Obese senior cat limping, no teeth. How do I get her to lose weight?

Wet food actually helps cats lose weight. It has a higher moisture content, so it takes more of it to give a cat their daily caloric requirements I would have him seen by a vet today or tomorrow. In a senior cat, this weight loss can not only be caused by dental problems, but also diabetes, kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, or cancer. I recommend having a physical exam, geriatric blood panel, and urinalysis to diagnose what is causing his weight loss. Once the cause is found, the vet can discuss treatment options.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If Lady Patches is losing weight, it can definitely be due to her dental disease. However, other causes for weight loss include underlying medical conditions such as hyperthyroidism, diabetes, IBD, and cancer - all of these and others can be ruled out by your vet. You can definitely encourage Lady Patches to eat more by moistening her dry food or getting a food that is in smaller pieces. There are multivitamins available for senior cats, but they do not provide many calories. I hope this helps and am happy to answer any other questions you have!

Canned food is an effective way to lose weight. It has a higher moisture content, and had the added benefit of getting more water into Texas's diet. I would see if feeding him canned food will be an option for him. I hope this helps!

I recommend changing his diet to a specialized weight management diet such as hills metabolic so he can feel full and receive all the necessary nutrition to be healthy, whilst still losing and then maintaining weight. Mist vets offices provide free weight clinics to monitor and advise on feeding such diets and maintaining health and fitness

I really think you should video tape her "heavy breathing" so your vet can see it. When you take her in for an exam she is likely not doing the behavior so your vet just sees her as normal. I think the vet seeing the behavior on video will help a lot with diagnosis/recommendations. X-rays of her heart and lungs would be a good idea as any problems with either of those organs can cause breathing issues. Sometimes the problem is not evident with just a physical exam. Finding out the underlying cause for her abnormal breathing is best. Heavy breathing as you have described in not normal in cats. As for helping with weight loss I would say she should be on prescription weight loss diet like Hill's r/d or w/d; you need a prescription from your vet. That being said, if she is 10 pounds as you stated above, then that is a normal weight for most cats. I personally would not be worried about a cat being overweight until the weight is over 13-14#. A cat that is 10# would not have breathing issues due to weight. Are you sure you are not just seeing the flap of skin on the belly that happens after they are spayed? Many people see that and think their cat is overweight. I think you need to discuss this more with your vet.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Yes, you can cut back a bit on how much you feed her. Ideally, this is based on your veterinarian's recommendations on how much to cut back which is based on how much she weighs and the kind of food she eats. Another alternative, is feeding her a weight loss diet that works great called Hill's Science Diet metabolic weight management diet. This is something you can buy online or at your local pet store. Good luck and have a good night!

I would recommend a prescription weight loss diet. Those are high in fiber and have a lot more fiber than anything you can get over the counter. This will help him lose weight and with the constipation. If he continues being this overweight you are risking him getting diabetes which is very common in obese cats. Diabetes can be a true nightmare to manage. The diet I would say is the best for this issue is either going to be Hill's prescription w/d or Hill's prescription r/d. You can get this from your vet or your vet can give you a prescription so you can order online. Hope this helps. Best wishes!