You may have noticed that your cat is a little plumper. In Spain, 28% of felines are overweight and 33% are obese, according to recent data from the Obesity Prevalence Survey of the Association for the Prevention of Obesity in Pets. These figures describe a fairly common reality. The problem is that being overweight can increase your cat's risk of developing diseases that limit its life expectancy and quality of life.
But how can you know if you are far from your ideal weight? A cat is overweight when it registers 10% more than its ideal weight and is obese when the figure exceeds 20%. Having those extra “kilograms”, even if they are seemingly small changes in weight, also entails changes in your body condition. The ideal weight of a cat can vary depending on its physical structure. For this reason, to establish whether a cat has excess body fat, it is more reliable to assess its body condition than to know its weight.
To assess your cat's body condition you can look at several signs. If you are at your ideal weight, your ribs should not look marked, but can be easily palpated under a thin layer of fat. On the other hand, if it is above the recommended weight, the layer of fat will be so thick that it will not allow you to easily feel the ribs or vertebrae. Furthermore, in overweight and obese cats the waist line is not visible and their body usually has a rounded appearance.
Another way to know if your cat has gained too many “kilograms” is to lay it on its side and look at the line of its abdomen. If his weight is correct, the silhouette of his abdomen should be drawn in with respect to the sternum, while, in the case of overweight and obesity, the abdomen will increase in volume and the abdominal fold will disappear.
Although it is often obvious, excess fat may not seem worrying to many pet parents, until there comes a time when it is. This is not an aesthetic issue: overweight and obesity in cats also increase the risk of suffering from a series of pathologies that reduce their quality of life. The most common are metabolic diseases such as diabetes, liver disorders such as fatty liver, oral, urinary, joint and dermatological problems; in addition to tumors, intolerance to exercise and heat, and a greater risk of suffering unwanted effects during anesthesia, in case medical intervention is necessary.
Your cat may be overweight for several reasons. If your feline has been sterilized, you should know that sterilized cats tend to gain weight due to a decrease in the production of sex hormones that causes a slowdown in their energy expenditure at rest (basal metabolism), with a consequent increase in fat. body and a decrease in muscle mass. Also, have you noticed him hungrier? The decrease in sex hormones after sterilization increases their appetite and makes them less physically active.
On the other hand, if your cat has not been sterilized, another cause may be inadequate nutrition. Cats' nutritional needs—like ours—change over the years and must be adapted to their circumstances. Feeding a young cat is not the same as feeding a senior feline. It is also essential to respect your daily ration and not go overboard with sweets. Be careful, because sometimes some pet parents confuse a meow to ask for attention with a demand for food and end up giving their cat more food.
Another factor that may be behind your cat's overweight or obesity is the imbalance between energy intake and calories burned. Therefore, if your cat eats a lot and moves little, or has a specific ailment that prevents it from moving normally, it has all the numbers to accumulate excess fat. Finally, according to experts, there may also be a genetic component behind the tendency towards obesity in felines and some drugs that increase appetite or slow down metabolism can contribute to overweight.
If you suspect that your cat is overweight, contact your veterinarian: you must evaluate its health, establish the level of overweight and make a plan for it to gradually return to its ideal weight.
The first point of this plan is to select a type of diet adapted to your characteristics and weight loss needs. It is essential to respect the corresponding ration and follow your veterinarian's instructions, in addition to avoiding giving sweets or other extras.
Another key aspect of the plan is to promote physical activity, even linking it with food. At mealtime, you can use food-dispensing toys and interactive feeders, hide some of his food around the house to invite him to explore, or throw some grains of food, one at a time, for your cat to hunt for. The game will also help you make your cat more active by having fun. You can awaken their hunter instinct with toys that are the size of a mouse, light, and that can easily move simulating prey.
A good option is to schedule activities with several game sessions a day and a few minutes in duration. In that sense, you can create a more complex space for your cat by installing multi-level scratching posts that encourage him to move, offering him objects to explore, such as cardboard boxes, or leaving him controlled access to the outside. In any case, specialists warn that, for a cat that is already overweight and very sedentary, exercise must not only be regular but must increase progressively.
Now that you know that being overweight can be a problem for your cat's well-being, you must do your part to avoid it. If you see that your feline is gaining weight, remember that diet, physical activity and regular monitoring of its health are key. If you have doubts about what his ideal weight should be, look at the signs that show the presence of excess fat on his body and consult with your veterinarian if you have any questions about it. Keeping your cat at a healthy weight will help prevent diseases that can reduce his quality of life.
*Source used to make this article:
Is my cat fat?
