Being a young cat isn’t necessarily enough to keep your kitty from becoming overweight. A new study about early life risk factors for obesity in cats, published by researchers at the University of Bristol in the UK, has shown that a dry food diet and indoor lifestyle are independent risk factors for obesity in cats around a year old.
This data was gathered as part of a first-of-its-kind program at the University of Bristol in the UK. The Cat Longitudinal Analysis of Welfare Study (CLAWS) collected information from kittenhood through two years about cats adopted from rescue centers to understand how their early development shapes their later health and behavior. Surveys filled out by each cat’s family asked them to report their cat’s body score as well as other information such as feeding habits and behavior information.
At 12 ½ – 13 months old, 7% of the 966 cats were owner-reported to be either overweight or obese. Cats with restricted or no outdoor access were more likely to be part of this group, and cats who were eating a diet of over 50% dry food were also more likely to be classified as overweight or obese.
While this study was conducted in the UK, the findings apply to cats here in the US, too. In fact, only about 10% of cats live permanently indoors in the UK, while that number is much higher in the US. That means US cats are more likely to be in danger of obesity from that risk factor alone.
The dry kibble diet risk factor also applies to cats in the US. The UK isn’t the only place that a dry diet is the most popular diet choice for domestic cats. In the US, 78% of pet households feed dry food most often, making it a big impact on feline diets in the states.
Careful attention to a cat’s diet and plentiful opportunities for exercise while a cat is young are important in the risk of obesity developing during early adulthood, so make some time to play with your kitty today. She’ll appreciate it, and it will help her stay in better shape.
References and Further Reading
ScienceDirect, Risk factors identified for owner-reported feline obesity at around one year of age: dry diet and indoor lifestyle
University of Bristol, CLAWS Feline Welfare Study
University of Bristol, Bristol Cats Study
International Cat Care, Indoors vs. Outdoors
APPA National Pet Owners Survey
Photo Credits:
flickr, Dan Perry
flickr, Mark Turnauckas
We are strictly portion controlled, eat only canned food for our meals and live in a large house with two levels for us to exercise in – as a result, none of us are overweight! We are fortunate to have all this.
We are UK cats and we won’t dry food – Lucy will only eat canned food and then only chicken flavour!! Hannah eats some wet food and a daily portion of chicken breast (home cooked and cut into tiny pieces as she has no teeth) and woe is Mum if she forgets to get some out the freezer and cook it!
Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx
We do eat mainly canned food but with so many of us here, we do have to have dry food as the canned food is expensive.. The kitties that stay outside do stay very fit and not overweight so we are very lucky. We do have one or two that go around eating what is left over and have gained some weight but the Mom as put those on diets. Good post.
I feed our cats both wet and dry food. I try to encourage my cat Chris to eat the wet food and have to keep moving his bowl because he keeps walking away. He is addicted to dry food and is also our heaviest cat. I therefor have to allow the dry food bowl to remain empty for part of the day and most of the night so he will be hungry when I give them the wet food.
We get both wet and dry foods…but the mom is very conscious of our food intake to make sure we don’t over eat…and become over weight…though Wally seems to be having some issues with that lately.
Oh….do I know about this. I didn’t used to have weight issues until my tummy troubles earlier this year. I was on prednisone for inflammation…good grief that made me hungry…now I’m fight the battle of the bulge.
Hugs madi your bfff
I am not surprised these two things are risk factors for obesity. I really wish I could switch my kitties over to a wet food only diet, but Carmine doesn’t eat enough wet food to sustain his weight so he needs to eat some kibbles.
Such important information. Angels Sashi and Tara both came to me overweight and we never got past it, greatly impacting their lives. Truffles was such a healthy weight and I was determined to keep her that way…not that it mattered in the long run, but she was definitely on the right path.
Oh dear, there goes the diet thing again…sigh.
I leave a cup of dry out for 4 cats per day. Annabelle is a bit roly poly part of that is her floof and part of is her body type (manx are round). She did fill out when she came her but she doesn’t hardly touch the dry food, she is all about the juicy gravy! But it’s obvious that she loves her wet food.
Great information ! We both are fit and don’t have any problem with our food intake. Mum make sure that we eat at least 75% wet food, but Zorro is a kibble addict, so we’re fed a little bit dry too. Purrs
It upsets Mom that we have to eat this CD/stress formula from Hills as she knows it is making some of us a bit tubby. Some (Astrid, Misty May, Lily and Fiona) don’t seem to have a problem with it and stay nice and slim. Mom believes that a genetic factor is involved as well. Thanks for an informative post. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
guys….thanx for the post info share……bein strict lee indoor bee coz oh wear we live; we hafta add mit we all R at a fair lee healthee weight; spesh a lee age wise…….cuzinz boomer & dai$y stay fit by runnin up & down stairz …well boomer getz bout half way now… but itz kewl……& me toona, mom makes me run in de houz at play time ♥♥♥
Twice as much dry then canned.. oh that just makes me sad.. and even sadder that vets still push dry
Yeah mommy hates kibble, but we do get sum. Gweat posty.
Luv ya’
Dezi and Lexi
It’s so sad that the rates of obesity in cats are soaring like this. I feel so blessed that my cats have never had a weight problem. These things can be so difficult to turn around! I have a ton of trouble with it as a human. For as many “solutions” as there are out there, the truth is that getting plentiful exercise and eating a species appropriate diet are the only real ways to fix obesity.
Wish we knew this years ago – Georgie might not have gotten diabetes. She was never obese but we fed dry food and she liked to eat.
We get wet and dry, but Mommy measures our food. Lexy even lost a couple of ounces. This is good information!
It amazes me that dry food is still championed by veterinarians….
Charlie has constantly battled his weight, although he eats exactly the same as his brother (who is a perfect weight) and they now eat an exclusively raw diet. Our difficulty is in balancing weight issues with IBD health issues, I’m trying to get the later permanently under control first. We focus on exercise – cat agility down the hallway and lots of playtime to get him moving! Great post.
Nicky was overweight because he went out and all the neighbors would leave food for the strays but he’d eat at every house.