Overweight Cats

Babe is a 3yr old female cat that came into our care at Bridgend Adoption Centre after her owner sadly could not care for her any longer.

Babe’s was quite shy when she first came to the centre and was unable to move around and play a lot.

Babe was weighing in at 7.2kg! Was her inactivity due to her being overweight, or was this due to her settling in the centre environment? The vet agreed with the centre staff, it was time for a weight loss programme. The aim was to get Babe down to a healthy weight.

 

Babe in the centre at 7.2kg

 

Due to Babe being overweight and at such a young age, she was at a higher risk of diabetes, arthritis and heart problems so we were eager to start helping her to lose her excess weight.
As well as her special diet, we introduced a number of short playtime sessions throughout the day, where a cat carer spent time with her encouraging play with various different toys to avoid boredom.

The first week went well with her being satisfied on the new diet. She was engaging with her play sessions. We were all extremely pleased to see a weight loss and she was now weighing in at 6.9kg!

We continued with this regime over the next few weeks and then the time came when Babe was lucky enough to be adopted by an owner that was willing to carry on her weight loss programme at home.

It has been over a month now since Babe has left us for her forever home; we have had wonderful feedback from her new owners saying she has settled in well, playing with her toys and has lots of energy - which is fantastic news! She has definitely lost more weight, and as soon as everything is back to normal, she will be off to the vets for her weigh-in and check-up.  

 

Babe in her new home - a noticeable difference!

 

Cat’s protection has some great advice on Obesity in cats here: https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/diet/cat-obesity

Tips on how to help your cat lose weight:

·       Seek vets advice on a feeding regime, ensuring they get enough nutrients and a suitable diet.

·       Weigh food out daily to help control portions.

·       If you give cat treats, reduce the amount of normal food you provide.

·       Never starve overweight cats or put them on a crash diet, this can be potentially dangerous. A slow, steady weight loss is ideal. It can take up to a year for a severely overweight cat to reach its target weight.

·       Regular weighing is useful to monitor weight loss and most vets usually offer a weight loss clinic, but please check with your own vet.

·       Making meal times more enjoyable can help to stimulate your cat, so using puzzle feeders or wrapping some biscuits in paper for you cat to find, help add enrichment for your cat.

·       Exercise is vitally important to aid weight loss, especially if you have an indoor cat. Encouraging play is a great way to help, fishing rod toys and feather toys are great tools to do this.