How to Put Your Cat on a Diet

More than half -- 57% -- of U.S. cats are overweight or obese, according to a 2008 study by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. That’s 51 million fat cats.

How can you tell if your cat is overweight? And what can you do about it? WebMD asked Tony Buffington, DVM, PhD, an expert in feline health and nutrition.

Q: How can I tell if my cat is too fat?

A: You do a body condition score. Look down at your cat. You should be able to see a waist when you look down on it from the top, or when you run your hands from its ribs to its hips. Run your hand along its abdomen from its ribs to its pelvis and it should be indented.

If you put your hands on the side of its chest, you should be able to feel its ribs without a thick layer of fat over them. There are charts that show this. You can find them online - all the pet food sites have body condition scoring charts. Or ask at your veterinarian’s office and they can show you the chart and help you evaluate where your cat falls.

Q: Are some breeds more prone to weight gain?

A: A couple of studies have looked at this, and surprisingly, they found that mixed breed cats are about twice as likely to be overweight than purebred cats.

Q: Why should I care if my cat is fat? He looks happy to me.

A: It depends on why your cat is overweight. If he’s overweight because he eats too much, or you feed him too much, then there are the common beliefs that obesity can lead to shorter life spans, diabetes, or joint and skin problems.

But often, cats are overweight because of environmental causes. So first we need to figure out why your cat is overweight. Is he not moving enough because he’s terrified in your house? Do the dog or the kids attack him every time he comes out of hiding? Or, is he bored because there’s nothing to do in the house so he just sits around and eats? If that’s the case, then changing his diet or the amount of food he eats won’t help his weight problem. He’s not a happy fat cat. He’s just fat. So the issue then is making your home a happier place for your cat. If he’s happier and more active, then he’ll probably lose weight.

That’s why, when I work with fat cats, I look at the environment as well as the food intake.

Q: Will spaying or neutering a cat make it gain weight?

A: Studies that have been done on this topic suggest that spaying or neutering a cat can cause a change in the cat’s body weight of zero to 25%. Removal of the hormones will change its metabolism a little bit and it will change its activity level a little bit. So my advice to owners is to be careful and pay attention. This is the time to keep checking that body condition score we previously talked about. Or, if you have a scale, weigh your cat regularly. And if he starts gaining weight, we might need to cut back his food intake, or switch his diet.

Q: What kind of diet should my cat be on to lose weight?

A: If we want a cat to lose weight, we have to do two things. We have to think about what we feed him and we have to figure out how to make him more active. One easy way to do both is to feed out of a foraging device. These are small plastic containers with holes that we put the cat’s food in. The cat then has to play with the device to get the food to fall out. Cats will work for food, which a lot of owners don’t realize.

But remember, we never want to change an animal’s diet without asking their permission. And the way we ask permission is offer the new food or new feeding device alongside the old dish or food.

Owners also need to know that the food intake recommendations on pet food packaging labels are generally well above what most pets need to consume. Those recommendations were developed for intact, active animals, while most of the animals I see are sedentary, spayed or neutered pets.

Q: I tried putting my cat on a diet and he howled for days. Are some cats just too old or set in their ways to change?

A: When trying to change a pet’s food, never take away the old food completely. For many cats, the old dish and food are actually a safety signal. Cats like familiarity. They don’t like a lot of change. So if you need to offer a new food, offer it alongside the old food. Give your cat a choice. Usually, when it’s done that way, the cat will at least try the other food eventually, and if he likes it, he’ll eat it.

Q: My cat is an indoor only cat. Can he get enough exercise inside to lose weight?

A: Of course he can get enough exercise if you’re providing him an enriched environment. So give your cat climbing structures because cats love to be elevated. They need windows they can look out. Use foraging balls to encourage exercise. And they need to feel comfortable enough to come out. If they’re afraid of half the things in your house, they won’t come out to exercise.

And that includes people. Remember, you should never use punishment as a teaching tool. If you slap a cat, he thinks you’re trying to kill him. He can become immobilized with fear. But cats respond marvelously to praise and treats.

Q: Does my cat need to see a vet before starting an exercise plan or a diet?

A: It’s a good idea just to be sure there’s not something else going on. There are probably a dozen different causes of obesity in cats, ranging from overeating and overfeeding to inadequate activity, seasonal obesity, and even some drugs and diseases can cause weight gain.

I’d also like the vet to do an environmental history to make sure the cat isn’t fat just because it’s afraid to move - the dog is bothering it or the kids are pulling its tail every time it comes out. That’s actually fairly common. Owners need to know if their cat hides a lot, that’s not normal cat behavior. So we need to help them find a way to structure the home life so the cat is moving around and interacting with its environment.

Q: Should I cook for my cat?

A: You can, but I don’t recommend it. It takes a lot of time and you have to include supplements. If you want to do this, you really should talk to your veterinarian to be sure you’re doing it correctly. There are places that will sell you the supplements and then you can just add in the protein and carbohydrates, if you have the time and the interest.

Q: Are there any diet pills for cats?

A: No. They have one for dogs, but that medication is dangerous for cats.

Reviewed on May 01, 2010

© 2009 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.

Yes, You Can Exercise Your Cat

How to get overweight or obese cats back in shape.

An estimated 57% of U.S. cats are overweight or obese, according to a 2008 study by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention.

So WebMD asked Rolan Tripp, DVM, for advice on how to get fat cats back in shape. Tripp is an affiliate professor of applied animal behavior at Colorado State University veterinary school and the University of Wisconsin veterinary school, and founder of animalbehavior.net.

Q: Why are so many of our cats fat?

A: Because they’re over fed and under exercised. There’s no magic here. The pet food companies make their foods the tastiest they can make it. And then there’s the misconception that when a cat isn’t eating it’s somehow sick. That’s not always the case.

Q: My cat has the run of the house, isn’t that enough exercise?

A: No. Could you get all the exercise you need just walking around your house? An indoor cat needs planned exercise. The best exercise is object play - playing with your cat with toys. That’s the answer to exercise problems, obesity, and how to get a well-adjusted cat. If your cat doesn’t get enough exercise, it comes out in bad ways.

Q: If I get another cat, will they get more exercise?

A: If it’s a kitten. Kittens are the high-energy ones. If it’s another adult cat, you have to be very careful. Bringing another adult cat into the house has very few positives for the established cat. What you need to do when you bring home another cat is buy a bunch of new resources - new toys, new food, new beds, new treats. So the association for your old cat is that this new cat comes in with a bounty, a dowry.

Q: What are some games I can play with my cat to get him moving?

A: Cats are predators, and the way to get them to play is to let them use their hunting talents. Buy toys and then use them to mimic the actions of the animals a cat would normally hunt - a mouse, bird, lizard, rabbit or bug. Take a laser pointer and skitter it across the floor like a bug. Get a wand toy that looks like a bird and pretend to land and take off. But don’t just flap it around. No bird acts like that. Try to think about what a bird really does and then reenact that with the toy. It’s all pretend play, but try to make it as real as possible for your cat.

Q: Do cats like videos showing birds, squirrels, and other animals? Should I get them a fish tank or put up a birdfeeder outside a window that they can watch?

A: Some might like the videos, but I don’t personally know of any. I think those videos are really more for people who have guilt because they’re gone all day at work. But dragging a piece of string around for a little while when they get home is too much work, so they’d rather buy a video.

Now fish tanks are great. And cats love watching birds outside a window. I don’t recommend birds inside a house with cats, because birds are very intelligent and know they are being stalked. But a birdfeeder outside a window that cats can watch is a great idea.

Q: Can you train a cat to walk on a leash?

A: Yes, but they don’t get a lot of exercise from it because they’re too busy sniffing around and checking things out. The main reason to walk your cat on a leash is to safely give them some time outdoors when they can’t run away. It’s more mental exercise than physical exercise.

Q: My cat doesn’t like toys, or gets bored with them quickly. What can I do?

A: Toys for cats to play with by themselves have marginal interest. You’ve got this ball on a spring. The cat bops it a few times, it goes up and down, and the cat says “OK, now what?”

Cats do want toys, but the toys should be “prey play” oriented. In the wild, a cat will only stalk prey for about three to five minutes. After that, he’ll give up and go search somewhere else. So don’t try to play longer than the genetic capacity of the cat.

When he’s beginning to lose interest, change to another game. Now, some cats will really like bird and they’ll play that longer than other games. Some might really like the bug. Fine. It doesn’t have to be equal time.

Also, let them win occasionally. Put a tasty treat under the toy and let them pounce on it, eat it, and win.

I also believe if a kitten between 7 weeks and 12 weeks is given a lot of toys to play with, it will probably be more likely to play with toys when it gets older, although that’s just my opinion. Two great cat toys are ping pong balls, because they’re light and they go a long way if you whack them, and walnuts, because they make a little crackly sound, like a mouse scurrying away, and they roll irregularly, like a mouse would run.

A really good game is bathtub hockey. Give a kitten a ping pong ball in the bathtub and just watch what happens.

Q: How long should our play periods last, and how often should I have them?

A: As often as the cat will play, because a tired cat is a well behaved cat. But at least a couple times a day. And the best time to play is right before bed, so you can tire them out.

Q: Can cats learn tricks like a dog?

A: They’re not genetically very well equipped for this. Dogs are pack animals, and they’re always looking at their counterparts, seeing what they’re doing, and then changing their behavior based on what the other dogs in the pack do.

Cats, on the other hand, hunt on their own. If another cat comes around, they pay attention only long enough to drive them away. They’re not taking their cues from other cats. That doesn’t mean we can’t train cats to do things. They can learn simple, basic things. But it takes a lot longer than it does to train a dog to do a trick.