Problem cat

I think the answer may lie somewhere in between. Same amount of food, but fewer calories and she should be satisfied and happy.

She does get some of her food by working for it - pushing the little round container over the floor, but whether she enjoys that I'm not quite sure. It does give her exercise, though.

I bet a live hamster could provide hours of entertainment - although if she kills it quickly, then the entertainment may be short lived.

oh god, you are sick!

A cat needs a more level playing field. Let him bat a lobster around.

We've done that - prior to steaming them of course. The problem is the lobsters don't move much so after a few swats the cats get bored.

I don't think that's very unusual for a cat that has been a stray. I had a friend whose cat spent some time on the streets, and it acted the same way toward food. If you lived a good part of your life not knowing when you'd eat again and fighting other people for the scraps that you did get, you'd probably act the same way.


Some cats are playful, some aren't. I wouldn't get too worked up about it. That might be a problem with regard to your cat's weight, but, as others have said, there are special diets for that.

I've got her some low-calorie cat food and she seems quite happy with it. She is definitely gaining too much weight and showing less interest in her toys which means she isn't working it off.

On the other hand, she is definitely getting more friendly - sleeping on my bed, letting me stroke her head and shoulders until my arm is tired. And when I try to lure her back into the apartment (she likes to explore the great world of the third floor corridor) she hustles back inside if I start to close the door. So I guess she thinks of the apartment as home.

I've got a relatively normal cat who likes to have his head stroked, but nothing else. Still, if he's within reach he doesn't mind having his fur messed with. Just idle fingers digging around, but not petting.

I can do just about anything with roland, and he loves it.
Just now, since his sitting on the desk next to me, I rolled him on his back, propped his hind legs against my chest, reach both hands behind his shoulders and rotated them, then moved my hands down and gently flexed his spine back.

He opened his mouth a little, said a tiny "aaaaaaa" and stuck the tip of his tongue out.

I knew a guy with a rather elderly Cocker Spaniel that used to lie on it's back with his legs straight up in the air. One day, his little boy hollered "Hey Dad, come look at this." The kid had an old bicycle inner tube stretched between the dogs hind legs, and was using it for a slingshot. He could even aim it just by rotating the the dogs position.

I got the food for fat cats and she seems just as happy with that as she was with the regular kibble. She seems to me a tad slimmer - she was practically growing before my eyes. She is so demanding about food that I've cut down the size of her meals, but feed her three times a day instead of twice and she seems perfectly happy with that schedule.

She loves to go out into the main corridor (third floor, fortunately) but if I don't go with her she mostly comes back in very quickly.

It's funny - she strongly dislikes the sound of crinkling plastic bags or crumpling paper. She really shies away. I never before had a cat who wasn't interested in those noises. I wonder if she connects them with something scary or if it's just her.

She continues to be a charming cat and a very pleasing companion.

Good to have an update, Tom

She has just discovered the fascination of the outside world - as seen through the windows, of course. She will sit for hours watching the trees blowing. And then I sit watching her. Nothing gets done, but so what!

She doesn't like to jump. She gets up on things only if she can access them indirectly - first get on chair, then small leap to counter or get on sofa, then to back of sofa, then step down a little to windowsill. I think she may have been rather severely trained not to jump. Once I found her on top of the fridge, but never again.

Tigger was a world-class jumper - the larger the leap the better he liked it.

Cats are truly infinitely individual and infinitely interesting.

My cats do that too. Something's irresistibly fascinating on the other side of the door.

I want video evidence of that!!!

Fig is rather lazy, so I'm cutting down on her food, even though it already lo-cal. I have thought of getting another cat to keep her entertained company, but fear she wouldn't tolerate it. It's a puzzlement.

I put my cats on a low calorie senior/overweight diet. Talk about a two cat protest movement!

I believe you!

I did this, too, for the Possum-cat.

It's just fine, really - as long as you don't need much sleep, and are OK with the occasional (or more regular) loss of blood!

I'm okay with two chubby cats waddling around in front of the bowl with little picket signs. Kind of cute if you look at it the right way.