To achieve that 1.5 percent loss, the researchers had to cut food intake by 20 percent compared to a maintenance diet. 'We targeted a 1.5 percent body weight loss per week, which falls in line with the range (0.5-2 percent per week) suggested by the American Animal Hospital Association.'
They can't handle that much,' Swanson says. The body releases too much fat, and the liver gets bogged down. 'The risk with rapid weight loss, especially in a cat, is hepatic lipidosis. Swanson and his colleagues wanted to target a safe level of weight loss - enough to notice a change, but not enough to cause health problems. It takes a long time,' says Kelly Swanson, Kraft Heinz Company Endowed Professor in Human Nutrition in the Department of Animal Sciences and the Division of Nutritional Sciences at U of I. The big question was how much does it take to make cats lose weight, especially lazy neutered males? It turns out you have to keep reducing their food intake because they're not very active. 'The intent with this diet was a healthy weight loss: getting rid of fat while maintaining lean mass.
