Obesity and Food Allergies
It is sometimes difficult to find the diet best answers your cat's specific food allergies, and concurrently control the caloric density that comes with it. Often we must first determine the food the cat will tolerate by using special diet formulas. These must be fed at least 4 months. Since these are usually high in carbohydrates and low in protein we try not to create another problem while solving the first. There is no upside to that. Often we can only control caloric intake and sometimes we must resort to home made diets. So long as the cat is getting 2 grams of protein for each pound of body weight [a good number to know- it's 1 gm/lb for dogs] then we should prevent catabolizing the cats lean body mass. After determining the proper protein source we can often find pet foods that are high protein with uncommon proteins such as duck, rabbit, bison, or venison.
HOME MADE ALL MEAT DIET FOR OVERWEIGHT CATS WITH FOOD ALLERGIES
This is just a test diet and should not be used for long term feeding.
To test for food allergies we must feed a test diet of food that your cat has not been exposed to. There are many commercial diets for this purpose, but they are low in protein and high in calories. This combination makes it hard to control weight. For this reason you may want to try making your own diet or have one compounded by a veterinary nutritionist. To make a valid test, you must feed this diet for at least 4 months. For long term maintenance have a diet formulated by a veterinary nutritionist.
| Lamb, domestic, raw 1 |
1 oz (28.4 g) |
76cal |
| Lamb,New Zealand trimmed raw |
1 oz (28.4 g) |
67cal |
| Fish, salmon, chinook, raw |
1oz |
51cal |
| Fish, salmon, pink, canned |
1 oz |
39cal |
| Turkey, meat and skin, raw |
1oz |
45cal |
ADD THE FOLLOWING TO A 3 OZ SERVING
100 mg taurine
1 calcium carbonate tablet (400 milligrams calcium) Tums
1/4 multiple vitamin-mineral tablet
Use a supplement prepared for humans with allergies; without vitamins A or D
To increase the fiber content without increasing calories you can add ¼ to ½ tsp of finely ground psyllium seed.
Feed 20 calories per pound of the desired weight for your cat
Since a 10 pound cat needs 200 calories you can feed about 4 oz of raw turkey, or 5 oz of canned salmon.
A 12 pound cat needs 240 calories per day so you can feed 5 oz of raw turkey or 6 oz of canned salmon,
Links to Veterinary Nutritionists and diet formulators
Homemade Diets
Petdiets.com
BalanceIT
For a Specialized diet formulation you may contact
UC Davis
Phone Consultations (530) 752-1393 (pet owners and clients)
THERE ARE NO COMMERCIAL DIETS THAT PROVIDE LOW CALORIES WITH UNIQUE INGREDIENTS.
TO REDUCE THE RISK OF DIABETES IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO USE A HIGH PROTEIN DIET
WITH MEATS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN PREVIOUSLY AVAILABLE AND JUST CONTROL THE CALORIC INTAKE. SOME OF THESE ARE AVAILABLE AT PET STORES BUT YOU SHOULD CONSULT US BEFORE USING.
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