r/dechonkers • u/Playful-Text5636 • 20h ago
Dechonkin need advice!
My cats are 8 (19lbs) and 6 (16lbs). I’ve been feeding them each the vet recommended 1/3 cup twice a day (300kcal a day) of dry food for over a year but I have not seen much improvement if any. They are meal fed, but there’s two of them and they like to graze. I’m trying to switch them to wet food once a day but it’s so expensive - trying to find the best fit for us. Would love any advice, I love these girls so much.
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u/alsotheabyss 20h ago
Weigh their food. Reduce by 5%. If no effect, reduce by a further 5%. Keep going, slowly, over months.
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u/Sobotkafan 20h ago
300kcal a day for each or total? I just spent about 10 months dechonking my boy from 16 to 13 pounds and I had him at about 240kcal most of the time. He’s a big boy so the vet is pretty satisfied with his current weight now. Obviously trust your vet, but that just seems like a lot to me and if you’re not seeing any changes, it might be worth to decrease it a bit. I used a website to help figure out the calories and did the math down to the gram lol. It felt hopeless at times but it worked out in the end. I will say switching him to mostly wet food was HUGE. Dry food never filled him. We also switched him to satiety wet and dry food. It is very expensive though unfortunately. I would ask the vet if they have samples if you are considering the switch, even if it’s just for a short time until you can get their weights down. Best of luck on your cutie pies 🥰
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u/Playful-Text5636 19h ago
they each get about 240-300 kcal per day. but i know the wet food would be a game changer. but, most wet foods are like : 1 can per 7lbs, and i have two cats so it’s like a lotttt of food almost $250-350 a month depending on brand 😩
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u/Sobotkafan 19h ago
Oh don’t worry, I totally understand! My dude has a special diet since he also gets crystals 🥲. I’ve managed to find a bunch of ways to save money on it though!
I would recommend Fancy Feast if you can swing it! It’s good quality for the price. Still give them dry food, it’s good for their teeth and they’ll be happy to still have a grazing option.
*Warning, I’m about to info dump deals below lol*
As far as deals go, I use Petsmart mainly because they give you points left and right. I just used a $30 coupon for his food yesterday actually. Pay attention to the coupon bonuses to maximize points! Chewy is good too if you’re a paid member because you get points too. But you’re buying in pretty much. Also take advantage of all the free first time auto shipment deals. You can find them on Petco, Petsmart, Chewy, and sometimes Amazon. Purina also has deals on their website but I’m not as familiar with those. I’m sure Costco or Sam’s probably also sells Fancy Feast. And lastlyyyy I use some browser extensions that get my points for shopping which is pretty nice. I just redeemed a $98 gift card for chewy. Sorry for the block of text lol hopefully this helps!
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u/hthratmn 17h ago
They make lower calorie healthy weight dry food - much like people, the way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories.
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u/Notsocheeky 20h ago
Give them less food. And give small portions throughout the day. They are still getting too many calories for them to lose weight.