Cat food and behavior issues

[dagwellismypigy]

I know there was a thread on this way back but I can't find it. My mom and I might be moving into a bigger house together(Gramma is gettin old). She has a cat named Petey and he is HUGE, like 25-30 pounds. My Gramma doesn't think he's fat, but obviously he is. When we move in together I am going to try to take care of feeding him. I plan on only giving him dry food three times a day for like 20 minutes, if he doesn't eat it then to put it away, and wet food once a day. But I have NO idea what kind of food to feed him. ALso he has an issue with constipation(YUCK!) so that would play into what I will feed him.Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Also, he has this nasty little habit of not going in the litter box. I guess it's "Marking his territory", I really don't care what it is, it's nasty. When we go to my gramma's house there are stains all over the rug, and it smells like cat feces(another major YUCK!). Any way to help keep his business in private?

Also he is almost like 9-10 years old now, that might be a factor to either issue.

 

[wuany]

Well, one suggestion is you could take the cat to the vet to get him checked out. He probably wasn't nuetered and that is why he pees everywhere. Have you looked for any cat message boards? I plan to look for one as well because we have had our cats for 3 years and I never thought to look on message boards for information until we got our piggy.

I dont' think it's good to feed the cat wet cat food every day. There is a "Cats for Dummies" book out that may help. I wish there was one for guinea pigs.

 

[dagwellismypigy]

It not urine.

 

[wuany]

Oh sorry I just reread the post and you said it smelled like cat feces. I just looked through my favorites and bookmarked this site a while back. (broken link removed) maybe that will help.

 

[dagwellismypigy]

thanks I'l check it out.

 

[cinn&sprinslave]

Often times cats won't go poop in the litter box because it is not kept clean. Or because the litter box isn't big enough if he is that big of a cat, he needs an extra large litter box. Sometimes cats don't like certain types of litter (cats are picky animals). If he goes pee in the litter box, he may be picky and want another litter box to do his other duties in. Sometimes cats don't like covered litter boxes, if your grandma has a covered one you might try an open one.

For constipation I would suggest you try "Lax Aire" it is a tube of cat/dog laxative. It is good for hairballs and constipation. It works really well. We purchased it from our vet.

~Cinn

 

[dagwellismypigy]

At the moment my gramma lives in a one bedroom apartment with two baths. She has dedicated a whole bathroom to him, there isn't any more room for another litter box. But when we move I will try those, thanks!

 

[All4Cavies]

I have an older cat also, we give him a half a can of wet food once a day and a small bowl of dry food in the morning for breakfast. He's about 20 pounds so we had to put him on a diet. Anywhere he has gone to the bathroom in the house needs to be throughly cleaned and then sprayed to take his scent out or he will associate it w/ a litter box and keep going on the floor. I also agree with Cinn and Sprin, your box might not be big enough.

 

[dagwellismypigy]

He's not mine, nor do I live with him yet, so at the moment there isn't anything I can do about it. When we move I will get him a really big litter box and maybe a few smaller ones for around the house. What should I spray it with? I have this stuff, Nature's Miracles((broken link removed)) , would this do the trick? I have also read that dry food isn't good for them? What brand of wet food would be good?

 

[PumpkinPunk]

I also have an overweight cat. Wet food is not advisable, as it does major damage to their teeth/gums (same for dogs). I would stick with dry food- try Purina One Healthy Weight Management. They have feeding recomendations (how much/day depending on the weight of the cat) on the bag. My cat loves the food and I've found that she has indeed lost about 2-3lbs. Though I would like her to shed another pound or two, some is better than none, seeing as her weight prior to the diet change has been consistent over the past few years at 18lbs. I'm sure you're aware of this already, but make sure the weight loss isn't drastic as that would be very unhealthy. I feed my cat a measured amount twice daily, and it lasts her however long it lasts her, rather than giving her x amount of minutes to eat as much as she can. Also, as other people have suggested, taking the cat to the vet if at all possible should be your number one priority. As for the urinating/defecating all over the house, try picking up a bottle of "Nature's Miracle" at a store (they might have it in your grocery store, otherwise try a pet store). It's in a white bottle with red lettering and it deoderizes the surface of what you put it on and therefore the cat will not associate that area with its scent. Directions are on the bottle. Good luck!!

haha-sorry I didn't even catch that you already have Nature's Miracle! Poor reading on my part.

 

[dagwellismypigy]

Yeah, the Nature's Miracle stuff works great for cleaning my pigs cage. I have read alot of stuff lately, the main thing being the dry food is not the way to go, that it has too many carbs for the carnivourous cat and that wet food has less calories. Now I'm just all confused, lol. Good thing I still have a few months before we move in to gether.
He's been to the vet who my Gramma thinks says is at a good weight(Old people make stuff up- I swear they do) but he isn't, when he walks it looks like he has swallowed a soccer ball.