cats and dogs have you got. :)?
2 dogs, 3 adult cats and 4 kittens that will be given to families at appropriate age 🙂
Oh wow! Now if you have a ginger kitty and live near me… (We are looking for a play friend for Oli!)
That would be nice, but the nature of my blog is such that i can’t reveal specific info about where i live. I have already nutjobs sending me hate-mail daily.
I think my cat will lose the weight gradually because i follow the diet the vet gave us. But better prevent it that cure it.
Oh no that’s terrible you are getting those emails. 🙁
thanks for introducing us!!!! Going to visit them now!
Thank you. 🙂
Butch looks like my Cleo’s twin except MUCH larger. Cleo is almost a year old and only …. 4 pounds.
Haha. Cleo sounds cute. 🙂
Dat’s pawsum. ConCats Butch.
Luv ya’
Dezi
🙂
How good to know that his lean to fat body ratio is within fit levels. It would be interesting to know his body mass index. (I don’t know, though, if vets do it.) 🙂
That is a very good question. LOL they should really start doing that ratio analysis rather than just the weight 😮
If I believed in reincarnation, Fernando the cat would be the incarnation of my husband Fernando! 😀
🙂
I love what you guys are up too. This sort of clever work and reporting!
Keep up the good works guys I’ve added you guys to my own blogroll.
Thank you! 🙂