#didyouknow that 44% of cats in the UK are considered to be overweight or obese? Sharing is definitely not caring when it comes to giving your kitty human tidbits. Check out the comparison chart below for other examples but feeding your cat just 1oz of cheese as a treat is the calorie equivalent to giving them 3 chocolate bars!
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Extra weight not only affects your cats day to day life but also their long-term health. Those extra pounds can cause additional health issues for them, such as diabetes, osteoarthritis and heart disease. Usually the hardest step for an owner takes is to acknowledge that their cat is overweight.
Weighing it up!
So how can you ensure that your cat isn’t getting more nutrition than they need? Whatever you feed your cat, it’s important to follow the product feeding recommendations, which can be found on the packaging, which will provide the recommended daily allowance for that particular product. Don’t forget, if you feed a combination of wet and dry you will need to reduce how much you give of each food type to stay within the total daily calorie recommendation i.e. feeding 50% wet food, 50% dry food would need an owner to halve the recommended daily amount for each food type because combined it would total their daily calorie allowance. You will also need to include any “treats” you might give your cat in the total daily calorie amount.
For some really in-depth information about feeding your cat or kitten, visit the International Cat Care website.
You can also make your cat work for their food like they would in the wild. Place dry food into a toy dispenser or hide dry food around the home for them to sniff out. Not only will this keep them entertained, it will increase their movement, helping them to burn calories.
