Hello All,
I promised quite a while ago to provide a progress report on the weight loss of my full-figured feline kids after a year had passed from the start of their diets on 7/9/07. Although I did weigh them all on 7/9/08, I just couldn't bring myself to post the numbers at that time because they were less impressive than they should have been. You can thank Siliman for that. Everybody's weight loss was coming along very well until Siliman arrived and taught them all how to tear open unopened bags of cat food and gorge themselves. The bags were leaning up against a large china cabinet, and Siliman was crawling under the cabinet and ripping the bags where I couldn't see the tears or the food falling out of them. So it was a couple of weeks before I figured out what was going on and why the cats were suddenly putting weight ON!!! Then I stuck the bags in a closet, and it took a few more days before I realized Siliman had taught them to reach under the door, rip the nearest bag, and fish kibbles out of the closet! ARGH!!! So, when 7/9/08 rolled around, most of the kitty weights no longer reflected the nice losses that were present several weeks earlier.
I did finally manage to thwart Siliman's attempts to turn all of the other cats into a bunch of tubby thieves, and the ounces he helped them gain back have now been shed once again (plus some!). So we're ready to share with you this very happy progress report! Notes on each cat will follow the weight chart. The first number following each cat's name is their weight on 7/9/07 (unless designated otherwise), and the second number is their weight on 9/15/08.
7/9/07 - 9/15/08
Annabelle 12.15 - 9.7
Billy 10.35 - 9.1
BooBoo 13.85 - 10.95
Feather 13.5 - 11.1
Footsie 9.9 - 10.35
Lamie 11.15 - 11.45
Mew 16.75 - 13.95
Noddy 26.45 - 16.55
Phantom 16.5 - 13.35
Pretty 12.65 - 10.95
Roxie 3.75 (9/18/07) - 9.75
Siliman 8.25 (5/11/08) - 10.9
Somer 14.2 - 11.7
Sweet Sweet 11.95 - 9.9
Weasel 16.1 - 11.4
Annabelle looks good but is a couple of ounces below what I consider her optimal weight of 10 lbs.
Billy is the eldest and has both CRF (early stage) and hyperT (controlled on Tapazole). His appetite is poor, and I am constantly trying to convince him to eat more. His ideal weight would be about 10.5 lbs. I feed Billy whatever he'll eat as many times a day as he'll eat it.
BooBoo needs to lose a bit more. Still working on it.
Feather is now a tad too thin. I have increased his ration, but he isn't finishing it right now because he's recovering from an abscess.
Footsie has always been very skinny. He has never been subjected to "the diet". I feed him whenever he wants, but he's so active that he doesn't gain adequate weight until cold weather sets in and he starts spending more time indoors. His optimal weight is around 11.5 lbs.
Lamie's optimal weight is where she started at 11.15. She hasn't yet dropped all of her "Siliman ounces", but she will.
Mew still needs to drop a couple of pounds. He's getting there slowly but surely.
Noddy's AMAZING! He has a very definite waist now, and I can feel his backbone (but not his hip bones, so I don't think he's too thin). I think he's still carrying a pound or two of fat in his lion's pouch, though. Man, that thing is not shrinking AT ALL! I'm beginning to think it's never going to, no matter how thin he gets. Noddy is very close to optimal weight. He might even be at optimal weight now. It's hard to tell because he has such a massive bone structure and so much sagging skin.
Phantom's beginning weight is probably inaccurate because he was much too spooky to weigh on the baby scale a year ago. I had to hold him while he tried to shred me on my bathroom scale. Now I can weigh him on the baby scale, so his current weight is accurate. And he's clearly lost at least a couple of pounds. He's still at least a couple of pounds overweight, though. Work in progress.
Pretty is a bit too lean now. She's slightly larger than her sister, Lamie, and should ideally weigh what Lamie weighs now.
The Gangsta's lookin' good!
Siliman has a bit of a belly on him. He'd look better at 10 lbs.
Somer is still at least 3 lbs overweight - maybe closer to 4. Aside from Roxie, Somer is the only feline who showed up here in a state of severe starvation. But she apparently swallowed a bowling ball here at Shadowood, which I've been trying to purge for the last 14 mos. Her body is REALLY not wanting to give up the extra weight.
Sweet Sweet is a bit too lean. Optimal weight is about 10.2.
Weasel's getting close to target weight, though he could still stand to lose a little.
Oh, one more note - Several of the cats actually put ON weight over the first few months of the diet while I was changing foods and adjusting portions, so the 7/9/07 weight doesn't necessarily reflect each cat's heaviest weight.
All in all, I'm very happy with the progress, and I'm committed to never seeing another morbidly obese cat on this farm (once Somer coughs up the bowling ball, that is).
Catnip all around!!!
Laurie
