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Is your cat overweight or headed in that direction? Want to know how to get a fat cat slim? Whatever your fat cat concern, this is the right read for you.
How to Tell if Your Cat is Overweight
There are plenty of ways to tell if your cat is tipping the scales (or going that way). Here are a few things to monitor to ensure your cat maintains a health weight:
You can see a “pooch” emerging at the level of her lower belly when they’re laying down or, more often, when they’re standing up and walking around. No longer do they have the straight across or even slightly tucked-in belly of a young kitten. The lower abdomen hangs down lower than the chest and even waddles as they walk.
Viewed from above, overweight cats lose their waistline. Instead of a straight line from chest to hips, their belly expands out in a pear shape.
It's harder to feel their ribs. You should be able to feel them with slight pressure just below the skin every time you run your hand across their chest.
They weigh more now than they did at their first “adult cat” visit. If they weigh more than that, they’re too heavy. The first weight as a yearling serves as a baseline for determining a healthy cat weight throughout their life.
How to Help Your Cat Lose Weight
Getting a plump kitty back into fighting shape isn’t impossible. The process is typically slow (and should be!), but it’s always doable.
The trouble is, there’s little scientific evidence to indicate that any one weight loss method is more successful than another. In practice, many of the so-called weight loss diets prove frustratingly ineffective, or even counterproductive (fat cats get fatter), which makes getting to slim seem like an impossibility.
Nonetheless, there are methods that have shown themselves tried and true to veterinarians like me who work diligently with committed clients to achieve significant weight loss. Here are some of my tips and tricks:
Feed a Wet Diet
Improving a cat’s hydration status can improve their weight situation. We’re not sure why, but we believe it has to do with supporting normal metabolic functions. Cats seem to be better hydrated when they take their fluids with their solids, so vets recommend either wetting their dry food or feeding a pre-moistened commercial diet. Adding extra water to an already wet diet can offer further inducements for weight loss.
Do Not Allow Cats to Graze
Cats with constant access to food take in more calories and tend to be lazier overall. Feeding them a consistent amount at regular mealtimes (as most people feed their dogs) is strongly recommended. Training them to this new routine also makes it easier for multi-cat households to feed cats individualized diets to help meet each cat’s specific needs.
Feed Three or More Times a Day
The newest recommendations for feeding involve increasing the frequency of mealtimes to simulate a cat’s normal biology. The rationale is that domesticated cats are small game hunters and their bodies are attuned to eating three to five times a day or more. If we simulate that by feeding them at least three times daily, their activity levels rise and their metabolic rates are consistently higher. Adding one more meal at bedtime is the recommended approach.
Never Put a Cat on a Crash Diet
Calories should be only modestly decreased. If weight loss is hastened in an obese cat, their body might break down its own fat too quickly leading to a process we call fatty liver disease. If they’re losing more than 5% of their body weight every month, it might be too fast. Use a bathroom scale to keep track of your cat’s weight loss. Set a weight goal with the help of your veterinarian and a timeline to keep you on track.
Decrease Your Cat’s Calories After Spay/Neuter
Because sterilization typically happens when they start growing more slowly, this metabolic double-whammy can start the weight gain process as early as the first year of life. Cutting down their calories by switching to adult food at this time is ideal.
Increase Their Environmental Stimulation
Exercise is hard to do with cats. Instead, we focus on improving their environment so they’re enticed to move. Creating vertical spaces by putting shelves up high in the home and offering climbing opportunities with cat trees can be helpful. Scheduled playtime, catnip adventures, and new toys on a regular basis are recommended. Be creative!
Don’t Let a Cat Get Overweight to Begin With
It seems obvious, but prevention truly is key. Since cats are much more likely to be lazy, it’s important as owners to take steps to keep them trim. When they first start tipping the scales is the correct time to intervene. Often, that’ll start happening within the first year or two of life.
What are you waiting for? Get your scales out and get going.