Cats too fat? August 7, 2007
Posted by treveskyn in Uncategorized.trackback
on Aug. 6th reports now that research is indicating that diabetic cats in the U.K. are approaching the half million mark.
Fat cat!
Mice can relax. Even nesting birds can sing a little more cheerily.
Their number one enemy, it seems, is getting so fat he can barely be bothered to get off the sofa for a night’s hunting.
Vets have found that cats are imitating their owners’ couch potato lifestyle.
As a result of eating more and exercising less, more than a third of cats are overweight and the number of cases of feline diabetes has risen five-fold in 30 years.
Edinburgh University (U.K.) researchers estimate that one in 230 – or up to 400,000 pet cats – is diabetic.
“The lifestyle of cats is changing. They are tending to eat too much, gain weight and take less exercise . . . Unfortunately, just like people, cats will over-eat if they are offered too much tasty food, particularly if they are bored and have little else to do . . . so they have little to do all day but eat, sleep and gain weight.”
-Danielle Gunn-Moore, a professor of feline medicine
Take “Goliath” for example:
In addition, stressed-out Britons are increasingly relying on cats for companionship.
Vet Elaine Pendlebury said much of the problem was because of owners giving their cats calorie-laden treats.
She said: “People are feeding them things like sausages from their own table. Sausages are quite high in salt and quite fatty.
“If you want to give your cat a treat, give it a small bit of boiled chicken or, even better, play a game with your cat.”
The diabetes study, published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, looked at the veterinary records of 14,000 cats, coupled with questionnaires filled in by owners.
Cats are not the only pets to be losing the battle of the bulge. A quarter of dogs are clinically obese and overweight rabbits and even hamsters are also a common sight in vets’ surgeries.
Garfield ain’t nothing to this!
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