Obese cats:

Gasp! Say it isn’t so! If you think your cat is looking a little pudgy lately, you’re not alone. After all, oversight and obesity in cats is now the most common nutritional disorder among cats.

As for what classifies an obese cat as overweight? Being 15 – 20% overweight represents an obese cat. Since cats vary in their shapes and sizes it’s hard to determine a specific weight range as to what classifies an obese cat, however, it’s usually based on visual clues and feeling the cat. For instance, does the cat have a belly? Does it seem to have a lot of “padding” around those ribs? Is your cat active? Does it have a difficult time reaching its back to wash itself?

Keep in mind the abovementioned signs may not necessarily mean that you have an obese cat. Some cats may have loose skin as a result of pregnancy or weight loss. Anyway, obese cats are usually less healthy and equate to a shorter life span than healthier, leaner cats. Plus, obesity in cats has an adverse health effect since ramifications include cardiovascular disease, a form of sugar diabetes, a type of liver disease, and even lower urinary tract disease.

Due to the sedentary nature of house cats it is easy to see how it can become an obese cat. With less activity and more consumption, like humans it will likely pack on the pounds. Interestingly enough it’s not uncommon for overweight owners to have overweight cats; weaker willpower in humans translates to weaker willpower when a begging cat wants more to eat. If you have an obese cat, you should talk to your veterinarian as well as consider switching the cat’s diet. For instance, the BARF diet recreates an evolutionary diet where your cat will consume nothing but raw food it needs for a nutritious meal.

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