How to Improve an Overweight Cat’s Health

Imagine a veterinarian and pet food expert realizing that her young cat has become overweight and has diabetes! How could this happen? It happened to Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM and she intended to get to the bottom of it.

What she discovered flew in the face of conventional cat food wisdom. But thank heavens she figure it out, because she was able to save her cat and hundreds of others from chronic disease and early death.

Dr. Hodgkins isn’t the only one talking about this now, but she is the first one to write a great book about it Your Cat: Simple New Secrets to a Longer, Stronger Life.  She says she is constantly having to warn surprised owners that their cat is overweight and “on a clear and certain path to one of many chronic debilitating diseases… .”

Unfortunately, overweight cats are also more vulnerable to fleas, since fleas prey on weakened health.

But don’t despair – you can save your cat from all these threats more easily than you think!

The problem turns out to be the high-starch level found in most cat foods. As I describe in  Overweight Cat? The Hidden Cause and Solution, your cat’s metabolism is not designed to handle this, especially if they lack a lot of roaming, climbing, and hunting.

After a great deal of research and experience with the issue of cats and weight, I am confident that your cat will start to get in better shape and health in 30 days if you do this:

STEP 1

Pick out a good low-starch natural cat food for your cat buddy — here’s a list. They may cost a bit more than average at first, but they’ll make it up by saving you vet expenses and heartache. Remember: no grains & low carb is what we want.

STEP 2

Gradually introduce the new food in the following cat-smart way. The trick is:

• Use enticements, as described my full article on cat-food switching secrets.
• To introduce a new wet food, mix it into another wet food they like (such as tuna, or a fishy cat food) little-by-little over a week. On the 5th day you can be totally switched over.
  If the food trial fails, try another of the foods listed here.

STEP 3

(Optional, but very helpful!) Gradually introduce high-quality fish oil into your cat’s wet food daily. There is a magic to doing this right. The effect is magical, and that doing it the proper way is also magical. Fish oil is even being recommended by doctors to prevent diabetes these days.

I like using anchovy fish oil because small fish carry less toxin contamination risk.

Here’s the cat-smart way to introduce it:

• If you aren’t feeding them wet food, you can try this later when you are ready to rotate in wet food (e.g., every other day or meal).
• Start with one tiny drop of oil on the side of the cat food plate for a couple days. As they get used to the smell with their food, they accept it. Then mix a little in the food each day until you are up to the full dose. If you try to introduce it any other way, they may reject it. Holistic vet Anne Reed, DVM taught me this.
• I especially like Iceland Pure’s oils for pets because of their quality and packaging. Packaging is important because EFA oils go rancid easily which makes them unhealthy. (Which reminds me: keep it refrigerated.) Nordic Naturals and Carlson are also good brands. Small fish sources like herring, sardine, and anchovy are ideal as they are less likely to be contaminated.

You should begin to see some pleasing results in short order, but do keep going with the new food and fish oil.  As time goes on, your cat will gradually look more fit and even be more lively. Plus, within weeks on the oil her fur becomes softer and shinier.

Let me know how this works for you and your bundle of feline love.