FOR RELEASE: March 25, 1997
Contact: Roger Segelken
Office: (607) 255-9736
E-mail: [email protected]
Compuserve: Larry Bernard 72650,565
http://www.news.cornell.edu
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Seriously overweight cats are more likely to suffer
diabetes mellitus, lameness and non-allergic skin conditions, a Cornell
University veterinarian's four-year follow-up to a feline obesity study has
shown.
Most likely to be tubby are neutered, apartment-dwelling, mixed breed cats
eating prescription cat food.
"The original obesity study and the follow-up confirm what veterinarians
and cat owners have suspected for a long time," said Janet M. Scarlett,
D.V.M., associate professor of epidemiology in Cornell's College of
Veterinary Medicine. "Too much extra weight is not healthy for the cats,
but being very thin can be a problem, too."
Scarlett was a collaborator, along with veterinary nutritionist Susan
Donoghue, in the landmark 1989 study of 2,000 cats at 31 veterinary clinics
in the Northeast, as well as the principal investigator of the tracking
study. The Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition in the United Kingdom funded
the first study, which found that about 25 percent of cats brought to
veterinarians are overweight: 20 percent were ranked as "heavy" by
veterinarians and 5 percent were considered "obese." Slightly more pet
owners -- about 29 percent -- thought their cats were overweight in the
same survey.
Ralston Purina Co., the American pet food manufacturer, funded the
four-year follow-up, in which Cornell veterinary students called as many of
the original pet owners as they could locate and asked about the cats'
health. Researchers also reviewed veterinarians' medical records for the
animals in the first survey. Among the findings:
-- Overweight cats, including those considered "heavy" and "obese," are
four-and-a-half times more likely to develop diabetes mellitus, compared to
optimal weight cats.
-- Obese cats are seven times more likely to require veterinary care for
lameness, caused by joint diseases such as arthritis or muscle injuries,
compared to optimal weight cats. Heavy cats are three times more likely to
suffer lameness.
-- Obese cats are three times more likely to be presented to veterinarians
for non-allergic skin conditions, probably because the cats cannot reach
all parts of their bodies to groom themselves properly.
-- Obese cats are twice as likely to die in middle age, which for cats is 6
to 12 years.
-- Extremely thin cats are more likely to be presented to veterinarians for
diarrhea.
Veterinarians in the survey ranked the cats, from extremely thin to optimal
to obese, after physically examining the cats' body condition under their
fur and comparing the cats to a series of six standard silhouettes.
Unlike the case with humans, there is no body-mass index for obesity in
cats, Scarlett noted.
Most cats refuse to sit still for the electrical impedance test -- one way
to measure body mass -- and they really dislike the other method -- being
completely immersed in water while exhaling. Ranking body condition by
silhouettes is currently the most practical way to survey large numbers of
privately owned cats, the epidemiologist said.
In the original study, cat owners completed a three-page survey with
information about their animals' breed, housing accommodations and
lifestyle, food, age, gender, whether the animal was neutered and other
factors that could affect body condition. Analysis of those reports found
several factors that are associated with being overweight:
-- Cats living in apartments are about two times more likely to be
overweight than are cats that roam larger houses or the out-of-doors.
-- Neutered cats are 3.4 times more likely to be overweight than those that
are sexually intact.
-- Obesity is more prevalent among mixed breed cats, compared with purebred
cats. However, some of the purebred cats are probably show cats that are
kept in prime condition, Scarlett commented, and some of the more popular
purebred cats, such as Siamese and Burmese, are thin animals to begin with.
-- Cats eating some prescription diets for conditions other than weight are
more likely to be overweight. That is because many prescription diets
contain more calories in the same volume of food that the cat is accustomed
to eating, Scarlett said. "Prescription diets tend to be caloric-dense,
and if you feed them the same way you feed grocery store cat food, the cats
will gain weight."
-- Inactive cats that get virtually no exercise are 16 times more likely to
be obese.
The veterinarians were surprised to find cats putting on extra weight so
early in life. By one year of age, some 15 percent of cats in the survey
were already overweight. And by two years of age, nearly 20 percent had
landed in the "heavy" or "obese" categories.
Results of the 2,000-cat obesity study were reported in the International
Journal of Obesity (Vol. 18 Supplement 1, 1994). Results of the follow-up
study will be presented at the Eighth Symposium of the International
Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics July 8-11 in Paris.
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Tips for cat weight-watchers
James R. Richards, D.V.M.
Director, Feline Health Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell
University
-- Schedule regular weigh-ins at your veterinarian's office.
Veterinarians have scales that are sensitive enough to pick up slight
changes in weight in an 8- to 15-pound animal, changes that are very
important when we're trying to see if our attempts to get weight off the
kitty are effective. Just like going to Weight Watchers meetings for
humans, there is a motivational factor in regular weigh-ins.
-- Make sure the cat is eating what he's supposed to eat and
nothing but. Avoid those calorie-rich snacks.
-- Ask your veterinarian if a special weight-reduction diet is
appropriate for your cat.
-- Don't go overboard. Too rapid a loss in weight can have
detrimental health effects for the cat. Any weight-control program should
be undertaken under the direction of a veterinarian.
-- Cats probably won't jog with you, but interactive exercise is
the most effective thing we can do for overweight animals. Find a toy you
can both play with -- something that dangles on the end of a line, for
example -- and get that cat off the couch a couple times a day.
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