Pets

for cats who need to lose weight. You measure out the amount recommended for adult cats. I don't know if they also have one for cats who are both senior and needing a diet. You can get a better Hill's diet formula from a vet as a prescription than the Hill's formula that is sold over the counter in places like Pet Smart, but the over the counter diet food is better than no diet food.

For the dry food, you might try making her work for it, either with a food puzzle or by hiding some of the food. Ember does not get treats daily, but when she does get them, I put a few pieces into her dish and quickly hide 5 pieces in 5 different places while she's eating the ones in her dish, e.g. one on the mid level of her cat tree, one on a shorter cat tree that's next to the tall one, one each on top of her two tunnels, one inside a tunnel. I vary the places a little just to keep her guessing, like sometimes on a lower or higher level of the cat tree, one on my desk chair which is near the cat tree, etc. So, she has to move around and climb a little (or leap) to find all of them. She is used to the amount of pieces, so if I hide only 4 instead of 5, she keeps looking for a fifth one.

Sometimes she tries to cheat. She starts to eat the ones in her dish but then sneaks up behind me to see where I am putting the other ones. When she does that, I point to her dish and say, "Here." Then I sit down with a book or my phone like I'm busy with something else until she goes back to her dish and then quickly hide the pieces while she's eating from the dish.

I just bought her a food puzzle but haven't used it yet. You put some pieces of dry kibble into little spaces on a sliding "tray" in the puzzle and then close the tray so the food is not visible. The cat has to figure out where it has to pull to get the tray to open. There are several trays so when it gets one open it has to then open the rest to get all of the hidden food. It makes the cat slow down its eating and focus on an activity to get its food. It might be a little more challenging for an older cat, but could sharpen its scent tracking and problem solving skills a little. I got one at Wal-Mart for around $18.