Did you know?
The average domestic cat should ideally weigh approximately 8 to 10 pounds. However, more than 50% of household cats in the US are obese or overweight. The feline obesity epidemic is a major concern among veterinarians today, and should be to anyone with a feline companion. As little as 2 pounds of excess body weight can put cats at an up to 3 times increased risk for development of Type II diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, joint injuries, urinary tract disease, and overall lower immune system function. Obese cats have a significantly shorter lifespan when compared to cats at an optimum weight.
Why are so many household cats obese?
Our feline companions enjoy a life of leisure with all of their daily necessities provided by humans and have evolved to take advantage of a sedentary lifestyle. However, domestic cats are only a few generations from their wild counterparts with whom they share many genetic, physical, and behavioral components. Feeding behavior is highly similar to wild cats that consume 10 – 20 small meals throughout the day and night while spending many hours actively hunting. Domestic cats fed ad libitum (“free choice”) also consume frequent small meals throughout the day, but need only to take a few steps to the food bowl to obtain them. Instinctive hunting behaviors remain but are exhibited as playing, stalking and bouts of “friskiness,” and rarely last longer than an hour each day.
Spaying/Neutering is a common and highly recommended procedure that is integral to population control and significantly reduces behavioral problems in household cats. However, spayed and neutered cats have significantly lower (24-33%) daily energy requirements due to a decrease in their basal metabolic rate. But since their appetite is frequently unaffected it results in consumption of excess calories which are converted to fat. Male cats appear to be at a higher risk for obesity subsequent to castration when compared to spayed female cats.
Lastly, most commercial cat foods are formulated to be highly palatable because, let’s face it, you’re going to buy more of the food your cats like! Fat has long been known to be the best way to enhance palatability, and is added to many commercial diets for this purpose.
The evolution of the human-animal bond with our cats is wrought with good intentions. We provide our companions with all the luxuries they need, including an unlimited supply of their favorite foods. We’ve done everything in our power to make our cats as happy as they make us, with one unintended consequence: a predisposition to obesity.
Goals of Feline Weight Loss and Healthy Weight Management
Healthy weight maintenance is the first step in safeguarding your cat’s health. Together with advice from your veterinarian, follow these steps to design an individualized plan for your cat.
- Determine the ideal body weight for your cat
- Dietary management
- Exercise
- Understand how to maintain the ideal body weight
Step 1. Determine the ideal body weight for your cat
Do this with the help of your veterinarian. This chart shows how your veterinarian calculates your cat’s body condition score (BCS) on a scale of 1 (too thin) to 5 (obese).
Hills Pet Food has a website with a helpful guide to assess if your cat is overweight:
http://petfit.hillspet.com.au/Public/CanIFeelMyPetsRibs.aspx
Step 2: Dietary Management
Your veterinarian can help you to determine the optimum diet for your cat’s needs and determine how many kilocalories (kcal) per day to feed to maintain an ideal body weight.
Cats should never be put on a diet without veterinary supervision
Many cats are finicky, but if a cat does not eat for 2 consecutive days it can develop life-threatening hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver syndrome)
Feed frequent small meals throughout the day. If this is not possible, feed a minimum of 2 meals per day.
Rechecks are critical!
Ideally your cat should be weighed once a month to assess if your weight loss plan is working.
How long will it take?
Healthy weight loss in cats should not exceed 1 – 2% of their body weight per week. Most cats will achieve their ideal weight within 6 – 8 months.
Step 3: Exercise
Exercise is not natural for cats like it is in dogs. Cats do not have 
any instinctive desire to exercise because they spend most of their day actively hunting for food in the wild. Therefore, it is up to you to make sure your cat gets at least 15-20 minutes of exercise 
each day. This can easily be accomplished using toys, laser pointers, and various other forms of environmental enrichment.
Treat balls are a great way to give your cat mental and physical stimulation.
Step 4: Understand how to maintain the ideal body weight
Involve everyone in the household
Keep your cat active with playtimes and stimulation
Regular veterinary examinations and re-checks
Consult with your veterinarian as needed with any questions or concerns about your cat’s health.
Cori Blair DVM
Here at Ocean County Veterinary Hospital Group (OCVH) we find that one of the most frustrating problems for rabbit and guinea pig owners is when a seemingly healthy pet develops an abscess – a pocket of infection and pus. Underlying dental disease is the most common reason these abscesses form. An abnormal tooth or malformation of the mouth will frequently lead to abscesses. Rabbit and guinea pig teeth continue to grow throughout the animal’s entire life, so it is important that they always have hay available. Chewing hay helps keep their teeth properly ground down. Unfortunately, genetics also plays a role, so even with a proper diet, acquired dental disease and abscesses are not always preventable.
As the daylight gets shorter and our homes get cooler, a natural process begins in many captive snake, lizard, turtle and tortoise species. In winter months, some reptiles undergo “brumation”, which is similar to a hibernation period. Many reptiles will go weeks without interest in eating and some go into a trance that can be alarming to owners. 
ard to believe, but summer is already over, and the holidays are right around the corner. Of course, with Halloween and other holidays soon to follow, baking and gift giving season has begun. As one of the most beloved desserts and snack foods in the world, chocolate is sure to abound in every household. But this treat, delicious as it may be, can be extremely harmful to our adored pets. Even though it is a well -known fact for some of us, we may still sneak an Oreo or two to our dogs and cats and maybe even some Hershey’s chocolate. How can they be denied the satisfaction of such tasty treat? While there are not always toxic effects associated with the ingestion of very small amounts of chocolate, a tasty treat could turn into a real Halloween nightmare!
ore of this chemical than others. For example, baker’s chocolate has extremely high amounts and is very dangerous compared to most inexpensive candy bars. In animals, this chemical causes extreme stimulation of the nervous system, increased urination and dangerous effects on the heart. It can cause arrhythmias, or disturbances to the normal rate and rhythm of the heart that may be life threatening. The increased stimulation of the nervous system puts dogs at risk for seizures.
If you suspect that your dog has ingested any chocolate, it is recommended that you contact a veterinarian for further advice. Signs of chocolate toxicity include vomiting, hyperactivity, restlessness, high heart rate, and high respiratory rate. Some dogs may even develop pancreatitis, which is an inflammation of the pancreas, several days after ingestion of chocolate, even if they have undergone treatment. Clinical signs of pancreatitis include abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. Depending on the severity of the reaction, dogs with pancreatitis may require hospitalization because it too can be life threatening.
Medial Patellar Luxation (MPL) in Dogs
In our area of New Jersey ticks are a concern, both for humans as well as animals. Of the many diseases that ticks carry, several are transmissible to both species. Although very small and seemingly fragile, ticks are actually tremendously hardy parasites, capable of surviving through a wide range of climate conditions. This is one of the reasons that OCVH, FVH & NPVH advocate treating our pets with a flea/tick preventative all year round in our area.
bacteria called spirochetes, which ticks ingest when feeding on wildlife or other dogs that are infected with the spirochete. The tick then spreads the infection to another animal when it bites them looking for its next blood meal. The species of tick that transmits Lyme Disease is Ixodes Scapularis (Deer Tick).
xposed to Lyme Disease can exhibit a variety of clinical signs, ranging from no signs at all to an irreparable kidney failure and death. The most common clinical signs are joint inflammation leading to lameness, fever, and lethargy or depression. Many dogs test positive for Lyme Disease and never develop clinical signs of the disease. Kidney disease secondary to Lyme Disease seems to be more prevalent in Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and Burmese Mountain Dogs.
This is very important as cats may not show any signs of heart disease until it is very advanced and then are at risk of sudden death. We will palpate her abdomen to assess organ size and any pain. Lower urinary tract (bladder) disease is more prevalent in cats age 1 through 10, whereas upper urinary tract (kidney) disease is more prevalent in cats over 8 years old. We will check her weight and address any signs of obesity or weight loss. Overweight cats are more prone to diseases such as arthritis, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, constipation, and more. Weight loss may indicate metabolic disease, over active thyroid disease, or cancer. We will also assess her body condition, skin, coat, eyes, ears, lungs and neurologic health. Surprisingly 90% of cats over age 12 have some degree of arthritis! Most owners simply chalk it up to “slowing down” or “getting older” when actually these cats are experiencing pain. Many conditions are treatable with timely diagnosis and medical management.
During the physical examination the doctor will make recommendations for vaccines based on your cat’s lifestyle. The doctor may make recommendations for blood tests in senior cats or those that show changes from their previous visit. These tests allow us to address problems before they become too advanced or reduce your cat’s quality of life. It gives us a chance to be proactive in preventing the complications frequently associated with medical problems. By investing twice yearly in exams, you may dramatically extend your cat’s lifespan and comfort.
worse with time.
icult for dogs to get up and down but can also speed up the progression of arthritis. Decreasing caloric intake, whether by decreasing the quantity fed or by switching to a diet food (either lower calorie or prescription) and increasing exercise will help you to see results at home. Often the amount that your pet needs to eat to meet their metabolic needs is far less than you think they should be eating. The feeding recommendations on the bags of food are just generalizations and do not take into account individual variation in metabolism, and may be far too much for your individual pet, especially if they are not very active. What is your pet’s body condition? See the chart below. Ask your veterinarian for special diets that can help your pet lose weight more easily.
Ocean County Veterinary Hospital veterinarians want to know… Do your dogs go outside? If they do they may be at risk for Leptospirosis. This disease is caused by one of the many strains of the Leptospira bacteria. Wild animals that walk through your yard, day or night, can leave the bacteria behind wherever they urinate. Remember, there is not a yard or park in New Jersey that does not have a squirrel or mouse run through it! Dogs most often become infected with Leptospirosis through contact with the bacteria that live and multipl
y in contaminated puddles or moist areas. Any dog that goes outside is at risk. Even when I walk my own dogs on a leash they sometimes reach down before I can stop them from investigating a puddle. We used to think that only dogs that swam in lakes or rivers, such as hunting dogs, were at risk. The fact is that many dogs diagnosed with Leptospirosis are medium to small dogs that are mostly indoors. People are at risk as well because Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease which means it can spread from animals to people.
e signs can be nonspecific such as: lethargy, loss of appetite, fever, increased thirst and urination, vomiting, diarrhea and yellowing or bruising of the skin. There are different strains of the Leptospira bacteria and different strains target different organs. Kidney and liver failure may occur. The treatment will vary depending on the extent of the illness. Some dogs are treated with oral antibiotics alone, while others need to be hospitalized for intensive care.
The good news is that there is a vaccination that can help prevent Leptospirosis. We recommend it for all dogs living in New Jersey. Discuss your dog’s risk of exposure and the vaccination with your veterinarian. All of my dogs are vaccinated for Leptospirosis every year. Even though they are not outside often, I want them to be protected. Remember “Lepto” and remember there is a way to prevent this deadly disease.