We love our cats and for many owners, a well-fed cat is proof of a well-loved and well-cared for cat. Consider this, however - by nature, cats are fabulous athletes, and two pounds of extra weight on a cat is like 44 pounds of extra weight on you! How would you feel as an athlete in an overweight body?
Cats are masters of manipulation. They are quite good at training their 'humans' to feed them very palatable food. The cat will ask, beg and meow so pitifully that we cannot resist giving them some very tasty and often fatty food. If you put down a less than tasty food, your cat sulks, walks off and refuses social contact with you!
However, are you certain your cat is asking for food? He may be asking for attention but being rewarded with food, he will expect food the next time he asks for attention. And you think he is happy because now his attention turns to the food instead of you. Cats need to eat 10 to 20 times during the day. Unlike dogs and humans, cats do not connect eating to a social event! He may be asking for food if you have him on a restricted feeding regime for weight loss. Go ahead and feed him, but in small amounts at one time, and within his total day's caloric need. Try playing a toss and catch game with his kibble for some social interaction. He wants attention, contact and games!
One way to solve this dilemma is to offer a tasty low-fat food in a toy, which will make the cat hunt for food, a natural behavior. Or hide his kibble around the house and watch him hunt. Cats need the opportunity to hunt, especially indoor cats. Provide the hunting opportunities via play. Toys need to mimic natural prey and stimulate your cat's hunting behavior. Good hunting toys have rapid and unpredictable movement, high-pitched sounds, small "prey" size (think mouse) and the ability to supply food. Rolled up paper or foil balls and plastic water bottle caps on a smooth surface are good toys. Fishing rods with feathers or other small toys are excellent; pampas grass can be attractive as it offers variable texture and unpredictable movement. Puzzle feeders, which make the cat work to get the food, are excellent. Make sure the food is part of the cat's total caloric intake for the day.
Most cats sleep 12 to 18 hours a day. Privacy, warmth and elevation are important factors when considering your cat's sleeping locations. Cats will change their locations regularly, which may be related to parasite control in the wild.
For the indoor cat, climbing trees offer the opportunity to climb, balance and scratch. Many have small toys attached, which offer them the opportunity to practice paw-to-eye coordination. A good scratching post is important to your cat; it needs enough vertical height for the cat to fully extend its limbs. It must be sturdy so it doesn't wobble while the cat scratches on it, and the texture should be rough and uneven and allow the cat's nails to dig deeply into the surface.
Be careful not to starve your cat. Cats can develop liver disease from weight loss that is too rapid. Cats need to lose no more than one percent of their body weight per week. In a 15-pound cat, that is only 2.5 ounces per week, so it is difficult to see your cat's progress. Take your cat back to the clinic to be weighed after a month of dieting. You can tell if he is losing weight by determining whether he is playing more or is generally more active. Short bursts of energy will turn into longer playtimes once your cat starts losing weight.
Sharon E. Anderson, DVM
