It’s Crunch Time, Cyril: A Weight Loss Journey (Part 1)

I have to stop making excuses. Calling him squishy and cuddly does not change the fact that Cyril is overweight, and it’s up to me to do something about it. One could easily accuse me of being a pot calling the kettle fat, and they’d have a fair point, but this isn’t about me. It’s about Cyril and his love affair with food.

Cyril Food

I get the impression that someone once told Cyril that being fat is what happens when you eat too much food and lounge around not exercising. So, from a very young age, he had a goal. He would become fat. No food could be left unattended, no cakes left out to cool, and our meals were eaten in a state of constant vigilance. It is because of Cyril’s voracious appetite that we came up with the idea of scatter feeding. If food was set out in bowls, Cyril would start on his, then steal mouthfuls from everyone else’s before returning to his own. Annoyingly, he had won the hearts of all the other cats and they just let him do it! Getting rid of the individual bowls and spreading their food over a larger surface stopped Cyril from being able to steal mouthfuls of food and kept all the cats at a similar eating speed.

This approach has been successful in maintaining the status quo, and Cyril hasn’t put on any more weight, but he certainly hasn’t lost any, either. At 6.6kg (14 1⁄2 lbs), and a Body Condition Score (BCS) hovering around 7-8, it is time for Cyril to shed some pounds – 4, to be exact. Being a larger-framed feline, he should ideally weigh between 4.5kg and 5kg (10-11 lbs). So now that we have a goal, we need to make a plan.

Cyril’s Weight Loss Plan

Losing weight is all about being in a calorie deficit – burning more energy than you put in. Simple, right? The trouble is, just like with humans, what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for all. Take our ginger cat, Alex, for example. Alex is two years younger than Cyril, is of a similar body height and length, has very similar exercise habits, and shares Cyril’s love of food. However, Alex’s BCS is around 5-6. Genetics and individual variation in metabolic rate can have a significant impact on how the body uses, loses, and stores energy, so it’s not necessarily as simple as just feeding Cyril less; I have to feed him differently.

The majority of my cats’ diet is dry kibble, which I confess, is largely because it makes feeding five cats much easier and more affordable. One downside to scatter feeding is that I can’t be certain how much each cat is consuming. However, the amount put down is less than the overall daily recommended amount, so I know that Cyril can’t be consuming significantly more food than the others, and I’m not convinced that simply separating him and feeding him less food is the right approach. He already looks for extra food between meals, and this will only get worse if I reduce his portions.

It was time to switch things up a bit.

Cyril’s current food consists mostly of a veterinary brand food for gastrointestinal health and hairball reduction, and it contains more carbohydrates than he really needs. In theory, carnivores like cats don’t need to consume any carbs, but dry cat foods include it to:

1. improve stool quality and prevent constipation
2. reduce costs

For Cyril’s new and improved diet, I am switching him to wet and dry formulations of Wellness Core, which are lower in fat and carbohydrates and contain more ‘whole meat’ ingredients, with fewer fillers and by-products. And unsurprisingly, all the cats LOVE it!

To start with, I will be feeding Cyril the recommended portions for a 5kg cat, then reducing after 2 weeks to a 4kg cat. The plan will be to stick to that amount until we reach his goal weight, then maintain him on a 4.5kg portion long term, making adjustments if needed.

*Figures are based on ‘as fed’ values, not dry matter measurements

Exercise

As you probably already know, it’s really hard to make a cat exercise, particularly indoor cats. It’s easy to take your dog for a run or a swim but not as straightforward with cats. Even those cats that walk well on a harness are usually the ones setting the pace, not their humans. Although I try not to rely on laser toys, in Cyril’s case, I decided to make an exception. He enjoys chasing the little dot but doesn’t become obsessed. I had to lock Alex away as I didn’t want him falling off the wagon.

Cyril and I committed to a 5-minute session twice daily, which was just enough to get him really moving without running out of puff. After all, I didn’t want him to overdo it and injure himself!

No Excuses

Now that we’ve told the world about Cyril’s weight loss plan, we are committed! And I am optimistic about our success. Check back in six weeks for an update on our progress.