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Helping Your Cat Thrive: A Guide to Body Condition

Learn how to keep your cat fit and lean for optimal health.  



While the media often portrays a fat cat as funny, we can’t make light of the fact that cat obesity is a real problem. In North America, obesity is the #1 most common preventable disease in cats.

Keeping Your Cat at a Healthy Weight:

3 Key Strategies

1. Assess their body condition. 

Want to keep your feline friend happy and healthy? Maintaining a healthy body weight is
crucial for cats. Here are the three key strategies to help you achieve this:

With lots of fur and a primordial pouch under their bellies, it’s not always easy to tell if your cat is overweight. In fact, many cat owners underestimate their cats’ body condition. According to a survey by Packaged Facts, US Pet Market Outlook, only 13% of cat owners acknowledge that they have an overweight cat.

How to Check Your Cat’s Body Condition

Make it a routine to check your cat’s body condition every week or so to make sure they haven’t gained or lost any weight.

Check the waist. It should be visible from above.

Feel the ribs. Ribs & spine should be felt, not seen.

Test the tummy. Look for a slight upward slope.

Make it a routine to check your cat’s body condition every week or so to make sure they haven’t gained or lost any weight. 

2. Feed high-protein, high-moisture cat food.

As obligate carnivores, cats need to eat food that is high in animal-based protein and moisture with low or no carbohydrates. Avoid feeding only dry food, which can lead to weight gain with inadequate levels of protein and moisture and too many carbohydrates.

If your goal is to help your cat lose weight and maintain a healthy body condition, it’s important not to simply feed less of a maintenance diet. Doing so restricts the nutrients your cat needs. Rather, look for a therapeutic weight management diet that provides appropriate nutrition while safely reducing calories. 

Tiki Cat Luau Lean Gelée, for example, is specially formulated to support a healthy body condition without sacrificing flavor, making it easy to manage your cat’s weight. It offers:

  • Low fat and low calories
  • High protein and moisture to help cats stay fuller for longer
  • L-carnitine to metabolize fat and support heart health
  • An enticing and hydrating soft jelly texture cats love

In multi-cat households, feed each cat separately to ensure that each cat is receiving the correct food and portion size. You can feed them in their crates or in different rooms.

Don’t forget about treats! Cats don’t have to give up treats as long as they are healthy. Look for high-protein, low-calorie cat treats and be sure to limit their daily intake. 

3. Provide regular exercise.

Ensure that your cat has plenty of opportunities to burn off energy, stimulate their brain, and unleash their natural behaviors. Aim to play with them a couple of times a day and provide toys for independent play. 

Five exercise activities that cats enjoy include:

  1. Chasing a laser pointer, shoelace, or wand toy.
  2. Hunting for food or treats that you hide.
  3. Batting around catnip mice toys and balls.
  4. Climbing on a cat tree or other vertical space.
  5. Running on a cat exercise wheel. 

When watching your cat’s weight is incorporated into your daily routine, it takes no extra time or effort – and it can be enjoyable for both of you! Work in a quick body condition check while you’re brushing or petting them. Take satisfaction in watching them devour delicious weight management food like Tiki Cat Luau Lean Gelée. And, play with them for a few minutes during breaks from work or chores. It not only strengthens your bond but also produces a surge of the feel-good hormone oxytocin, making you feel happy as you get back to other activities.




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