Interesting story in the paper today, concerning a newly released study by the National Research Council on obese pets. According to the study, as many as 1/4th of all cats and dogs in the western world are overweight. And the problem is particularly acute with cats. The reasons are pretty clear. Many animals don't get enough exercise, and cats in particular don't. People want to love and baby their pets, and the popular way of doing that is to feed them. Feed them food, and more food, and snacks and treats. Dogs and cats don't know any better, they'll eat whatever is put in front of them often and won't care about getting fat. But fat pets live shorter lives and develop medical problems just like humans. child obesity is a big issue in this country, and pet obesity is related. people treat their pets like they do their children. they spoil them. Is your cat fat? Is your dog a widebody? There is a site the survey suggests, to learn more about proper nutrition for pets-- www.national-academies.org/petdoor Of course one issue is you can always exercise dogs more. My sister used to take her dog out to the track and make him run laps with her (which he did happily) But get a fat cat to exercise? surely you jest! Its a big issue37 responses total.
It really IS a slow summer in the news business, isn't it?
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I think you misemphasized it. National Research Council is the organization, and they did, commissioned, or reported on a STUDY on obese pets.
My cat is not obese, but she's nervous and burns off the caliories. My kitten is just too hyper to gain, yet.
I've heard that one cause of pet weight gain is that a lot of pet foods are heavily adulterated with grains as filler. This doesn't do a whole lot nutritionally, so the pet eats more of it. On my girlfriend's advice (she knows more about this stuff than I do) I switched my cat from Purina to Iams a few months ago. She seems to eat less now; at least, I have to fill the food bowl less often.
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Garfield is having an effect, I see...
So Purina isn't a good cat-food? I used to use IAMS but stopped after the story came out on how they treat their research animals. I really don't want to switch back to them. What would you suggest besides Purina?
I've heard good things about Science Diet. I guess it's a bit more expensive, but good in the nutrition department. You have now exhausted my knowledge of cat food products. :)
My penny-pinching brother has always fed his dogs the (much more expensive) no-filler canned food. He figures that Rover eating 5 times as much of a cheapo 4/5-filler food saves no money and means 5 times as much dog do to clean up in the yard.
I think part of it is that if you don't overfeed cats, they become convinced they are starving and will make pests of themselves. They just can't bear to see an empty food dish.
Re #11: Very true. That was one of Natasha "the pest"'s tactics; she'd demand that there be food in her bowl overnight, even if she had no intention of eating significant amounts of it. And in the morning it had to be replaced with fresh food.
My cat is fat at the moment because she was getting skinny so I switched her from the "less active" cat food to the "active senior" cat food. I feed her Iams. Anyhow, she eats the dog food half the time too and the dogs got switched from "less active" to "active senior" too so that probably has something to do with it. Anyhow, my cat cant stand an empty food dish. I always keep it full. Maybe I dont think it is such a big deal if my animals are fat because I am fat. Anyhow, all of my guys are healthy and that is what counts.
I had to feed my two cats separately a couple times a day to prevent them from eating too much. One was definitely too fat, the other had old-age bowel problems. Yeah, I had to put up with a lot of between-meal complaining, but it's all part of parenting I guess.
I used to think it wasn't such a big deal to have an obese cat, either. Turns out, that probably decreased my late cat's lifespan by 7-10 years. (see pets:item42 for some discussion about fatty liver syndrome) N.B.: I'm not directing these statements at any particular grexer. Just please be aware of the risks of having an obese geriatric cat.
I have two cats - sisters. Murphy's weight is fine, Guinness's weight is high. Part of the problem is I let them graze. Not a good thing. I want to get a feeder that is set on a timer, to allow X amount of food at certain times of day, that way if I'm not at home, I don't feel guilty if they aren't fed. I also make sure they get wet food, as it's good for them as it has lots of water and protein.
I've had good luck with Purina Pro Plan. Cheap cat food always made Gomez sick, but he's been just fine the past week. It's not too expensive, and he seems to like it. The main ingredient is chicken, not a corn filler, so it's much better for him. He's never been overweight, since he's always been pretty playful, but the weak tummy was always a concern.
r Mittens seeks to have put on quite a bit of wight since we got the kitten. I don't know if this is because she is less stressed, or because she is getting less exercise, or what. But she has defenitely put on weight.
Maybe she's getting into the kitten's food? And what is the kittens name?
mughi, his name is Mughi. well, if she is, what is he eating? She also seems to be eating less, not more.
I don't know what the kitten is eating. Maybe the kitten is getting enough to eat. And kitten food, I think, will cause adult cats to put on weight. Just athought.
We haven't been feeding Mughi kitten food, since his previous owners were feeeding him and his siblings adult food. He seems happy and healthy enough with what he is eating. I'm just weired out by my petite Mittens getting a tummy.
somebody oughta link this to the Pets conf
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I thought my cat was gaining weight, so I switched her from grazing to two meals a day. I still think I feed her a little more than necessary, but she lost the extra weight, and has been vomiting less from it. The down-side is that I have to be home by 7:00 pm to give her her evening meal.
(Maybe Mittens is in a family way?)
No, she was fixed as soon as possible. And has never encounted any other cats except Conan (for the weeks we had him, and he's fixed, too, right?) and Mughi, who is too young to have working parts. :-) She's going to the vet's next week, for her annual shots, so we'll see whether they think it's a problem or not. I may try only filling her bowl in the evening and emptying it in the morning.
Conan is fixed, yes.
Sophie isn't my cat, but don't try telling her that, even though I strongly suspect she only likes me for my apartment. ;) My next door neighbor's cat, Sophie, loves to climb in my windows whenever I leave them open, or make a run for my door if she seems me going in or out. Actually, her affection for my apartment is somewhat mild. To get to my upstairs neighbors' apartment, if she sees a window open, she'll climb a tree and jump. Fortunatley, she has good aim. I've never fed Sophie; she has owners (or guardians, anyway; this is Berkeley) to do that, but if the windows or doors are open she'll show up in my kitchen every night at dinner time. If I do something like unload the dishwasher, which involves handling *plates* she'll really go nuts. Generally, I know better than to actually eat in her presence, but if I'm eating outdoors it can sometimes be quite hard to keep her off the table. There was one point last winter when I had a loaf of bread sitting on my kitchen counter, in a plastic bag. By the time I caught Sophie with it, there were little cat tooth sized holes in a circle all the way around the big, each one with a tiny little piece of bread crust missing from underneath. I suppose she has a right to be hungry. Spending her days prowling the neighborhood, and making mad dashes and leaps from trees when she sees an open door or window, could probably build up quite an appetite. She's a neat cat.
Hehe, there is a neighbor cat up at my folks house who thinks he owns all the houses on the street. On my brother's last visit, Ricky spend the night in his bed and in the morning he told my mother that he was suprised that they had gotten a cat. He is a cool cat but he does have some bad habits. One night he broke a screen at the neighbors and stormed in and got into a fight with their cats. He nearly did the same at my parents' house when my cat was staying there while I was out of town.
Sounds like a tomcat - keep him out or he'll eventually spray some nasty stuff in your house.
Just like Scott.
Ricky doesnt spray. He is fixed. He just thinks he is top cat. Anyhow, my mom used to try to keep him out of the house but has decided it isnt worth the bother.
Ricky doesn't spray his own territory: Perhaps, he will spray the neighbors. Felines neutered on the late side may spray when they are stressed by boundries being crossed. Certainly this happens less often with a neutered cat, but it can happen. I have a coat with lots of evidence on it.
My parents *are* the neighbors. He doesnt spray in their house so they let him in. Actually, it isnt so much that they *let* him in. It's that they dont kick him out now when he lets himself in.
I have two cats, Sox and Ebony. Sox isn't overweight, he's undertall. Ebony's not overtall, she's underweight ;-).
;)
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