Simple Way to Lose Weight

Q: My cat is diabetic. I need guidance with helping her safely lose weight.

ANSWER:

First off, high five to you for tackling feline diabetes head-on. Many don’t. You’re already doing right by your cat, and that makes you a certified member of the “Dr. Kris’s I Care About My Cat Club.” Weight loss in diabetic cats helps improve insulin sensitivity, regulates blood sugar, and boosts the chance of diabetic remission. All these are worthy goals. I want you to know that, because achieving the weight loss can be a struggle at first.

Now, I’ll admit. I don’t love calorie counting. You probably don’t either. That’s why Richard Simmons invented “Deal a Meal” in the 1980s.

So instead, I follow a different rhythm. It’s not really “Deal a Meal”, but it’s simple and consistent, and that makes it effective most of the time. It requires two essential tools: a digital pet scale and a Sharpie.

Dr. Kris Method for Cat Weight Loss

Step 1: Weigh Your Cat First
Buy a pet scale that measures to the decimal. Record your cat’s weight before you do anything. From now on, weigh once a week. No more. No less.

Step 2: The Ritual of the Measuring Container
Put one full day’s worth of food—whatever type you’re feeding—into a measuring cup or container you mark the level of food with a sharpie. That’s your baseline. Like magic, just measuring can lead to weight loss. Cats are weird that way. In humans, we would call this “portion awareness”.

Step 3: The First Goal for many cats: Stop WEIGHT GAIN
Your first goal is to simply stop WEIGHT GAIN. This is the situation for many cats. Second goal is get achieve weight loss. To do either, we take out a single tablespoon from the daily ration that you have measured. Wet, dry, or a bit of both. That’s your new daily amount.

Step 4: Weight weekly for two weeks.

Are you seeing weight loss?

If yes, go to step 5.

If not go to step 6.

Step 5: Math Time (But Not Too Much)
Great, you are seeing weight loss. If so, aim for weight loss of 0.5–1% of body weight per week. Example: an 8kg (17.6lb) cat should lose no more than 0.175lbs per week. That’s about 0.7lbs per month. Not exactly rapid-fire, but slow is safe when it comes to feline fat loss. Look at the chart below. So on average, if your cat was the cutest pumpkin shape, at 20lbs, we still don’t want rapid weight loss - less than a pound per month. See how slow it should be?

Step 6: Hit the Snack Police Button
Still no budge? Audit the treat stash. Is Grandma sneaking snacks? Kids leaving kibble trails? If the answer is “no,” then trim another half tablespoon per day.

Step 7: The Final Frontier
If weight still clings like cat hair to a black sweater:

• Switch to a low-carb, wet-food-only diet (the lower the carbs, the better), and follow the same instructions as above.

• Consider L-carnitine, a supplement that gently nudges metabolism. Get it from your vet.

• Explore vet-prescribed weight loss diets if consistency, measurement, and portion control doesnt do it. There is only so much you can reduce “normal” food calories without running into trouble.

• The more they exercise the better. Even a little bit counts.

Important Note: As the weight comes off, so may the insulin needs. Keep a close eye on glucose levels and always loop in your vet before making insulin changes.

That’s what works for me. Others may go for calorie counts, which I mostly do when a cat is too skinny and we want weight gain instead.

Good luck!

Dr. Kris