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Yes but honestly I think he looks healthier. He weighed 18 lbs when we got him and was well fed but still looked skinny. He gained 5 after going on some medicine and he looks better. Vet called him a chunky monkey though. Lol

Rather than decreasing the amount of food can you change her to a food designed for weight control? Our pup is a little hefty and we really needed to get it under control because he tore his ACL. But for us it was an easy fix, my husband just needed to stop giving him treats!

I have two dogs. One is really thin...she's 16 years old, and was sick a while back, wasn't interested in eating, and lost a LOT of weight. About two months ago she got her appetite back, and is constantly hungry these days. She feels chubby (to me), but is still pretty skinny. She has always been thin, though.

The other dog isn't necessarily fat, but is really solidly built. He's a little thief, though, and will steal the other dog's food whenever he can. To compensate, I give him about half what he should eat, since he's always sneaking the other food. It must be working, because the last time I took him to the vet he lost and ounce, lol.

For your cat I'd second the suggestion that you move her food around so that she has to work a bit before eating. But then again, she's old, so.....

Yes. Our cat is, and one of our dogs is. For cats, our vet said NOT to cut back his food. But, she did say we should play more. We bought a laser pointer, some little fake mice, a wand with string, and some catnip bag thing ... He plays A LOT more than he used it, and it's really helped.

@Mrs. Bee: Be careful...too much wet food can cause dehydration, because they don't get thirsty as often.

no, my kitty is underweight he goes on hunger strikes and then gets sick from it, then when he's sick he vomits what he does eat (like last night, in the bed, blah), so feeding him is a struggle. the vet said wet food is easier to digest, so that's probably why he was refusing the dry food, now we found a dry food he'll eat a little bit of (it's a terrible food, but she said as long as it's cat food & he'll eat it without vomiting, feed it to him!) and i give him wet food in the morning and before bed (and approx every 3 hours during the night when he wakes me to feed him... yeah). i never knew having a cat could be this much work!

@Mrs. Bee: does she get the whole thing as once? could you split it up so she eats less but more often (keeping her blood sugar more even might even help her lose weight)? we add supplements to our cat's food to help him with digestion, maybe they have some that could help her feel full longer. or give her a grass plant she can eat, that might fill her up without adding many calories

One of our dogs was getting a little "chunky" according to the vet so we reduced the amount of food by a little and he is fine now. It was only like a 1 lb difference but he only weighs 16lbs, haha

We had a 40 lb cat growing up so I am no help with cats haha!

Our pug/boston terrier mix, Dixie, was overweight by 3 lbs. We put her on a special food- but a tip that also helped was bulking up her food. All our pugs get pumpkin in their food at dinner now, but we switch it up and do green beans or peas/carrots sometimes too. Helps bulk up the portion size without added calories.

I wonder if there are foods like veggies you can add for a cat?

@Mrs. Bee: wet food is good for thier skin and coat but it shouldn't be their only thing. Try a brand of dry food like taste of the wild or wellness. They eat less of it because its more filling but it doesnt have the the extra stuff.

Also...when she is hungry she will eat it. Cats don't need to always eat. They're not like rabbits. They can go a while without eating.

I am like paranoid about my dogs becoming overweight - my bigger chihuahua, bambam, is on reduced fat food because i noticed his weight definitely fluctuates, and he's been really good on it. He weighs in at around 9lbs. My little one, is a tiny little thing and she eats normal food and honestly i think she can stand to gain a little weight but she is feisty and healthy!

Our cat is 15 lbs but not considered overweight because he has a large frame. Our poor dog is on prednisone long-term for an autoimmune disease and went from 45 to 60 lbs in 3 months. She is now on diet food, but the medicine also causes muscle weakness and she refuses to walk. I just try to keep her active in the house.

Our dog is still a pup so she's trim because she's so energetic.

Do you feed your cat cat food or raw meat? Our burmese is a bit overweight and its mostly because we started feeding him cat food almost every night cause we kept forgetting to defrost the raw steak we'd get him.
We've implemented a system now with defrosting every morning, so our Bruce gets chopped up rump steak or ground beef every night, and happy to report he lost 2.5lbs since his last vet visit! He gets 1/4 cup of dry diet food in the morning and about 2-3 oz of red meat at night, and he's about 5lbs now which is ideal for his breed. Unfortunately due to his prior weight gain he looks like a lady cat that's been pregnant! He has such a sad hangy belly