What affects us affects cats
In the 1950s, in the UK, less than 1% of the population were clinically obese. Now, almost 30% of British citizens can be classified as obese. Shockingly and in a very bad sign for the future, more than 25% of 10-year-old children are also obese. How did the world get into this terrible obesity …
It is been hammered into us over recent years by the news media: there is a pet obesity epidemic in the UK and USA. I’ve seen various data on the percentage of cats (my area of operation) that are obese as stated by veterinarians and it’s around 50% both in the UK and USA. …
Veterinarians in North America are failing their cat patients because they don’t want to address head on the sensitive subject of cat obesity with their clients for fear of offending them. There are other reasons one of which might be that veterinarians are often tied to pet food manufacturers such as Hills whose main product is dry cat food. This restrains the vet’s ability to discuss diet.
In recent decades, both humans and domestic cats have seen rising rates of obesity, often within the same households. While much has been written about the health crisis facing humans, the parallel issue among our feline companions is frequently overlooked. Yet veterinarians are sounding the alarm: domestic cats, particularly those living indoors, are becoming …
The title describes one interesting aspect of study into normalising overweight and underweight cats (and dogs) which I address below. Unfortunately, it happens too often, nowadays. Caregivers tend to overestimate their cat’s weight if they are underweight and underestimate their cat’s weight if they are overweight. This is normalising cat weight. It’s a blind …
The definition for obesity if different for cats and people. Surprisingly for domestic cats ‘obesity’ is defined as ‘greater than 15% above an ideal weight’. Not much above an ideal weight which is why a lot of domestic cats fall into the obese category. Obesity is the ‘most prevalent nutritional problem in pets in …
The question in the title is current as according to VCA Hospitals in the United States, almost 60% of domestic cats in that country are overweight. There is a domestic cat overweight problem in the UK as well. A domestic cat is considered overweight when they weigh 10-20% more than their ideal body weight, …
In my opinion, there are three reasons why there is a current so-called “cat obesity epidemic”. The three reasons are (a) uncontrolled feeding (b) dry cat food and (c) normalizing obesity.
