What is a healthy weight for a cat?

 While there is something endearing about a chubby cat there are no health benefits to being overweight. A significant issue for cats is an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes mellitus, which interestingly, is not a common issue for overweight dogs.




Body condition scoring is a useful tool, although I find it trickier to do for cats than dogs. To keep it simple the width across the lumbar spine (between the ribs and pelvis) should be narrower than the depth of the trunk. The trunk of a cat with a healthy weight should be 1.5 to 1.75 times the width. The points of the vertebrae along the middle of the back and the bones of the pelvis either side of the spine should be felt with gentle pressure. If your cat is getting wide across the back and looking more of a square shape than a rectangle it is very likely they are overweight.


Putting a cat on a diet can be challenging so preventing them getting chubby in the first place is best. If they are becoming overweight they are eating more than they require and their diet needs tweaking. Cat biscuits tend to be have more energy per amount fed and so merely reducing the amount fed is often not effective and leads to a hungry, vocal cat. For the sake of peace and harmony the cat usually wins the food restriction battle. There are biscuits available with less energy per amount fed and soft food has more bulk so can be an option to reduce the calories consumed and have the cat feel satiated.


Cats more than dogs, can get diseases that cause fluid to build up in their abdomen which can make them appear fat but often the bones along the back are easily felt. These cats need to see the vet promptly as this indicates a significant health problem.

Hills body fat index for cats which includes common health risks for overweight cats.

If your cat sits in the green zone on the Hills BFI they are a healthy weight.


If you’re unsure whether your cat is at a healthy weight, contact Scamps for further advice.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

At Home Euthanasia

Image
What Happens With Home Euthanasia Euthanasia is the practice of ending the life of a pet to limit the pet's suffering. Euthanasia of a dearly loved pet is not easy. An at home euthanasia is more peaceful than going to a vet clinic. It is more personal for you and more comfortable for your pet. This is how I help pets pass peacefully.  Sedation is the first, slower step.  Sedation is given with a simpler injection which is less stressful for your pet.  They slowly get very sleepy.  Sedation works best when your pet is relaxed.  The home environment is familiar and much less stressful than a clinic.   Euthanasia itself requires an overdose of anesthetic drug to be injected into a vein.  Most commonly a catheter is placed in a vein in a leg.   After sedation your pet is barely aware of this step.  The injection that ends the pet’s life works reasonably quickly. With the pet already very sleepy, we mostly notice the breathing stop a...
Read more

Why Clipping Dog's Black Nails is Tricky

Image
WHY CLIPPING DOG'S BLACK NAILS IS TRICKY                Comparing human nails to dog nails  Trimming human nails is straightforward – the pink is sensitive and the white part can be cut painlessly.  Imagine that a human fingernail, instead of being flat is like a curved macaroni tube starting at the base of the nail. This curved tube contains the bone of the end of the finger, skin, blood vessels and nerves. The tube is painted black so the sensitive pink area is not obvious.  How would you approach keeping your nails trimmed? Would you go to the nail salon and have the manicurist take a best guess and boldly cut them quite short so you didn’t have to come back too often? If you’re lucky she would avoid the sensitive part of the nail. If she accidentally cut the sensitive area there would be pain, blood, a few expletives and no 5 star review.   Would you go back the next time your nails needing trimming and hope for the best? C...
Read more

Recognising Chronic Pain in Pets

Image
  Chronic pain is a persistent or waxing and waning pain. A common cause in pets, especially in the second half of life, is osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is inflammation of the joints, which over time may lead to an increase in the size of affected joints and a decrease in the range of motion. Lameness is relative. A pet with one sore leg and three non-painful legs will appear worse than a pet with multiple sore legs. To many people, a dog with arthritis in all four legs doesn’t seem to be lame. Just as in humans, arthritis begins with waxing and waning pain. Osteoarthritis in pets is a progressive condition, meaning it tends to worsen over time. The following signs may be seen as the arthritis progresses in dogs: Slower to get up from rest Stiffness after rest that the decreases as the dog gets moving Less able to cope with exercise and may lag towards the end of a walk Lame and more tired after longer periods of exercise, for example, longer walks on the weeke...
Read more