I have a two-year-old cat on diet food and she is still not losing weight, could she have diabetes?
The difference between cat “diet” food and regular food usually is added fiber that allows kitty to feel “satisfied” without adding calories. However, just like with humans who can gain weight by eating too much low-fat and lite foods, if kitty is eating too much diet food, she will still gain weight.
More important than the type of food you feed is the amount you feed. If kitty is not losing on the amount of food you are feeding right now, decrease the amount fed by 10-15%. Wait a few months and recheck kitty’s weight. If still not losing, decrease by another 10-15% and so on.
Also, as someone before me suggested, meal feeding is often helpful too. It makes it easier to control how much you are feeding kitty. Feeding 2-4 meals a day is recommended based on what your schedule allows. I feed my kitties 2 meals a day and they do great!
It is unlikely your cat has any type of disease keeping her from losing weight. However, I still recommend for all kitties, even young, seemingly healthy kitties, that they have physical exams and complete health panels (bloodwork) every year to catch any disease process early while it can still be managed.
Good luck!
