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Fat Cats Cost Fat Stacks

I’m not good at estimating things, but I’d say about 90% of the pets I see are overweight to obese. Owners don’t like to hear this, though. If they could just have a big eyed, furry thing to pet and feed forever, that would be their ideal life. The animal wants the food, it makes them “happy” and if baby is happy, owner is happy, but the animal doesn’t seem to really ENJOY the food typically and just wolfs it down and looks for more like “I can’t believe that’s all you’re going to give me” and the big eyes instill guilt, we feed, feel happy, then guilt for not giving more, and so the cycle continues. Unfortunately as they get older, or even some at a much younger age, the extra weight can cause so many more problems.

Dan, the office cat: OBESE 19.5lb – should be about 12lb

People tend to judge how much their pet should weigh based on their breed (or perceived breed) and their parents’ sizes. I often hear “well, how big should he be for his breed?” or “well, his daddy was HUGE – with a head *THIS* big and was 195lb!!” There are a few problems with this theory. 1: every breed has a wide range of what can be normal (height, thickness, etc) , 2: every individual gets different genetics and may not end up as large as their parents (or could be larger) – My parents were both 5’11” and I ended up 5’8″. 3: just because the parent was 195lb, that doesn’t tell me if that parent was an ideal body condition and not also obese.

X-ray of a very obese dog. Looks like a baked potato with legs

In general, you should be able to feel your pet’s ribs, but not see them. So, especially with those super fluffy critters, you’ll have to put your hands on them to decide if they’re too fat/skinny. Have them stand up, then run your fingers down their ribs. You should be able to easily feel the ribs without pressing, but not feel any depressions between them, like the back of your hand. If you have to push through flesh to feel the bones like you would on your wrist, your pet needs to lose weight. If you can feel spaces between their ribs like your fingers, your pet needs to gain weight.

Here’s an equation to figure out how much your pet needs to eat in a day (not just their pet food, but you have to include EVERY calorie that goes in their mouths – food dropped, just a little snack while cooking, kids feeding them, treats every time they go outside and use the bathroom, the cat’s food when you leave it out for them to steal, etc, etc). Remember, a 100 calorie snack for an adult human could be 50% of a small animal’s daily needs. So, even just a little bite for you could be enormous for our pets. And don’t be fooled by the pet who is ALWAYS hungry. Unlike us, they have no concept of “being healthy” other than “EAT WHEN YOU CAN BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THERE WILL BE FOOD AGAIN!!!!” Remember, a dog/cat has about the intelligence of a three year old child, so we have to be their brains and think of their health for them.

Catina is a small framed cat. She weighs about 8.5lb but should be about 6lb.

Daily calorie needs for your pet = 70 x (Ideal body weight in kg)^0.75

*********DOG FOOD BAGS LIE!!!!! DON’T FOLLOW THOSE INSTRUCTIONS!!!!!**************

** weight in lb/2.2 = weight in kg

** Ideal weight = body weight – (body weight x %overweight)

  • with % overweight = anywhere from 10-40% overweight (ask your vet)
  • So, 42lb beagle that is OBESE is about 40% over weight, so ideal body weight = 42 – (42×0.4) = 25.2lb
  • So, a 42lb beagle that should only weight 25lbs, 25/2.2 = 11.4kg
  • calories = 70 x (11.4kg)^0.75 = 70(6.2) = 434 calories per day
  • To make it a little easier for you, here’s a chart (This is for ADULT animals, not growing/lactating/pregnant – Also, this is IDEAL weight, not their current weight if they’re obese)
  • Talk to your vet to get your pet’s ideal weight
Popcorn is a perfect weight – she’s an average frame cat and weighs about 9lb

Our pets do not live very long (10-15 years for most dogs; 15-20 years for most cats), so giving them the healthiest lifestyle keeps them happier for those years. Arthritis and diabetes are common sequelae to being overweight as well and breathing difficulty in the short squat dogs like French and English bulldogs. Osteoarthritis leads to many many euthanasias and dogs that are overweight are GOING to have more mobility issues and will start getting them much earlier in their lives. Mobility issue leads to being unable to get up from laying down, walk over hard floors, navigate stairs – making owners have to carry dogs to go outside to the bathroom (think apartment living), bed sores, other injuries from slipping and falling, infections around skin folds around rectum, penis, vulva. Diabetes treatment requires twice daily insulin injections, multiple vet visits to get insulin regulated, regimented note taking and nursing care, and, of course, more money. (Just think of all the money you could have saved by NOT feeding your dog all those extra treats AND diabetes/arthritis therapy!)

This hippo is a bit on the thin side…

Cats that are overweight will start with arthritis, but you may not see it (see my last blog on pet pain) until you start noticing your cat urinating or defecating outside the litterbox. Inappropriate urinating and defecating is one of the leading causes of cat euthanasia – and it all could just be because it hurts to walk into the litterbox or get into position to poop. Obese cats will also develop diabetes ($$$$), stop being able to groom themselves, leading to mats in the hair, grumpy cats, and infections around their rear from feces and urine sitting on their skin.

The most loving and money saving thing you can do for your pets is to stay ahead of the problems – flea/tick/heartworm preventative, vaccines, and keeping them at a healthy weight are the absolute minimum for giving your pet the healthiest and longest life you can. You may feel like they love you more if you feed them, but they don’t really associate food with love. Over feeding them can border on cruelty and abuse. You are their caretaker. You control what they eat – 100% – you can show your love more than anything in the world by keeping them at a healthy weight. You can do this!

Happy healthy dog!
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His leg fell off, but I don’t think he’s in PAIN! W.T.F.

Sick kitty – she’s down and out in the middle of the kitchen where the dogs normally eat – she was euthanized this day

I recently had a case where an animal had all the skin stripped off it’s paws which were now red, bleeding, and swollen. I comforted the owner after they asked me if I was going to close the wounds and informed them we would be unable to close due to all the flesh being torn from the pads, but not to worry, we would get the animal on antibiotics and pain meds until it heals. The owner looked at me like I was crazy and said “well, I don’t think he’s in any pain, except where your assistant took his temperature in his butt”.

Whale eye – the pain to come when leg knocked off

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time I’ve had an owner deny their pets’ pain. It wasn’t even, likely, the first time that day. I have made a Tiktok video about it:

https://www.tiktok.com/@dremilythomas/video/7186334895428488491?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7239346327908697642

So, let’s talk about pain for a second. Animals are different than us. Not in that they don’t feel pain, but that they are NOT going to show pain like we will. We live in a society where 1. we expect a fix for every ailment we have thanks to modern medicine and 2. others in our circle will take care of us if we are out of commission. Animals, on the other hand are 1. Not going to ask for help because they don’t even know help is an option (my eye fell out? oh, well, guess we’ll try to eat and not die from it) and 2. are fighting for survival, or, at least feel like they are, even with us. House cats, believe it or not, are actually prey for many animals – large birds, foxes, coyotes, wolves, etc. but aren’t the easiest prey, so showing pain could mean being more likely hunted or targeted by those predators. Dogs, going back to pack mentality, may be taken out of the pack if they show pain or at least taken down on the totem pole of hierarchy. If you’ve ever had multiple dogs in a household and seen what happens when one cries out or whimpers and the other dogs run up on him, not to see if he’s okay, but to hover over him intimidatingly and possibly attack depending on the personality.

Whale eye #2 – this indicates stress OR pain. Like the stress and pain of being crushed by your self-obsessed sibling

So, animals have good reasons NOT to show pain. They don’t know if they show pain, you will help them. They may be thinking we’ll get rid of them if they do or they might not get fed, or who knows what they’re thinking. Animals will also, notoriously, get 99% better when they go out in public or come to the vet. We see it all the time, animals who are reportedly dying at home, show up to the clinic, running around, wagging their tail. I don’t automatically think the owner was lying, I just think the adrenaline and survival skills of the animal has kicked in and they animal doesn’t want to show weakness. Just like me and you when you’re not feeling well, but good enough to go to work and you pretend to be peppy and spry around your co-workers or clients. Why? I’m not sure. Am I afraid someone will send me home?? Please! Am I afraid people won’t like me if I’m not 100%? Maybe. But we all do it, so why not expect animals to do the same thing?

Hiding – if this cat were in pain I would expect more curled up tight in the back, avoiding contact

So, here’s a list of signs that your animal is sick or in pain. Some will seem simple and straight forward, but I wouldn’t be making this list if people didn’t have a hard time seeing it.

  1. Not using a body part. Limping but not whining? Still in pain. Squinting, or closing the eye. I’ve seen dogs walk into the clinic, tail wagging, with the obviously fractured leg just dangling in the wind and STILL not vocalizing.
  2. Change in behavior. Suddenly avoiding you or other animals in the household, more fearful or aggressive, not wanting to eat, play, not jumping up when you’re about to go for a walk. Going in and out of the house or litterbox several times (could indicate diarrhea or urinary issues)
  3. Change in posture. Hunching, lowered ears, head, tail, curled up tight in a ball, not wanting to lay down, pacing, trying to lay, then pacing again. Standing with chest on the ground and butt in the air – typical of stomach pain.
  4. Panting, pacing, trembling, shaking, wide “whale eye” where you can see the whites of their eyes like they’re worried.
  5. Overgrooming/licking an area. This is super common with cats who will groom their under bellies bald if they have abdominal or urinary pain. Also, allergy areas of the paws, a wound, swelling. Sometimes they will even aggressively bite at and rip hair out of a body part that is hurting or irritating them.
  6. Teeth grinding or bruxism – this horrible sound from their mouth can indicate stomach pain.
  7. Drooling, eyes tearing, or liquid generally seeping out when or where it’s not supposed to.
  8. Swelling, bleeding, redness, hot to the touch (make sure to compare both sides of the body to make sure it’s not just you – you’d be surprised how many perfectly normal fat pads over the hips I’ve diagnosed when the owner only noticed one side being big)
Squinting (this is a cheat – Catina has no eyes)
A cat who hangs out by or near the litterbox more often
This bear avoiding the family and heat seeking (just a stuffed bear but doesn’t he look forlorn?)
Laying in the coffin can be another sign.

I’m sure there’s more signs that I’m not thinking of right now, but this is a good list for now. Basically, animals don’t show pain very much – always playing it cool – and if you ever notice anything different, take them to the vet and have them evaluate them. I’d much rather tell you you’re crazy, the animal is fine than have you wait until the leg is rotted off before you decide it might need attention.

**Side note** – a lot of orthopedic pain issues can be helped by having your animal at the ideal body weight – unlike this obese clinic cat who is likely contributing to orthopedic/musculoskeletal pain of the small child trying to hold him. #weloveyoudan

Here’s a picture of a very healthy, non-painful dog – happily just finished a 4 mile mountain trail run. Head, ears, tail up, back straight, wide based stance.

Also, for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT give your animal human pain medication unless under the direction of a veterinarian. Most of them cause significant and immediate liver and/or kidney failure. This goes for you, too, Dr. Human Orthopedic surgeon, NO Celebrex! Even if all your human patients are on it! No!

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Cats: They’re Sensitive (and they’d like to stay that way)

Cats are funny creatures. So independent and in your face with their needs and desires. They seem so low maintenance. You just get a cat, some food and a litterbox and you’re set! Easiest pet you ever had!

Sweet Toad – the perfect cat – except that he’s a nasty bully to the other cats.

Oops, no! Sure, some cats are ridiculously low maintenance and use their litterbox all the time, eat, drink, don’t vomit on your important documents or pee on your laundry or chew on your electrical cords. But getting one that great from the get go and their staying that way is a gamble much like life insurance (or worse, short term disability insurance).

Spicy Penelope – except to other cats – she’s the target of their aggression

Litterbox habits: This is the number one behavioral complaint we get with cats. Now, I am no behaviorist, but will try to explain what I tell clients when they’re having trouble with urinating or defecating outside the litter box. First thing’s first: as a vet, I definitely want to make sure there’s nothing medical that is causing this issue. Urinary tract infections, cystitis (which can also be behavioral), arthritis, diabetes, kidney disease, crystals or stones, other health issues. So, we will start with bloodwork and urinalysis to rule out the easy ones. For arthritis, we may, next try X-rays or pain medication trial. Once we’ve ruled out medical reasons the cat may be giving you the fluffy finger, we’ll move on to behavior/social/psychological issues.

This is Delphi – she’s 18 and hyperthyroid and pees on our counters and herself – hence the bath.
  1. There’s a rule of thumb that you should have 1 litterbox per cat plus 1. So, if you are like me and have 5 cats, you should have a minimum of 6 litterboxes.
  2. If you have multiple cats, make sure to spread out the litterboxes in case one cat is secretly bullying another cat and chasing them out of the litterbox. I have multiple litterboxes on each level of my house, including the basement. If you have dogs, make sure the cat can get to the litterbox without a dogs nose up their butt waiting for the “fresh from the oven” treats. Consider a baby gate raised to 5-6 inches off the floor to allow the cat to scoot under, but not the dog – or if you have a small dog and young cat, baby gate on the floor.
  3. Some cats like the covered litterboxes, some feel claustrophobic. You’ll have to try different ones. Give different options. Regular open ones, closed ones, tupperware bin with a hole cut in the side, deep ones, shallow ones. Who cares? Cats. They care. A lot.
  4. Clean the boxes VERY regularly. At least once daily. Cats are bourgeoise and don’t want to use a dirty bathroom just like you.
  5. Try different litters. Some like the clumping, some don’t, mine hated the pelleted recycled stuff that was supposed to save the environment. Like many people, cats are more about themselves – tiny, soft, fluffy narcissists. (My cats really LOVE Dr. Elsey “Cat Attract” litter)
  6. Don’t keep the boxes where there’s a lot of noise, or commotion. Or, God forbid, change what’s in the room. My sister’s cat stopped using the litterbox in the laundry room when she got a new washing machine.
  7. A cat’s stress organ is their bladder. So, if something is stressing them out, the bladder will get inflamed and can even make them urinate blood without their having a bacterial urinary tract infection.

Food and water secrets: In general, cats are desert animals and are prone to not drinking enough which can lead to urinary and kidney issues.

  1. Offer water in several forms. Beautiful bowl you tediously picked out online that perfectly matches your décor and your cat’s unique personality? Complete garbage. Try leaving a disgusting dish in your shower to collect water haphazardly – they LOVE it! Leave a faucet dripping, leave a cup of water on the counter – they’ll drink it.. then dump it. Pretend to fix yourself a glass of ice water and look away for a few minutes. Run the shower for just a second and watch them happily clean the droplets off the walls. Cats are bougie, but also sometimes hipster.
  2. If you’re ever in the position to need to try to force feed your sick cat – remember this: whatever food you decide to use, your cat will HATE that food forever! So have an alternate food to offer to see if they will eat on their own and don’t use their regular food if they have special prescription diets that they need. Talk to your vet about options.
  3. Cats DON’T NEED MUCH FOOD. Really, most domestic animals are obese these days, but for the most part, cats only need about 200 kcal per day (average for a 10 lb/4.5kg cat +/- weight for tiny cats or TRUE Maine coons – talk to your vet to get an idea of what your cat should weigh). Look at your bag of cat food and figure out how many kcal/cup of food and calculate from there. Overweight cats lead to unhappy, sedentary, arthritic, diabetic kitties who can’t even groom themselves and have to get shaved or develop sores on their rears from excrement sticking to them.
This is Dan the clinic cat. Dan is 20 lb. Dan has an eating problem and needs to be on a diet.

Social order:

  1. Don’t TOUCH me! For a cat, the only acceptable place to be touched (until consent is fully achieved and a safe word is established) is the top of the head. This is the only place that they cannot groom themselves and will more readily accept touch on this area. So, if you’re first meeting a cat or trying to gain it’s trust, start with a little scratch on top of the head and then move on from there.
  2. Cats are like potato chips, you can’t just stop at one. Buuuuut… maybe you should. Yes, some cats LOVE companions, but for the most part, cats are solitary creatures that really need their own territory. If your cats aren’t getting along, you may need to establish their own territory complete with their own food, water, litter boxes, beds, toys, humans, etc. I recently thought I would be smart and get two kittens from the same litter so they would “love each other” and it totally worked for about a year. Now, they hate each other and break out in full on screaming, hair flying battles. We have 5 cats now and have to rotate who gets to be around humans between the main floor, the basement, and even the outdoors. Only my 18 year old dirty hippie kitty is accepted/picked on equally by the other four.
  3. Kitties seem like couch potatoes once they reach adulthood – happy to eat, drink, and sleep. In reality, cats get really bored really easily and to keep them mentally as well as physically healthy, it’s very important to keep them stimulated in their very controlled environment. My household does not allow for toys on the floor (per poodles), but a cat tree next to a window, a bird feeder to watch, laser pointers, SCRATCHING toys (flood them with scratching toys to keep them from shredding your furniture), toys with moving parts, there’s some mouse toys you can put their regular food in and hide throughout the house instead of in a bowl so they can feel like they’re hunting, there’s compressed catnip in a ball you can hang on the wall and they can rub/lick/play with it. Cats like tunnels, ramps to get to high places. Leave Amazon boxes on the floor for a few days, plastic or paper bags from shopping, kids’ canvas tunnels, tents, etc.
Popcorn, sibling to Toad. Hates Toad. And Penelope.

Dr. Elsey’s Cat attract litter: https://www.drelseys.com/products/cat-attract-litter/

Cat toy: https://www.chewy.com/doc-phoebes-cat-co-indoor-hunting-cat/dp/179101

Cat nip balls: https://www.amazon.com/Potaroma-Silvervine-Catnip-Healthy-Cleaning/dp/B08T7493WJ/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=2MIY8OB36U2B0&keywords=catnip%2Bballs&qid=1663263254&sprefix=catnip%2Bball%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-2-spons&th=1