Our cats started losing a lot of weight when we changed their food to something grain-free. We're actually got them on a mix of raw meat and grain-free canned right now, and my ten-year-old cat looks and acts like she's five. They've all lost weight (and they all needed to) they're more alert, and more active, their coats are silkier, their eyes are brighter, it's kind of amazing. But they did start losing weight even when I just switched them to a grain-free kibble, so if you're attached to the kibble, that might work for you.
Limiting food never worked with my cats--when you have more than one, you obviously have to put down enough food for all of them, and when that resource becomes limited, it just makes them fight each other brutally. (Or if they have a clearly established dominance, one just steps aside and lets the other take it.) Then, because there's so much competition over the limited resource, the one who got to eat will actually gorge on more than they would have eaten normally. And then the underdog cat just starves. Even if you think, "Oh, I'll just feed them in separate rooms," you'd better be planning on closing the door, or they'll just intimidate each other. I mean, you could lock them in their own separate feeding cells until they're done eating, but this sounds like a lot more work than you want to do. Plus, cats are...cats. If it's dry food especially, they'll want to pick at it, not treat it as one big meal. You'd lock them in a room for an hour, come back, and they've hardly touched it. Oh, and if you screw up feeding somehow and your cats don't get enough food, especially if they're fat, well, first off, they're going to throw up the next thing you feed them, because fasting leads to nausea in cats. Secondly, if that goes too far, they could end up getting hepatic lipidosis like Andi's cat did. (We didn't fast her, she just decided not to eat or some shit. >__>)
I have tried every variation of food limitation for cat weight loss, even constructing a box with a hole only big enough for skinny cats to get through to feed my smaller cats in (back when I had smaller cats). It doesn't work. Ultimately, I don't think portion restriction is an effective form of weight loss, for cats or for humans. It puts the body in famine mode, which is counterproductive. They just get crazier about food, they don't get thinner. But switching to healthier food, that's been working great.
Which isn't anti-feeder, for the record. A feeder is still useful for not having an extra chore, and making the cats not associate you with food and drive you nuts. I just don't think using it for portion control with the goal of weight loss will get you the results you want.
ETA: since you mentioned the fountain, if you've been having trouble keeping your cats hydrated, might be best to get them off the kibble. Cats don't have a very strong thirst instinct, because they're desert animals, and in the wild would get most of their water from their food. Cats on dry food obviously need to drink more, and some can figure this out, but some don't.
Limiting food never worked with my cats--when you have more than one, you obviously have to put down enough food for all of them, and when that resource becomes limited, it just makes them fight each other brutally. (Or if they have a clearly established dominance, one just steps aside and lets the other take it.) Then, because there's so much competition over the limited resource, the one who got to eat will actually gorge on more than they would have eaten normally. And then the underdog cat just starves. Even if you think, "Oh, I'll just feed them in separate rooms," you'd better be planning on closing the door, or they'll just intimidate each other. I mean, you could lock them in their own separate feeding cells until they're done eating, but this sounds like a lot more work than you want to do. Plus, cats are...cats. If it's dry food especially, they'll want to pick at it, not treat it as one big meal. You'd lock them in a room for an hour, come back, and they've hardly touched it. Oh, and if you screw up feeding somehow and your cats don't get enough food, especially if they're fat, well, first off, they're going to throw up the next thing you feed them, because fasting leads to nausea in cats. Secondly, if that goes too far, they could end up getting hepatic lipidosis like Andi's cat did. (We didn't fast her, she just decided not to eat or some shit. >__>)
I have tried every variation of food limitation for cat weight loss, even constructing a box with a hole only big enough for skinny cats to get through to feed my smaller cats in (back when I had smaller cats). It doesn't work. Ultimately, I don't think portion restriction is an effective form of weight loss, for cats or for humans. It puts the body in famine mode, which is counterproductive. They just get crazier about food, they don't get thinner. But switching to healthier food, that's been working great.
Which isn't anti-feeder, for the record. A feeder is still useful for not having an extra chore, and making the cats not associate you with food and drive you nuts. I just don't think using it for portion control with the goal of weight loss will get you the results you want.
ETA: since you mentioned the fountain, if you've been having trouble keeping your cats hydrated, might be best to get them off the kibble. Cats don't have a very strong thirst instinct, because they're desert animals, and in the wild would get most of their water from their food. Cats on dry food obviously need to drink more, and some can figure this out, but some don't.
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