Did you know that more than 40% of cats in the US are considered obese? That’s a staggering number. According to thePetCenter.com, “only 5 to 10 percent of all cats can be classified as only slightly overweight.”

Obese cats are at much higher risk than cats of normal weight to have diabetes, arthritis and Hepatic Lipidosis, a very serious disorder. The cause of obesity is very similar to that in humans. The rule of the thumb is that if an animal consumes more calories than it burns, the body will store the excess energy (in a form of fat). The more excess calories it accumulates, the bigger the body will expand. A cat’s diet as well as its active level are the main reasons why some cats are exceptionally larger than others. [Is My Cat in Good Shape?]

Any cat that is overweight should have a physical exam performed, exact weight measured and blood and urine tests run. – Obesity in Cats… and What to Do About an Overweight Cat

Many cat owners doubt that their cat’s obesity has anything to do with their food intake because they think their cat “hardly eats a thing.” They blame it on lack of exercise or sitting on the couch too much. The truth is that “THE main reason for feline obesity (as well as obesity in other mammals) is the consumption of too much food.” – Obesity in Cats… and What to Do About an Overweight Cat

I was watching a TV show the other day. A cat owner was puzzled by her cat’s heavy, wobbly shape. She followed the feeding directions religiously and only fed her cat twice a day. Not only did her cat show no sign of improvement, to make matter worse, he managed to add a few more pounds. She took the cat to the veterinarians several times to have his thyroid checked out. Everything turned out negative. She even went for a second opinion to see if there was anything else that had not been discovered. All the efforts were to  no avail. Finally, her regular veterinarian suggested to cut down the food consumption by 1/3 and come back in a few weeks. To her and her vet’s surprise, the cat’s weight finally came down.

There are a lot of questions about how accurate feeding directions are. The feeding directions are merely provided as a recommended guide. Every cat is different in some way. They may need more or less of the amount suggested depending on the cat’s physical shape and health condition. There are many products out there claim to provide weight control. They are usually tagged with the word “light” which indicates a light, low calorie diet. However, be careful with it because if light means lower protein and other nutrients, it can make your kitty more hungry and crave for more food. Cats’ digestive system is designed for dense, energy packed foods. They require a meat based diet that does not have to come in a large quantity. In fact, if you feed them a high quality cat food, they do not seem to eat much at all.

There are many wet canned food choices out there that cost quiet a lot per can, but each serving is small, so in fact you are spending about the same, but your cat is getting adequate nutrients without overeating. Dry food can be a good snack, but it is one of the biggest contributors to feline obesity today. The reason that cats may overeat if fed only dry food is because dry food contains less high quality protein than most wet food. Cats desire many vital nutrients they need and may continue eating until they have obtained those nutrients. Often that results in overeating. With high quality wet food, this type of problem can largely be avoided.

No matter how well a brand of dry food is made, it has to be processed, dried and mixed with some type of carbohydrates or low grade protein. Those are not the primary nutritional needs for cats. It is not uncommon to see cats keep nibbling on their dry food and not able to stop eating. [Does Your Cat Food Contain Corn as a Primary Ingredient?]

We all know how cats crave mice and birds as a food source.  A natural source of nutrition for carnivores, mice and birds are a perfect diet for a cat.  Did you know that a mouse or a bird is composed of only 3 to 8 percent carbohydrate?  And most of that is actually from what the prey was eating and is in the prey’s digestive tract.  The rest is water, a few minerals, and mostly protein and fat. - Obesity in Cats… and What to Do About an Overweight Cat

Carbohydrate is harder for cats to digest because they do not have the enzyme which helps break down the carbs in the mouth, unlike humans and dogs, we have saliva to help digest carbohydrates. A meat based diet with high quality protein and fatty acids is important for cats to maintain healthy weight.

Most of overweight cats have the tendency to lie around all day without getting any physical activity. Like humans, if we do not exercise, we lose our muscle mass. With extra calories we put into our body, we begin to gain weight. Over a period of time, our metabolism goes down and the body fat percentage shoots up. Obesity is also one of the main causes of depression in humans. That can happen in cats too.

Getting an obese cat to lose weight needs to be done gradually… no crash diets allowed!  Cats have a unique metabolic response to fasting and whenever a feline’s food intake is rapidly and markedly depressed, a serious and potentially fatal disorder can occur called Hepatic Lipidosis. – Obesity in Cats… and What to Do About an Overweight Cat

Exercise is especially necessary for kittens. It helps build up their immune system and develop a strong, healthy body. Your interaction with your cats in a physical activity is an excellent way to bond with your cats while getting them in shape. In order to improve your cats’ physical level, you can purchase toys that allow you to play together. If you have a tight schedule which keeps you away from your cats, you could “consider adopting a friendly and playful cat from the local shelter so the solitary cat has ’someone’ to interact and play with.”

I feed my cat a combination of dry and wet food with 80% wet and 20% dry. My kitties’ daily activities are fetch, feather wands and various jumping and running playing sessions.

Obesity in Cats… and What to Do About an Overweight Cat has a lot of great tips about what we should feed our cats and what we can do to help a big furry to lose weight in a healthy and effective way.

Read more here.

1 cup chicken, boiled or microwaved 1/4 cup fresh broccoli, steamed 1/4 cup shredded carrots, steamed Chicken broth Mix ingredients with enough chicken broth to hold together. This same recipe can be used with fish (broil or microwave until it flakes.) You can also vary the recipe by adding rice or other vegetables.

I've wanted to write on the topic of pet food for ages, but I didn't really know where to start. Frankly, there is such a huge variety of pet foods on the market today, it is impossible for me to know each of them in detail.
I am often asked, "What is the best food for my cat/dog/kitten/puppy?" That is the million-dollar question. What is the best food for our pets? Is it kibble? canned? what brands? raw food?
I don't have the scientific answer, sorry everyone. However, I do have some facts to share, which everyone should consider when choosing what to feed their pet.
Dogs are omnivorous, which means their gastro-intestinal tracts have evolved to digest meat and plant material. Wild dogs are mostly carnivorous but will also eat berries and plant material when available, though one study showed the latter did not exceed 1% of the material in their stomachs. Domestic dogs likely branched off from wild dogs about 100,000 years ago, though this date is highly controversial with hypotheses ranging from 12,000 to 140,000 years ago. I suspect it is closer to the latter, though I certainly have no proof of this. My point is that humans and canines co-evolved in symbiosis, with the humans benefiting from having canines as protection, while their canine counterparts adapted by taking scraps from humans, and with time, precluding the need for the group hunt.
We know from canine behaviour that dogs are quite the indiscriminate eaters, and will often eat things they are not supposed to, including non-food items. Therefore, just because a dog will eat a loaf of bread or your favourite pantyhose, does not mean it should be doing so. Domestic dogs are not wild dogs, but their biology is constrained by their relationship to them. This means that things like their eating habits and behaviour (amongst many other things), evolved from the eating habits and behaviour of wild dogs.
I apologize for my loquaciousness, but having said all of this, and with the knowledge that at least 50% of our companion dogs are obese, I think that dog foods should closely approximate those foods eaten by their ancestors: diets high in protein and low in carbohydrate (such as wheat, corn, etc), and balanced in vitamins and minerals (such as calcium and phosphorus). Protein contains less energy than carbohydrate and carbs are diabetogenic, more so than protein. Combine all of this with a strict calorie-counting diet, and our dogs would be in much better shape (i.e., not the shape of a coffee table).

Cats are obligate carnivores, plain and simple. Their diets should approximate the nutritional make-up of, say, the small rodents they eat. Throw a mouse into a blender and voilà: high-quality canned food! I know the comparison is quite macabre, but it's true.
Most diabetic cats fed a diet that is exclusively a high-protein CANNED diet, will have their insulin requirements decreased and often go into remission.
Personally and professionally, I believe that cats should be fed as much (high-quality) canned food as possible.

More on pet foods in the future...

Not funny, folks...

Well, I can finally say that everything is back to normal, for now. Walter has been feeling much better for the past two days, and thus getting in much more trouble, as per usual. You can especially tell first thing in the morning when he feels compelled to wake you up prior to your alarm clock ringing by leaping off his cat tree and onto your belly signifying that it's BREAKFAST TIME! And boy, has his appetite come back with a vengeance. Because he hasn't been through enough lately, I'm starting him on a strict diet. Poor guy. Since we brought him home from the shelter, he has gained just under 5 pounds (in 7 months) and that number is steadily climbing, he's a grand total of 15 pounds. In all honestly, he doesn't look that big, but he sure has a belly pouch hanging off him, and it's especially noticeable since it's been shaved for the ultrasound, truthfully, it kind of looks like a bum in the front...

The vet at work suggested trying him on a homemade diet. There's a great website called http://www.balanceit.com/, where both pet owners and veterinary professionals can go to to order balanced homemade diets constructed by veterinary nutritionists for a variety of health problems. The only thing is, while I was searching for hypoallergenic diets, the two diets that came up were ostrich and venison based. Now venison is a bit easier to find here in Alberta, if you know someone who hunts elk or deer, but ostrich? Where the hell am I going to find ostrich meat? Don't get me wrong, I love Walter, I'd do anything for him, but honestly, I don't think going out and trying to find ostrich in the Canadian prairies is going to be the easiest or most cost effective thing I've ever done. Sorry Walter, but it's canned Iams for now...