Belle's progress

Belle in Daddy's pants

At tonight's weigh-in, Belle has lost 1/2 pound! Not bad for the first two weeks. I was afraid being on a diet would make her cranky--it certainly does me--but she has actually been more playful and active than she has in a long time. That bodes well for future weight loss.

Belle's fitness regimen

Belle, my 4-year-old Katrina kitty, has become too rotund to properly clean herself, just like Otis at his maximum weight of 23 pounds. Like my love for chocolate, her love for shrimp may be her downfall. She's now at 16 pounds, when the vet had said at 13 pounds that she shouldn't gain any more. Knowing from sad experience what a health risk it is to let her get so big, I've decided to start her on a weight-loss regimen similar to the one I devised for Otis. It's based on the same formula I use for myself--eat less, exercise more.

So......a few days ago I started feeding her only half a cup of her Iams weight control food morning and evening, instead of just leaving dry food out all the time. To be sure the other cats get enough to eat, I put a bowl for them on top of a bookcase, where they can get at it but Belle can't because she's too fat to climb up there. When she gets fit enough to get to that bowl, then she'll deserve to have it! They all get about 1/2 can of Friskies wet food around 6 p.m.

The second part of the plan is to take her out for walks on a leash as weather permits. She's already been out twice, and was beside herself with excitement. She just purred and purred, sniffed everything, and after getting over some initial timidity, she walked all over the yard, even jumping up on a tree stump--although it took her a couple of tries! I need to get her a larger harness, as this one won't expand enough to fit comfortably. We've also added extra playtime with her favorite toys to get her running and jumping. She seems to really enjoy the extra attention, too.

We'll try this for a few weeks and see how it goes. Cats shouldn't lose weight too quickly--just like humans--so a slow but steady loss is what we're going for. Before long, she'll have her girlish figure back, and Daddy will have to stop calling her "Orca" and "Shrimpboat"!