Fat Cat.

Owners of fat cats may be relieved to know that they are not alone with the problem. Just as obesity is increasing in humans. Experts estimate that the proportion of cats that are overweight has risen to almost 50 per cent. The problem with human children is so severe that it is thought likely this generation of kids will be the first to have. on average, shorter life spans than their parents. The cause of the problem is the same in both cats and children - too much food (particularly of the wrong type), and too little exercise.

Tipping the balance.
The equation is simple: if your cat eats more food than he burns up, he will put on weight. There are many factors that dictate how much he eats and how much he uses (see right), but the imbalance does not have to be great over a long period of time.

If a four kilo, two-year-old cat (a pretty normal weight) eats just ten calories a meal more than he needs, then by the time he is ten years old, his weight will have doubled to a hefty eight kilos. Bearing in mind that a cat will naturally eat about a dozen small meals a day (because he will normally be catching and eating small rodents), that only means he had to eat one extra kibble of dry food at each meal, or less than an extra dozen a day.

Food intake:
There are many different factors that influence how much a cat eats: Palatability: Room for just a few mouthfuls of your favourite dessert? Feeding a very tasty food will override the natural mechanisms that turn off hunger, in cats, just as in people. Food type: Cats have a fairly effective inbuilt mechanism to regulate their food intake to their requirement, but the calories are much more densely packed in a dry food and this seems to have the effect of confusing the regulatory mechanism.

Environment:
Cats living on their own, or with just one other cat, are more likely to become overweight than cats that share their home with several other cats. If the cat is kept indoors, this effect is exaggerated further. Some cats will be bullied out of eating food by a more dominant member of the group, and boredom probably stimulates them to visit the food bowl more often. It is also likely that cats in multi-cat households are more active (see right). Human bonding: Cats may be good for our health but we are not always good for theirs. Research has shown that owners who describe their cats as
'patient and understanding listeners', 'friends', or 'child substitutes' are more likely to own overweight cats than those who are less tightly bonded to their pets. Perhaps they just pamper them more!

Breed:
Common or garden domestic shorthair cats are more prone to obesity than Oriental breeds such as the Siamese and Burmese. This is suggests that there is a genetic susceptibility to obesity, or perhaps to staying slim.

Drugs:
Treatment with certain pharmaceutical products can increase appetite. The most common of these are corticosteroids, such as prednisolone or dexamethasone, which are commonly used in low doses for long-term control of problems such as allergic skin disease. Others include progestogens, which are female hormones, and anticonvulsants, used to control fits.

Burning up energy:
The other side of the equation is the rate at which food is metabolized, and there are several factors that may affect this: Activity: It's obvious that the more your cat exercises, the more energy he will burn up, and so the more he can eat without putting on weight. As a cat becomes overweight, he will tend to exercise less, which compounds the problem. Urban cats are much more likely to be overweight than those living in rural areas, as territorial pressures mean they exercise less, and are less likely to hunt.

Neutering:
This has a marked effect on the rate at which food is burned up, yet is pretty much essential in both male and female pet cats. It is probably wise to take preventative measures, in terms of mildly reducing calorie intake, immediately after the cat has recovered from surgery.

Age:
Just like humans, cats are likely to suffer from middle-aged spread, and the highest risk of obesity is when they are between six and eight years old. As cats become senior citizens, they often digest and absorb their food less efficiently than when they were young and may start to lose weight again.

The dangers of feline obesity being significantly overweight is more than just a cosmetic problem in cats. Problems that may result include:

An increased risk during anaesthesia, as well as a higher chance of developing post-operative complications, should any form of surgery become necessary.

Reduced resistance to infections.
This may take the form of skin infections, that form in the deep skin folds that obese cats tend to develop, or around the anus, or other areas that a very large cat may find difficult to groom and keep clean. There is evidence to suggest that obese individuals may also have a poorer resistance to infection, due to interference with the normal functioning of their immune system.

Lameness, and general lack of mobility, is often a problem, due to the extra strains put on the skeleton, muscles, and associated structures.

Lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) is significantly more common in overweight cats. It is probably due to the fact that they empty their bladder less frequently because they are lazier than their more lithe counterparts.

Adult onset diabetes mellitus is common in older cats, and there is a definite link between this condition and being overweight. Even cats that are mildly obese are four or five times more likely to develop the condition. In some cases, cats can come off treatment with insulin injections or blood sugar-lowering drugs, once the weight problem has been corrected. There is little absolute data on the effect of obesity on life expectancy in cats, but in dogs it has been estimated that even relatively mild obesity can reduce the average lifespan from 1 3 to 11 years in a breed such as the Labrador, a decrease of about 20 per cent. There is no reason to think that the situation in cats is any different.

Preventing obesity weighing your cat regularly, and keeping a record of fluctuations, will enable you to detect subtle changes early on, so that relatively minor adjustments can be made. Once a cat becomes seriously overweight it becomes very efficient at conserving its energy as it moves around less and is wrapped up in a wonderfully insulating layer of blubber. For these reasons, a fat cat may need less energy to stay fat than a thin cat needs to stay thin.

A relatively slight adjustment to the diet early on, particularly once the cat has been neutered, can have a major effect in the long term. Changing from a maintenance diet to a 'light' one may be sufficient, or reducing the intake by about ten per cent over the course of the day. Your veterinary practice will be happy to advise you on the best way to feed your individual cat.

Ten minutes of active play per day can be very effective at burning up energy and keeping weight down, as well as being fun for both the cat and its owner. This is particularly important for indoor cats. Some cats will chase after the light spot from a laser pointer, others enjoy playing with ping-pong balls, and most cannot resist the fishing rod-type toys, with lures on the end of a string. Hollow plastic balls that are designed to be filled with dry cat food will make the cat work to roll it around and get the food to drop out. Whatever type of toy is used, it will have to stimulate the cat's intrinsic hunting instincts.

Weight watching for cats.
Once a cat is seriously overweight, an owner will have an uphill struggle to get him back to normal. Minor alterations to his usual diet will be very unlikely to achieve much.
Many veterinary surgeries now run weight reduction clinics where overweight cats are put onto a special diet and their progress monitored by weighing every couple of weeks. This level of supervision can make a great deal of difference, as the owner is much more motivated to persist with the diet when he or she can see the progress that is being made, and any difficulties can be ironed out by the trained veterinary staff. A cat should be able to safely lose about 2.5 per cent of his body weight a week.

_{source Your Cat Mag.}