Reducing Overweight Cats

Reducing Overweight Cats

Overweight Cats

Owning overweight cats is going to cause the premature death of  beloved pets. There are many different reasons as to why a cat can become overweight, it can be due to overfeeding and this can include any hunting that they might do as well as a lack of exercise.

It is important that you consider the health of your pet, this means that you take care of the food that they eat as well as providing them with the correct amount of exercise and opportunities which they can release some of the excess calories that they have consumed.

This article looks at the topic of owning an overweight cat; it can affect their lives in many ways and can add undue pressure on to their bodies and increase the chances that the cat might die a premature death.

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/overweight-cats

“Obesity develops when energy intake exceeds energy requirements. The excess energy is then stored as fat. Once a pet is obese, he may remain obese even after excessive caloric intake stops. The majority of cases of obesity are related to simple overfeeding coupled with lack of exercise.
Obesity is less common in cats than in dogs. It has been suggested that cats have a much better ability to regulate their own energy intake.
Is your cat too fat? As a subjective assessment of body condition, you should be able to feel the backbone and palpate the ribs in an animal of healthy weight. If you cannot feel your pet’s ribs without pressing, there is too much fat.
Also, you should see a noticeable “waist” between the back of the rib cage and the hips when looking at your pet from above. Viewed from the side, there should be a “tuck” in the tummy—the abdomen should go up from the bottom of the rib cage to inside the thighs. Cats who fail these simple tests may be overweight.
An additional factor to be considered when managing obesity in cats is hunting. It may be necessary to confine your cat to the house to prevent “additions” to the diet.”

It is important to realise that having an overweight cat can be a form of cruelty; you are putting the health of your pet at risk.

There are ways that you can change the weight of your pet, but this will take some dedication and time for the changes to become visible on your pet. You will need to be disciplined and you will need to reduce the food and remove any uneaten food. But you will need to make your cat exercise too, this can be challenging for cats that have an increased weight, they too will find the change in you difficult to adjust to. But what you will have to do is to persevere, it will make your cat healthy and this can mean that you have the ability of having your cat around for more years than you ever expected.

Healthy pets are important part of ownership of an animal; you must take care of all their needs and not have overweight cats.