Do you refer to your cat as a couch potato? Although the term seems amusing, the reality is that too many adult cats are overweight. Combine an endless food supply with lack of exercise and what do you get? A fat cat. Cats weren’t meant to be shaped like footballs. Cats are flexible, athletic, graceful, muscular animals, and it’s important that we don’t create an imbalance by providing large quantities of food without any way for them to work off the calories.

Luckily, cats don’t have to go to the gym and endure endless hours on the treadmill in order to regain their svelte shapes. For cats, exercise comes in the very fun form of play.  Your cat was born to be a hunter and that means he needs stimulation and activity on a daily basis.  It may have been quite a while since you last saw your feline couch potato chase a toy or hunt an imaginary mouse, but that mock-hunting activity is exactly what he needs.

First, have your cat thoroughly checked out by the veterinarian to make sure the increase in weight isn’t due to a medical problem. Once he gets a clean bill of health, your veterinarian can provide guidelines on what your cat should ideally weigh based on age, health, and body type.  Your veterinarian will outline how much food to feed on a daily basis during the weight-loss program.  Cats can’t go on crash diets because it’s extremely dangerous to their livers.  Weight reduction must be gradual. In many cases, it isn’t that too much food is being offered, it’s that too little activity is being done.  So dust off those cat toys and start playing with your cat on a regular basis.  If he’s very overweight, he may not be able to do lots of physical activity at first, but you’ll be getting his prey-drive in gear and those calorie-reducing juices will start flowing.

For more specifics refer to the book Starting from Scratch.

© 2009 Cat Behavior Associates, LLC