While you don't love your cat any less for being overweight, the health threats related to extra pounds for felines are critical: diabetes, pancreatitis, gastrointestinal disease, painful arthritis, and more. Despite the difficulties associated with feline dieting, it's essential that you help your pet catapult the hurdles to achieve a more ideal weight.
Find Out What Cat Food Your Vet Recommends
A high-quality food designed specifically for felines not only keeps your cat healthy, but helps to avoid weight gain. Starches and carbohydrates, for example, are digested differently than proteins, having a major impact on metabolism, including energy.
Schedule a wellness check for your portly cat to discover the optimal food for losing weight, maintaining energy, and, of course, palatability.
Eliminate Possible Health Causes Of Weight Gain
While at the veterinary clinic, your cat's doctor can also investigate the possibility of health complications, which may be responsible for weight gain. An improperly functioning thyroid would contribute to weight gain, accompanied by a decrease in energy; thus, it's important your pet receives regular checkups, especially as they get older.
Although most overweight cats are simply over-fed, ensuring overall health through veterinary care before attempting a diet is the wisest course of action.
Count Every Kibble
Since it's challenging to reduce the intake of food for a feline without a lot of fuss, including constant crying for more, start small. Simply subtract a few kibbles from the usual amount given, gradually helping your pet adjust to a vet-recommended portion. Over-fed animals are conditioned to large meals, necessitating a gradual transformation of eating habits.
Adapt To Your Cat's Play Schedule
Unfortunately for both cats and owners, these animals tend to awaken in the evening hours. If your kitty leans toward the nocturnal life, try to adjust in some capacity, at least with respect to playtime for exercise. Even if you're day is winding down and you'd prefer to plop on the sofa or otherwise relax, engage your cat anyway for the sake of their health.
Invest In A Tall, Enticing Cat Tree
A cat's natural instinct is to climb, making an indoor apparatus the perfect product for stimulation and exercise. The taller, the better, but just make sure it's suitable for your pet's current abilities, given the excess weight.
Expect Moderate Results Over Time
Cats tend to lose weight slowly, despite an owner's best and constant efforts. Keep up the good work, even if you don't see immediate results. Follow up with your vet clinic, where measuring ounces can keep up the motivation. So long as you're not feeding too much or feeding the wrong type of food, and you're helping your cat be more active, the results you seek will come eventually.
With less of your cat to love, you'll ultimately have more time together and that makes the tough task of losing weight a battle worth fighting for both of you. Contact a veterinary clinic to learn more about keeping your cat at a healthy weight.
Share10 January 2022
When I moved into the town I'm living in now, there was a large population of stray cats. Unfortunately, that population kept growing in rapid numbers because none of the cats had been fixed. I knew that wasn't a healthy situation, so I reached out to a local shelter and a veterinarian to launch a trap-alter-release program. Within about a year, we had the entire population altered and released back to their environments. The logistics were significant, but not overwhelming. That's why I built this site. My goal is to teach others how to launch a similar program in their own neighborhood to help keep the stray cats healthier and safer.