At the Homeless Animal Rescue Team shelter in Cumberland, Maine, some of the residents very well may live out their nine lives there. This cat-only, no-kill shelter is a haven for kitties with FIV, a disease that usually makes potential adopters shy away from bringing one home. H.A.R.T. has devoted an entire room for these kitties, who have their food issues. Says Max Christian, a 14-year-old volunteer at HART: “The FIV cats don’t eat alot.”

Max wrote an essay on why his shelter is special for the freekibble.com Kibble Krusaders Kontest, winning H.A.R.T $1000 worth of Halo Dinner Party, a present that immediately helped the picky eaters. “It was great to hear the FIV cats were eating more,” says Max of the felines feasting on their food once the sprinkles were added. “Alot of the cats are squeamish about eating and it was great to help make it more tasty. Even though they don’t know it, it felt good I could make them happy.”

Three years ago, Max, an eighth grader, started volunteering at H.A.R.T. with his dad. In his essay Max writes: “Why is my shelter special to me? Everything about H.A.R.T. is special to me, but there are certain things that can really bring warmth to your heart. For instance, when my Dad and I bent over to scoop litter, one of the cats thanked us by hopping up on our backs and purring.”

It was this image that grabbed the heart of freekibble.com founder Mimi Ausland, who picked five contest winners from almost 500 entries. “It shows he does the more dirty jobs like scooping jobs and I think it’s neat that his dad is volunteering with him, just like my mom and dad volunteer with me,” says Mimi. “Some parents don’t care as much.”

When Max first volunteered, his family had already adopted one cat from H.A.R.T., named Belly. But soon Belly would have company. Max and his family adopted two more kitties, Smitty and Mojo. (Max also has a golden retriever.) His jobs at the shelter include cleaning the rooms where the cats live and washing the furniture. “Afterwards is the best part,” says Max, “you can see the kitties you helped. I feel really good knowing knowing that they have those treats. They need it alot.”

Despite his love of animals, Max does not see a career in the field, instead aspiring to become an author. But he plans on continuing his every-other week volunteering stint at the shelter, helping the over 100 cats as best he can. Sometimes, at the end of his shift, it’s hard to close the door behind on H.A.R.T.’s residents. As Max writes: “I’ve had instances where I wish I could’ve adopted them all.”

The Baltimore Sun encouraged its readers to participate in the Halo-sponsored Freekibble.com “Hi-5” event, where we donated five times the popular site’s usual amount of kibble to shelter animals in need. Their encouraging words are: “There’s no limit on the kibble, so if a bazillion people visit the site today, that’s how much food will go to shelters across the country.”

Click over to our News page for the story.

Q: Interesting article on pet obesity. I have been looking for some answers to my “fat cat problem”. I have two cats, one 4/5 and the other 10. Both need to lose weight but, when I have chosen a higher quality holistic food in the past they just keep gaining weight. My other option was the “vet” food option (Medical and Hills Prescription). I personally do not like the “vet” options. The ingredient list makes my stomach turn. I copied a portion out of one of the other articles (see below) on this website but and confused about how I figure out how many calories a day my cats will need.

What does the #30 represent and what does #70 represent?

“Inactive 10 year old, 13 pound (5.9 kilogram) domestic shorthair cat. Ideal weight is determined to be 9 pounds (4.1 kilograms). The calories that an average 9 pound cat requires each day are calculated as follows: (4.1 x 30) + 70 = 193 calories”

How do I find out how many calories are contained in the food I am feeding. Currently my ten year old is eating the Halo Seafood (dry). I would like both cats to be on the same food and be able to lose weight. Any advice you could give would be most appreciated.

Thanks
Terri

A: Terri, Thanks for your questions. I will try to clear up any confusion.

Once cats become overweight or obese, their metabolism slows down and it takes very few calories to keep them fat. Cat owners and vets alike often make the mistake of feeding too many calories and then are frustrated that even though they had chosen a “diet” food or a high quality holistic diet, their cat is not losing weight.

It is imperative that a cat’s IDEAL body weight be determined. This is usually around 8 or 9 pounds for most domestic cats (yes, even most of those 16 pound cats should only weigh 8 or 9 pounds…unless they are a purebreed larger breed cat).

Then the following formula is used to calculate calories:

[Ideal weight (in kilograms) x 30] + 70 = number of calories needed at ideal weight.

Than take that number and multiply it by 75% (0.75) to get the number of calories that your cat can eat each day in order to reach that ideal body weight.

The numbers 30 and 70 are just the nutrition formula for figuring out calories…you use the same numbers for every cat.

So lets say for example a cat currently weighs 12 pounds but his ideal body weight is 8 pounds. This means that he is 50% overweight.

8 pounds is 3.6 kilograms.
(3.6 kg x 30) + 70 = 178 calories. Then 178 calories x 0.75 = 134 calories.

This means he should eat approximately 134 calories in order to reach his 8 pound goal weight. He should lose approximately 1 to 2% of his body weight each week. So since he is 50% overweight it is going to take 25 to 50 weeks (6 months to 1 year) to lose this weight safely.

Some cats that are very lazy or very overweight need even further calorie restriction than this. So if you find your cat is not losing weight after 2 weeks on the new plan, see your veterinarian for advice. A common diet pitfall is treats. It is imperative to count the calories in treats and if you are giving treats, you have to decrease the amount of food you are feeding accordingly. Halo lists the calories in each of their cat treats for ease of calculating how many your cat should have each day.

The amount of calories in the seafood dry food is 400 calories per cup. So in the example above where the cat can have 134 calories, they would be able to eat 1/3 level cup of food for the entire day. Remember this is just an average calculation and if a cat doesn’t lose weight after 2 weeks with the calculated calories, talk to your vet about a further decrease.

Cats should also be examined by a veterinarian BEFORE they start any diet regimen to make sure they don’t have medical diseases predisposing them to obesity (such as diabetes, etc) and to make sure the rate of weight loss is safe for your particular cat.

Good Luck and hope that helps.
Dr. Donna Spector

Dear Halo:

Thanks!
Beth Levine

Wow, it sure seems Paw Nation’s staff’s dogs loved our Halo Healthsome treats! Here’s (some of) what four different reviewers had to say:

“I don’t know whether Izzy, my Border Collie/Chow mix, noticed that the treats were healthy; I just know that she gobbled them up without a second thought, licking the floor to make sure she devoured up every last crumb.”

“My dog’s nose started wiggling the second I opened the package. I took a sniff inside the bag and could understand why. .. Luckily, the vegetarian dog treats are low-fat and made with a blend of beneficial ingredients. There is no corn, fillers, sugar or molasses.”

“Our mutt Mouse usually doesn’t go for healthy dog treats, so I was a little skeptical at first. … She was so into them that she scarfed down her treat and literally begged for more. … I’d say we have a winner here!”

“When it comes to snacks, my girl is a junk-food lover. She generally scoffs at the all-natural biscuits and goes right for the Milk-Bones….Daisy not only loved the [Halo] treats, she gobbled up the whole bag in a few minutes! …moved, and the stress of that has given Daisy a flare-up on her nose. I swear, the day after the Liv-a-Littles feast, her nose was looking much healthier — even without steroidal cream!”

Click over to our News page to read more.