Cats are naturally active and inquisitive creatures, who love to chase, hunt and play. Overweight or obese cats are less motivated to be active. Through constant supplies of excess food, they lose the need to be actively hunting for their meals.
Exercise is important for all cats to help burn calories, improve muscle tone, environmental enrichment, to detour destructive behaviours, provide socialization and bonding. Exercise is even more important for overweight cats as it will help reduce appetite, decrease obesity and improve their quality of life. For a healthy weight cat 15 to 20 minutes 5 times a week is recommended. Overweight cats should have daily exercise; however it may need to be separated into shorter sessions.
It may take a highly energetic and well trained cat to use a treadmill or exercise wheel. It is important to find exercise that motivates your individual cat to be active. Each cat will have their own likes and dislikes regarding toys based on texture, sound, scent, shape, size, movements, time of day, owner interaction, location, and presence of other household cats. Here are some examples to try for you cat:
• Leave out paper bags, tissue paper and cardboard boxes
• Catnip
• Chase toys, balls, sticks with feathers
• Cat trees or condos
• Scratching posts and pads
• Clicker training
• Food puzzles
• Meal Hide-n-Seek
• Cat videos
• Window perches
• Leash walks
• Outdoor cat enclosures
• Treadmills and Wheels
Where to start with an unmotivated overweight cat?
1) Meal hide-n-seek
Feed each meal in small portions around the house, starting with the food bowls in the same room until your cat gets used to the idea then start moving them to other rooms and more challenging locations such as on tables or above stairs. Rotate locations so that your cat can “hunt” for its meals.
2) Scratching Posts
When cats wake up from a nap their natural instinct is to stretch and scratch. Providing scratching posts encourages this behaviour and prevents unwanted scratching of furniture. Place a scratching post near the sleeping location, imagine you wake up stretch out your back legs, then are looking for somewhere close to stretch out the your front legs. This is where you want a scratching post.
3) Interactive play
Encourage play for 10 to 20 minutes a day. It takes some time to find a toy that will entice your cat to be active, but try to find something you can do together. Try different motions, noises, scents, textures and shapes. Keep it interesting by changing it up frequently.
Resources: www.vetstreet.com, www.aspca.org, www.icatcare.org
