My mother has recently passed away and I now have mom's cat. She is approximately 6 years old, but when I took her to the vet they said she was overweight (4 kg) and her gums were looking sore.

They told me not to give her any sachets of meat-based wet food, from which she was only licking the gravy anyway, and have told me to give her Royal Canin dental dried food which I have. But she doesn't seem to want to go outside until I have given her something else. I have been giving her a small amount of tinned tuna in water and she seems to eat this and some of the dental biscuits during the day.

I wanted to know - what I could give her that is healthy? Your help would be appreciated.

  • I'm not sure what going out has to do with choice of food, other than that she is hoping you will feel guilty and give her a treat...
    – keshlam
    Feb 12 '17 at 22:10

The dental diet is pretty fatty in general, I've seen many pets become chunky after eating it with no exercise. A food we recommend is Purina veterinary OM (overweight management) for our obese cats, I see more success with it than the royal canin satiety support.

Wet food is key to a healthy cat as it greatly improves urinary health (kidneys, bladder, stones, crystals). Reasoning to this is that wet food has about 80% moisture making your kitty pee more and flush out her kidneys. OM comes in wet and dry giving your kitty a nice variety.

Exercise is also important though I see she goes outside, in addition to this you may buy one of those automatic lazer pointers that zoom around the room for you.

For dental health, brush daily with a soft finger brush and pet approved tooth paste - smearing the toothpaste on the teeth/gums will also help if you have difficulties brushing. There are feline dental chews you can get as well such as greenies or enzadent oral cat chews. Stay away from hard chew toys such as bones as they can become lodged in their intestinal tract or break teeth (most commonly seen in dogs).

I'll add a little extra in regards to her going outside. I highly recommend making an outdoor play area that makes her and the wildlife safe. Cats are killing vast amounts of wildlife and making certain species of birds, lizards and turtles extinct. This enclosure will keep your cat safe from predators like eagles, foxes and coyotes. The danger of getting hit by a car is another thing to consider or if she gets lost (microchip is key here).

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