myanimalcare: Chitosan report!

It IS working, folks!

Take a look:

Tiger looks and feels trimmer already.

He is also definitely lighter when we carry him.

Yes, believe it or not, this IS Bunny (the former Bunnyphant!).

And I have not even been giving the full dose, which is 2cm three times a day. I have only been giving 1.5cm twice a day so far and I don't intend to increase this dosage since it is already working. I'm wary that it is better to underdose than overdose. My plan was to start off small and gradually increase it to the full dose, but looks like I don't have to do that anymore. In fact, I am thinking of tapering it off for Bunny already, and just maintain him on the Hara Hachi Bu diet.

I'm also reminded of this fact from my vet: If you have a fat cat, a thin cat and a normal cat and if all three were to be trapped (without food), the first to die would be the fat cat. And why so? Because the body will metabolise the fat and this fat will choke the liver. The vet even cited the Petknode tragedy where, in such an unfortunate incident, the obese cats would be the first to die.

That IS scary, isn't it? And we would think that the obese cats would be the ones with lots of "reserves" to last them through? Not necessarily true, according to the vet.

Hence, all weight loss programmes MUST be done on a gradual basis. No drastic measures, please. We do not want any untoward repercussions so it is very important to be well-informed. Please always consult your vet for advice.

The Chitosan drop-out, Mr Cow.

I will have to figure out a way to give it to him. For the last two meals, I had managed to mask a wee bit of the goop in his ever-so-tasty Monge meal. Let's hope I can slowly increase this amount to 1.5cm.

But of course, I think the Primal has helped a lot as well. I read that raw food helps in natural weight loss.

I have been reconstituting the freeze-dried raw food with water to increase the volume so that they would feel more full. If we go by what Dr Lisa Pierson says, having enough water in the food is so, so important. Hence, she says that any wetfood would be better than kibbles.

Here's what she says:

Diet is the brick and mortar of health. This web page lays out some often-ignored principles of feline nutrition and explains why cats have a better chance at optimal health if they are fed a canned food diet instead of dry kibble.

1) All urinary tract systems are much healthier with an appropriate amount of water flowing through them.

Dietary water and urinary tract health

2) Carbohydrates can wreak havoc on cats' blood sugar/insulin balance.

Postprandial glycemia

3) Cats inherently have a low thirst drive and need to consume water *with* their food. (A cat's normal prey is ~70 - 75% water - not the very low 5-10% found in dry food.)

4) Cats are strict carnivores which means they are designed to get their protein from meat/organs – not plants.

To read more: http://www.catinfo.org/

Our disclaimer holds. Please consult your veterinarian on the most appropriate diet for your pets. The needs of each individual animal may differ.

As often advised, any new food must be introduced gradually and we must observe if the diet agrees with the pet. I started off with just 2 pieces of Primal nuggets (for the 7 of them) and now, I have increased it to 5 nuggets, added with 3 cans of Monge for the oh-so-delicious taste. I figured Monge has no vegetables, but Primal is a complete and balanced food, so this combination should be good enough. I also add wheatgrass when I have supply.

I am told by experienced animal caregivers that when deciding what diet is good for the animal, one way is to go back to nature and observe how they eat in the wild. A lion (who is from the cat family) first eats the stomach and intestines of its prey who is always a herbivore (that's where the little bit of digested plant food is), then it goes for the muscle meat and finally it chews on the bones for dessert. Primal has all of these components in its raw form. It's as close as it can get to the natural food of the cat - about 95% meat, 5% plant food. For dogs, it could go to 60% meat and 40% plant food, I was told. But again, please consult your vet about this.

Back to my Chitosan report...

Has Timmy lost weight too?

Well...let's not push the poor boy, shall we? And let's give him credit for being SO good. He goes into the cage all by himself now and eats his meal there. Then, he sits down obediently to wait to be let out.

He's so obedient, he is almost like a dog!

I've stopped the Chitosan for Ginger already. He doesn't need it anymore.

He may look big, but he is actually very light. Sometimes, a cat just "looks" obese because of the dangling skin at the belly. It may not be fat, but just skin (to enable the cat to stretch, I was told).