Overweight Cat Help

There are many reasons why it is important to keep your pet at an ideal body weight and body condition. Animals who are overweight or obese are more prone to serious life-threatening illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease or degenerative joint disease just to mention a few. Each and every time you come in to see our veterinarians at The College Manor Veterinary Hospital, your pet will receive a body condition score between 1-5. Typically, we would like to see all pets at a 3 as that means they are ideal. Anything greater than 3 is cause for concern and an action plan to be formulated by you and the doctor.

Is my cat fat?

If you cannot feel your cat’s ribs with light pressure, see a truck up in the belly area by their back legs and also see a nice silhouette of an indented waist when you are looking down on them from overtopping then, yes, your cat is fat. Now there are varying degrees of “fat”. During your cat’s annual preventive care exam our doctors will always assign a body condition score between 1 & 5. If your cat receives a 3, he/she is in excellent body condition and the conversation stops there Should you receive a 4 or a 5, then we need to be discussing weight loss initiatives to get back on track. Alternatively, if your pet receives a score of 1 or 2 then we may need to do some further investigation or diagnostic testing into the reasons behind your cat being too thin.

How can my cat lose weight?

The best way to help your cat lose weight is to feed him/her the appropriate amount of food. As we all know there are a thousand diets on the market to feed your pet and the calorie content of each of them is unique. The best way to start if your pet need to lose a few pounds is to ask for a food recommendation from one of our veterinarians. With that dietary recommendation would come a measuring cup to accurately measure each morsel your cat is eating and an appropriate feeding guide. Typically, we would recommend each morning to measure out the daily allotment we recommended and place it into a tupperware container. Once the container is empty, then your cat has had his/her daily amount and will need to wait until tomorrow for more. This way if there are multiple people feeding your pet in the home, everyone knows that once the food is gone it’s gone.

What is offered in nutritional consultation?

Whenever our veterinarians are asked to perform a nutritional consultation, they would assess the food you are currently feeding your pet and help you decide it there is a better option or the one you are feeding is adequate for the situation. They would explain to you how to read a pet food label, things to look for as well as avoid and work out the feeding guidelines depending on the diet chosen for your specific pet’s needs.