Risks of Obesity And the Right Diet For Your Cat

Purebred cats are less likely to develop obesity than moggies. Neutered cats tend to gain weight more easily than entire animals. When a cat is neutered, the metabolic rate decreases by about 20 per cent so neutered cats require less food than intact cats to maintain body condition. Activity can contribute markedly to the energy requirements of an individual. Cats with decreased activity or restricted opportunities for exercise are at a greater risk of gaining weight than active cats. Intact cats have a tendency to roam. Neutering reduces the desire to roam and the amount of physical activity undertaken by the cat declines.

The age of the cat has also been related to the prevalence of obesity. Cats under 2 years of age, are less likely to be overweight, whereas cats between 2 and 10 years require less energy and are, therefore, more likely to be overweight. Geriatric cats (cats of over 10 years of age) tend to be underweight.

Feeding a diet that is very palatable and energy dense predisposes cats to overeating and encourages obesity, especially if such foods are available freely or used excessively as ‘treats'. In addition, there are certain medications that can predispose to weight gain, either by increasing the appetite or decreasing the metabolic rate. Drugs commonly associated with weight gain include corticosteroids (such as prednisolone), amytripyline and cyproheptidine.

A successful weight loss program may combine moderate exercises with a reduction in caloric intake. You may be able to help your pet lose weight by reducing the quantity of your current pet food fed, or by feeding the same quantity of a low fat, high fiber, reducing diet. Severely restricting your pet's regular food may result in your dog or cat receiving an inadequate supply of nutrients, which is why often times your veterinarian may recommend a special veterinary diet, formulated for obesity management.

Other suggestions which may help your pet to lose weight include:

Patience is the key to a successful weight loss program. it is important that you record your pet's weight weekly and carefully follow your veterinarian's recommendations. Your reward will be a healthier pet.

Health risks in obesity
Obesity increases the risks of the development, or the progression, of many diseases (see below).
Disorders for which obesity is a risk factor	Possible complications of obesity
Diabetes mellitus	Increased anaesthetic risk
Lower urinary tract (cystitis etc) disease	Decreased immune function
Joint stress and aggravation of osteoarthritis	Dystocia (problems giving birth)
Non-allergic skin diseases	Breathing problems (‘Pickwickian' syndrome)
Hepatic lipidosis (fat deposited in the liver)	=
Decreased stamina and exercise tolerance	=

WHAT SHOULD YOU FEED A CAT?

Cats, unlike us humans, obtain food satisfaction less from carbohydrate than they do from protein intake. One mouse would make a good meal for an average sized cat. A typical mouse is made of 20% Protein and 9% Fat and lots of moisture. And now that you know that the cat is a true carnivore, that its metabolic pathways have been set by natural evolutionary processes to efficiently utilize meat protein as a major component of the diet, you understand why a carbohydrate rich diet simply does not make sense for felines.

Cats are not plant-based grazers; they are hunters of other animals and to reach an optimum state of health they must to comply with what nature programmed them to be. There are no vegetarian diets for cats. No matter what your own personal preference is regarding the ingestion of meat, by Nature's own rules the cat requires meat in its diet. One small aspect of this need for meat is the cat's requirement for ingesting preformed Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) preformed in another non-feline mammal.

WEIGHT LOSS DIETS

Getting an obese cat to lose weight needs to be done gradually no crash diets allowed! Cats have a unique metabolic response to fasting and whenever a feline's food intake is rapidly and markedly depressed, a serious and potentially fatal disorder can occur called Hepatic Lipidosis.

One of the reasons for the success of a high protein diet for feline weight reduction is the importance of an amino acid called Carnitine. Carnitine is present in good quantities in muscle tissues, but found in miniscule amounts in vegetable matter. This amino acid plays an essential role in the uptake of stored fat reserves and conversion of fat by the liver back to into glucose.

The ability to mobilize fat tissue to be used glucose for energy (and for subsequent weight loss to be accomplished) requires Carnitine in the process. Supplementing a cat's diet with L-Carnitine in amounts approximating 250 to 500 mg per cat per day will aid in mobilizing fat into glucose and will improve the health of a cat that is in a weight loss program.

All pet foods come with Recommended Feeding instructions. The problem is that these recommendations are NOT absolute requirements even though most pet caretakers think they have to feed their pet the recommended amounts. Most house kept cats, if fed at the amounts stated in the label recommendations, will eventually become overweight. Pay attention to your pet's body weight (size) and just bt simple observation decide if it is overweight. If so, don't feed so much. Feeding the "Recommended " daily portions indicated on pet food labels will nearly always result in feeding more calories than the animal needs for an average day's energy requirements. The carbohydrate excess, unneeded as fuel for metabolism or physical activity, gets converted to fat and stored in the cat's fat reserves. The odds are very high that if you feed the size and numbers of meals suggested on the pet food label's feeding recommendations, the cat will end up overweight. Tailor the amount fed to the cat's body character and physical activity. If the cat looks and feels overweight you are feeding too much for that cat's daily needs for energy for exercise or physical activity; and regardless of what the pet food label's suggested amounts to feed are, you must feed less than that if the cat is to have a normal (healthy) body weigh.

The Useful Elements For Cat's Nutrition

CARBOHYDRATE

Cats, unlike most mammals, have no carbohydrate-digesting enzyme called Amylase in their saliva. Humans and dogs do and actually begin the digestion of carbohydrate in the mouth. In the intestine, amylase secreted from the pancreas breaks down large carbohydrate molecules into absorbable smaller units of glucose. Cats have measurably less amylase activity than humans or dogs. Nature did not intend the kitty to be a carbohydrate consumer.

Dry pet food must have higher levels of flour and sugar than canned foods so that the kibble will stay uniform and not fall apart. Spoiling doesn't readily occur because of the preservatives so the kitty can eat whenever it wants and we don't have to prepare cat meals very often. Unfortunately, especially with dry diets, because of the metabolic biochemistry that converts the high carbohydrate content in almost all of today's commercial cat foods into stored fat, the cat is really at risk for weight gain.

Feed a diet consistent with the nature of a true carnivore - a meat based diet. An ideal feline diet will have a high protein level in the 35 to 45 percent range on a dry matter basis (meaning the percent in the diet when the water has been removed) and moderate fat content with a low percentage of carbohydrate (grains). A multitude of research reports have proven that diets high in protein and fat are most beneficial for carnivores.

Cats cannot handle large carbohydrate loads efficiently. After a meal rich in carbohydrate the feline's blood level of glucose tends to stay higher than normal for long periods of time. They become persistently hyperglycemic and this long term stimulus on the beta cells in the pancreas - the cells that produce insulin - renders those cells less sensitive to the blood glucose. As a result less insulin is secreted to bring down the blood sugar level. Nutritionists call this "down regulating' of the beta cells; the insensitivity of the insulin secreting beta cells leads to what is termed "insulin resistance". This scenario is a prelude to diabetes.

PROTEIN

We all know how cats crave mice and birds as a food source. A natural source of nutrition for carnivores, mice and birds are a perfect diet for a cat. Did you know that a mouse or a bird is composed of only 3 to 8 percent carbohydrate and most of that is what happens to be from what the prey was eating and is in the digestive tract? The rest is water, a few minerals, and mostly protein and fat.

Unfortunately, most dry cat food brands are relatively in protein, especially the less expensive brands that state a grain such as corn as the first (major) ingredient. Another associated [problem is the myth that we can feed our cats too much protein. This indefensible myth - that protein causes kidney problems - is totally unfounded and has caused more cats to suffer from poor diets than just about any other cause!

We must feed cats a diet with high percentages of protein and fat and low percentages of carbohydrate (grains) if we expect them to maintain optimum body weights and a proper state of nutrition.

Protein is THE key nutrient in a carnivore diet. On a dry weight basis, where the percent of ingredients is determined without any water in the ration, a feline's diet should contain 35 to 45 percent protein, 40 percent fat, and the remained carbohydrate. Some nutritionists suggest 25% carbohydrate---50% protein---25% fat.

CAT TREATS

Nearly very cat caretaker has relented, too, when our cat has begun to vocalize, roam restlessly and seem to "need something". This is normal interactive behavior for a cat and has no relationship to the cat being hungry! But we perceive the kitty to be hungry so we give it a treat as a snack. And most cat treats are specially flavored to be irresistible to cats, otherwise they wouldn't sell well and there'd be no profit for the manufacturer. Give your cat a treat for vocalizing and you have rewarded it for vocalizing... and you have just taught the cat to vocalize even more. If you MUST give cat treats to your cat, read below how to do it logically and nutritionally.

As sensitive and caring humans, we always want to reward our kitty by providing extra special treats. Treats for cats have high levels of carbohydrate (flower and sugars) and lots of flavor enhancers to entice the cat to eat even when it is not hungry. Cats that annoy us with vocalizing and pretending that they are starving to death sometimes are rewarded for that annoying vocalizing by being given a treat to "keep ‘em quiet". When we provide the treat we reinforce the vocalizing, effectively rewarding the cat for making all that racket, and essentially training the cat to make even more noise!

Stop feeding treats to the overweight cat. IF you think your cat NEEDS a treat, cut up little bits of fresh chicken or fish and feed as a natural protein treat... not a treat made from grains, food coloring, propylene glycol, and flavor enhancers. And NEVER feed a treat as a means of stopping a cat from vocalizing because it has the exact opposite effect and actually reinforces the cat's vocalizing/begging behavior.