Scratchings-and-Sniffings

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Tubby Tabbies Posted: 21 Jan 2010 10:14 AM PST I attended an interesting talk on feline obesity this week. You might wonder what is new under the sun about weight loss? It's pretty much about limiting the calories in and encouraging more to get burned up. While that's still true, I did learn quite a bit of new information and I was exposed to a really nice web site on the subject.  Petobesityprevention.com is loaded with pet weight loss information and helpful tools to make your quest for feline fitness more successful. I really liked the tips on feline exercise!    So what did I learn?    One new study indicates that up to 40% of adult cats may be obese. We used to say 25% but it looks like things are getting worse. I also learned that boredom plays a big role in weight gain. The more you can do to enrich your cat's life through play- toys, window perches, cat habitats and human interaction will help take their focus off food.   Speaking of food, it's so tasty these days that cats love to overeat. You can't really blame the pet food companies for that. After all it would be a poor selling point to make something that didn't taste that good. Another tidbit is that feeding a cat just ten tiny kibbles a day more than she needs will lead to gaining one pound or 10% of her body weight in one year.   How much should a cat eat? That depends on a few factors. In the wild, a cat will maintain its weight of 8-10 mice per day. Most cats will do well on 40-50 kcal/ kg/ day and that's what 8-10 mice would provide. Most high quality cat foods can have more than 300 kcal per cup and that just seems like too little food for most cat owners. The problem with over feeding seems to be that people don't measure the food and they tend to keep the bowl full throughout the day. Bad idea. You should always be able to see the bottom of the bowl and you should not freak out if it's empty.   Another key factor is whether your cat is spayed or neutered. If so you should routinely reduce the amount you feed by 20-25% to prevent weight gain. How many of you were ever told that little fact by your vet?   The type of food is important, too. Weight loss is best achieved by feeding a diet that has a higher percentage of calories from protein. A good weight loss diet should have 45% of calories from protein. Protein induces satiety, increases metabolic rate and preserves lean muscle mass during weight loss. You want the cat to lose fat, not muscle tissue. Take a look at PVD OM for cats and you'll get the idea about what a good diet looks like.   That being said there are over the counter options. The key is to ask your vet to help you figure out how much to feed. This involves estimating the amount of calories it would take to maintain the cat at it's ideal weight not it's current weight. From there you 60-70% of that amount. With this regimen you can safely lose 1/4 to 1/2 pound per month.   OK, off to a chronic renal failure presentation.

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