My friend is worried about the feeding of her cat. Apparently the vet has recommended a bit of a diet for the oversize cat. I am told the cat has three meals a day, two of IAMs and one of 'wet' food. The cat is mature and spends most of its time in the house.

Many moons ago we had a cat and it was fed twice a day. Is this where she is going wrong?

To be honest my two cats always have dry food and water available and just graze throughout the day and they are normal sized cats. It's unusual for cats to overeat so it might be the food she's using. One of my previous cats became so fat he got stuck in the cat flap (seriously!)and I thought it was because I was feeding him on Iams. As soon as I switched to Kitekat he started to shrink back to normal.
Worth a try, but three meals a day seems a bit much to me if you think of the size of their stomachs compared to ours.

Our moggy has dry Scienceplan and wet food and he just grazes during the day, he does have competition we call Cleo the vacuum cleaner from down the road, who eats his food, but he loves to spend his time outside, so I think it's exercise and chasing Cleo away that keeps his weight down.

does the cat go out much?

our cats are on dry, wet and treats everyday but are well exercised.

it may be the case a little push is needed to get the cat to exercise.

Has the cat recently been neutered? This can make a cat become over weight because their metabolism slows down so they don't need as many calories. Could be that and a combination of not enough exercise.

Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone. The cat was a rescue cat who had not had a good life before coming to my friend.

The cat doesn't do a lot just demands to be let in and out all the time but doesn't do much outside and less inside.

I thought the comment about IAMs was interesting because this cat has been getting two meals a day of that.

My cat also munches on iams all day. If she fancies she will also munch on the dogs food. She too goes out but just sits and observes what ever is going on in the garden. Our vet suggested putting her on a diet also So we just lifted her bowl during the day so she only eats twice a day but it made no difference as she was just eating the same amount. If we change her food She is sick. However our cat is partially blind from birth so has never climbed a tree or jumped any height she just potters about. She is 13 now very affectionate and is happy so i understand how difficult it is to make them loose weight.