It is very hard to see gradual weight gain in a cat. It creeps up on us and our cat. The same can be said for gradual weight loss once you have decided to put your cat on a diet because your vet has told you your cat is obese. Weigh-ins every week will ensure that you keep an accurate eye on your cat’s weight if it is a concern. Baby/pet scales are cheap on Amazon (although ‘cheapness’ is relative to one’s income/budget). It is not a big financial outlay. Taking a cat to a veterinary clinic for weighing is out of the question for me because of the hassle and the stress to my cat. My cat is not overweight but if he was or if I was concerned I’d buy pet scales.
Obesity is a major cause of ill-health in cats and people. In cats, obesity increases the risk of:
- skin disease
- lower urinary tract disease
- arthritis
- sugar diabetes
The negative health ‘spin-offs’ from being overweight are substantial. If there are concerns it would pay to buy some pet scales to keep an eye on things and to help generate a focus and a regime to manage your cat’s weight more effectively.
Some pet food manufacturers do low calorie diets labelled using words such as for ‘neutered cats’. These may help to keep weight down in a permanent diet provided it is not dry food. Cats should not be permanently on dry cat food, in my opinion and in the opinion of may others.
Dr Fogle DVM MRCVS says that purebred cats are less likely to develop obesity than moggies. I haven’t heard that before and he proffers no reason for it. It seems improbable.
I think the reason that moggies gain more weight than purebreds may be due to the fact that purebred guardians may watch their diet better, for a couple of reasons: 1)They may be showing them and 2)They’ve usually paid a good sum of money for these cats, and they want to keep them healthy.
Just my guesses!