Mary Allen
If the cat has a few extra pounds, then it doesn’t bother them much. She doesn’t stand in front of the mirror for hours to check her “upholstery”, doesn’t feel every little roll of fat, and doesn’t squeeze into figure-shaping underwear. For health reasons, their owners should still make sure that their velvet paw is in good shape.
Cats don’t howl into the sofa cushion because yesterday’s weighing revealed the dreams of the bikini body being foam again. No – her looks don’t bother a chubby kitty. But she no longer manages to jump onto the window sill right away, she has trouble cleaning herself properly because her stomach is in the way, and the skinny cheeky cat next door roams her territory calmly because he now knows for sure that he is who can’t catch up with 7 kilos live weight anyway, that can depress a cat’s mind. Quite apart from the health: too much weight is a psychological burden. For cats, joie de vivre is also related to mobility. In fact, owners tell time and time again how their overweight, grumpy Garfield turned back into a fun-loving and charming cat after losing weight.
The Ideal Figure Has A Visible Waist
When does the cat start having weight problems? A muscular Maine Coon cat can of course weigh more than a delicate Siamese. Therefore, it is also better to use the so-called “Body Condition Score” as a guide. Here, certain parts of the body are assessed. A cat with an ideal figure is well-proportioned, has a visible waist, and a little stomach, and you can feel its ribs when you stroke it A cat is lean when its ribs feel like a washboard and other bones, especially the lumbar vertebrae, lie directly beneath the skin without a protective layer of fat still or no longer palpable. The abdomen is clearly rounded. Regular weighing (about once a month) is nevertheless important to determine changes in weight. Rapid gaining or losing weight can also be a symptom of an illness. The easiest way is to weigh yourself by first stepping on the scale with him and then weighing yourself alone. The difference between the two results is the weight of the cat. If your cat develops a tummy, you should pull the emergency brake as quickly as possible – the longer you put off the problem, the more serious it becomes in the truest sense of the word. Before the cat’s diet comes a trip to the vet. He can determine whether there is a disease behind the weight gain. It can also calculate the maximum number of calories a cat should consume per day in order to lose weight. And slowly! Radical fasting will damage the cat’s liver. Severely overweight animals that do not eat anything for days can even develop life-threatening liver lipidosis.
There Are Several Ways To Get There
Theoretically, you can simply reduce the daily amount of food to the amount recommended by the vet. The prerequisite is that the cat is supplied with all the important nutrients, vitamins, and minerals even after the amount of food has been reduced. The reduction method has the advantage that the house tiger does not have to get used to new food. In practice, however, it often has the disadvantage that it does not have a satiating effect. Special diets, on the other hand, have a higher fiber content, which ensures a greater degree of filling in the digestive tract. Feed cellulose can be added as fiber (maximum 5–10 g/day) to self-prepared meals to achieve the same effect. If you decide on diet food, you should gradually get the cat used to it. The new food is added to the usual amount in increasing amounts – the old food must of course be reduced at the same time. However, it is often not the food in the bowl that causes the cat to gain weight or the diet to fail. Rather, it’s the little treats in between that stick to the hips of the house cat. A diet can only be successful if everyone who has contact with the cat pulls together and gives it nothing to eat out of order. Make it clear to all these people that true cat love is not through the stomach. In fact, the gift of time and attention is the healthier token of love. Extended hours of cuddling and intensive fur grooming bond humans and animals closer together than bacon and butter biscuits. You can give the completely desperate “feeders” a precisely measured amount of diet food to spoil the house tiger. Of course, you have to deduct this amount from the daily ration.
Playing Sports Will Help You Lose Weight
Another important part of the diet is exercise. Yes, sports! Since you can’t go jogging with the cat, play with it whenever the opportunity presents itself. Even the laziest Garfield will eventually become addicted to a hunting game if you just keep encouraging him. After a few weeks, you will no longer recognize him, “relieved” he will look for the game himself and enjoy his regained mobility. Now you must not make the mistake of falling into the old routine. The diet is only successful in the long run if the cat continues to be fed moderately.