OK, so this post isn’t all about vegetable feeding or a feline vegetarian diets (which I’m not big on). If you’ve Googled up this entry in error, however, please consider reading it anyway.
Everyone always asks me how they can get their cats to lose weight. As someone who’s never had the pleasure of living with a fat cat (all my cats have been skinny Abyssinians adopted from the University of Pennsylvania’s genetic colony), I’m not sure I’m as qualified to answer this question as many of you are.
Sure, I can tell you what’ll happen when they’re too fat (diabetes, osteoarthritis, respiratory compromise, fatty liver disease, etc.) and I can treat them (usually). But I can’t always tell you how exactly to get the pounds off...at least not as well as many of you can.
That’s why this post is designed for you to flesh out...in the comment section below. In the meantime, here’s what I tell my clients:
1-Try the higher protein diets.
Cats are obligate carnivores. That means they need far more protein than many of our cat foods provide. Apart from being what they need, it also helps keep them feeling more “full” for longer. Because animal protein is expensive, commercial foods tend to eschew it in favor of plant proteins. But that sometimes also means higher glycemic index levels so...
2-Feed diets with low glycemic index carbs.
Choosing these means you get fewer fluctuations in blood sugar (glucose) and insulin levels. Not only is this potentially a way to have your cat feel fuller longer, it may hedge against the diabetes fat cats are predisposed to.
3-Play with their food.
Throw kibble across the room. Yes, really. Highly food motivated cats will happily scamper around for their kibble. And all you have to do is sit there and enjoy the fun. (I think it’s fun throwing kibble for my boyfriend’s cats. They’re no longer overweight thanks to this and other methods.)
Then there's the SlimCat feeding ball.
4-”Outsource” your feeding.
Consider purchasing an automatic feeder. It sometimes makes it easier when cats know that their food will arrive at a pre-programmed time unrelated to your daily activities. Not only does might it allow you to sleep longer, it could also mean fewer human guilt-related extra-feedings. (Beware, however, some wily cats know how to get at the kibble in the canister. Buy a non-cheapo version and it’ll help get around this possibility.)
5-Creep-feeding, anyone?
Got multiple cats? Separating them at feeding time is best but most of my clients report this isn’t so doable. OK, so maybe not. But building or buying a creep-feeding system can make all the difference for some feline families. In the commercial versions, an electronic collar allows certain cats to enter a box where the food lives.
In the DIY version, you simply buy a big Tupperware-style container and cut a hole in it too small for the fatties to enter. That way you “skinny” ones can eat their own food slowly, undisturbed by thievery.
6-Try treat alternatives.
Here’s where I talk about the veggies. Get them used to treat-veggies at an early age. Yeah, I know cats aren’t meant to be vegetarian but treats aren’t meant to replace their basic diet, either. Treats are for fun, right? And some cats adore treats like frozen corn, peas, broccoli florets, chopped carrots, even cauliflower.
Covering them in stinky cat food is one way to introduce them. Storing them in a bag with stinky cheese or liverwurst is another great tip (courtesy of one of you).
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So what do YOU do to keep your cats slim?
Sense a theme on Dolittler lately? It seems I just can’t keep myself from addressing the most obvious killer problem in our midst: pet obesity.
But how do you know if a pet’s fat? And just how fat denotes obesity? These are just a couple of problems I face in my daily life as someone who advocates for the best care of my individual patients.
Take the 158-pound Labrador retriever I’ve been dealing with for years now. Every year the owner arrives with his obese Lab in tow, waddling along and receiving stifled, open-mouthed gasps from everyone in attendance.
“Can you believe that...?”
Meanwhile, the owner is in complete denial. He argues that his dog is in near-perfect condition for a large Lab. Seriously. Despite the fact that his five year-old dog is already intermittently lame, walks like a Sumo wrestler sizing up his opponent and everyone thinks he is a she for all the folds that hide his male anatomy.
The owner’s rationale (excuse)? The dog shows display husky Labs. He only eats “this much” and “he’s solid, not fat.”
Yeah, he feels as solid as anyone would if their skin were stretched out that much.
Let’s face it, the dog is obese. But the owner swears he’s simply heavy and demands proof. The proof? Hmmm...
If you can’t see it before your eyes I don’t know how I’m going to help you on this one.
Nonetheless, I try. What did he look like when he was a year or two old? (My records have him at 95 lbs at his first annual). Well then, let’s call that a 3 on the body condition scoring system. And he’s now at a 5. I show him the chart I have posted in every room.
Beyond a 4, your pet is obese, I explain.
“Well, then,” he sarcastically demurs, “I guess I’ll just have to live with an obese dog because, to me, he’s perfect.”
How would you argue with that?
Broken bones happen every day. Whether it’s a toe, tibia or rib, injuries like this are among veterinary medicine’s most typical traumas.
That’s why Veterinary Pet Insurance has decided to put its database of pet health claims to good use by cataloging the most common reasons pets break their bones. Sourced from 5,000 claims from 2008, here’s the skinny:
#1 The “HBC”: Not surprisingly, “hit by car” claims the number one spot for fractures. A whopping 40% of all bone breaks were the result of this kind of “blunt trauma.”
#2 Jumping and #3 Falling
Both of these were home-based injuries for which owners described either jumping of falling, usually from their arms or from furniture. These comprise another 40% of bone breaks.
Then for the last 20% of claims:
#4 Fighting (with other animals, presumably)
#5 Slipping (usually while running)
#6 The object lesson (being struck by an object)
#7 Getting caught (in tight spaces)
#8 Another object lesson (running into a solid object)
#9 Underfoot (being stepped on)
#10 The car accident (passenger trauma)
OK, so now comes the big question: What are we supposed to do with this data?
Apart from the PR-worthy implication that pet insurance is worth the money is the obvious rationale for presenting it: Because preventing injuries helps everyone and knowing how they happen is eye-openingly beneficial. Nonetheless, what I really want to know is this: How much did the problem cost and how much was covered?
Thankfully, VPI also offers us info on the first part of my question. According to PetMD, who summarized this issue nicely:
“The most common bones that were broken were the upper arm or leg, the lower leg, the bones of the lower forelimb (radius and ulna), and the shinbone, costing an average of $1,500 for treatment. Broken bones of the pelvis and vertebrae were the most expensive to treat, costing an average of $2,400 to $2,600.”
My take?” It’s all well and good to offer up all the “gee whiz” info on pet fractures in a press release, especially if it means pet owners will take better care of their pets now that they’re armed with some facts (seatbelts, anyone?). But what I really need as a pet health insurance pusher are the gory details. Come on, VPI, give it up: Tell us how much you paid out.
Someone’s been killing cats in Miami. But it’s not the kind of shelter-style slaughter, tainted kibble death or antifreeze poisoning our culture’s grown so jaded to. No, this time it’s a bona-fide serial killer out for blood, skin, relics and pain.
Please discontinue reading this RIGHT NOW if you can’t stand the thought of a post on how a classically psychopathic individual develops a taste for bigger prey. While we’ve discussed this before on Dolittler, it’s never a comfortable read. This time less so because of the graphic nature of the gruesome deaths.
So far, 22 of these horrific cat deaths have been reported––all in the same neighborhood...skinned, mutilated, posed on lawns. Police have few clues and are warning residents to keep cats inside. In the meantime, HSUS has offered a $2,500 reward for the Cat Killer of Palmetto Bay.
But how to catch a cat killer? With a paltry cash award and a round of feline-related cautions? I don’t think so.
But the bigger story here, as always, is not so much to do with the catching of the killer...or even with the prevention of more cat deaths. Instead, I wonder more about how our society will treat a criminal like this if he’s ever caught.
As it stands, those who are convicted of anger management-related cat-killings get Michael Vick-style jail time. They get counseling. And then they get let out.
But what will a society do with one who leaves your cat on your porch with her face skinned and her entrails wound around her body? I wonder.
Ever flown with creatures in tow? Did you stress over the cargo hold’s temp, scheduling evening flights only? Or were you lucky enough to bring him aboard, “under the seat in front of you”? Did you have to brave the dirty looks from the middle-seater? Endure vet visits for inter-state transport health certificates? Submit to an extra $100 to $275 for her “ticket”?
So you know, it’s not easy to travel with your pets. Forget trains––they won’t take ‘em. Rental cars? Some specifically exclude pets. Flying or driving your own car is often the only viable option. And, unless you’ve got a four-pound frequent flier, you’ll likely have a stressful, expensive experience.
Next month I’ll be flying with my Sophie Sue to San Francisco. She’s been so not-quite-right lately that I can’t bear to leave her behind. But I worry about the tighter restrictions on air travel, her weight-limit issue (she’s 18 pounds so, depending on the airline’s restrictions, I have to “smuggle” her aboard), the nearby-passenger factor and the potential discomfort of it all (for her, not for me) during a four-and-a-half-hour, cross-country flight.
It’s almost enough to consider skipping it altogether, leaving her with loved ones and hoping no crisis befalls her. That’s the most common scenario for most pet people. Yet many of my own clients report that they fail to travel at all because their pet can’t travel with them. I don’t blame them. But it doesn’t seem fair, either.
Luckily, airline safety for pets seems to be improving. Careful restrictions on flight times and temperatures and the preponderance of information on how to travel safely with your pets now means only a “handful” of deaths every year in US carriers (according to an AP piece in Sunday’s Miami Herald). Sure, the soft stat may not inspire confidence for the extremely risk averse but it helps most of us to know that someone’s keeping track.
In any case, it’s clear our airlines have a long way to go before they begin to treat our pets in the manner to which they’ve become accustomed––as family members, that is. At least one carrier, however, is looking to change that.
As of July, Pet Airways out of Delray Beach, FL ("no humans please") will offer $250 one-way tickets for flying your pet between several major cities (New York, DC, Chicago, Denver and LA), with a $150 introductory rate to pique your interest. Not sure yet what that entails, but its arrival on the scene seems to bode well for the safer transport of pets. After all, if it’s their bread and butter you’d think it would translate into more personal care than the gorillas in cargo can muster.
Still, if we can’t travel with our pets what help is that? Unless I’m moving, I don’t expect an airline like this would appeal to me.
Remember the smoking sections of years past? Well how about a pet section? What if one flight a day between major cities was “pet-friendly”? I don’t know the answer, I’m just musing. But I do know there has to be a better way...
