What Makes a Cat a Healthy Cat?
by Liz Bales, VMD
What makes a cat a healthy pet? Maintaining a healthy weight and exhibiting behavior that is acceptable to their human caretakers is a good start. Veterinarians must be sure they are communicating clearly to cat owners about how to keep their cats physically and behaviorally healthy.
One thing is sure: We have an epidemic. In America, 59.5% of cats are overweight or obese, according to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP).1?Our cats' bodies are overfed, while their predatory souls are starving. While debates rage on about what food to feed a cat, the most important health crisis facing cats has gotten almost no attention. The No. 1 cause of death for cats is being unwanted due to behavior problems.2
Much discussion and research has been done on the effect of diet on the physical health of cats. Only recently has feeding behavior and its effect on physical and behavioral health become an area of focus. We now know that, “Cats are solitary predators that consume small prey, and they prefer to eat often and alone. Their prey is of low caloric density, necessitating several kills per day (for which they expend large amounts of energy) to meet their basic nutritional requirements.”3?In short, multiple small frequent meals that cats must seek out, find, catch, kill, and eat is the natural feeding behavior of cats.
Outdoor life is inarguably dangerous for cats, but it also allows cats to live their lives according to their natural instincts, such as what and how to eat. What is on the menu and how it will be served becomes controlled by humans when we close and lock the door. In fact, it has been documented that behavioral problems are more common in cats without access to the outdoors.3?There is a clear, proven, direct correlation between understanding and providing for cats’ innate behavioral needs and their physical health. Stress has physiologic consequences. It activates the central stress response system,4?which has an impact on nearly every body system, and plays a role in the most common health problems that cats face. Research of exactly how to minimize cats’ stress and meet their behavioral needs, specifically their feeding behavior needs, is in its infancy.
Read more?and earn 1.0 credit hours of RACE-approved continuing education via?dvm360 Flex, our complimentary learning platform for veterinary professionals.
?Abstract:
In this course we will cover the normal behavior of cats in nature. The average human home is not equipped to meet the behavioral needs of a cat. Research shows that cats need more than a bowl of water, a bowl of food and a litter box to be happy.
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Learning Objectives:
About the Author: Dr Liz Bales, VMD, is a 2000 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and is a leading expert on the unique behavioral and wellness needs of cats. She is a writer and speaker, and has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, MSN.com, Martha Stewart Living, Popsugar, PetMD, Chewy.com, Modern Cat magazine and has appeared on Fox and Friends, ABC News, SiriusXM, The Doctors, NPR’s How I Built This, and QVC. She is the vice president of innovation and entrepreneurship for the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine alumni board, a member of the feline editorial advisory board of DVM360?/Fetch, as well as the advisory boards for the American Association of Feline Practitioners’ Cat Friendly Practice, Vet Candy, and Fear Free. Dr Bales serves on the Pet Professional Guild feline committee.?Dr Bales is the founder of Doc & Phoebe’s Cat Co, and the inventor of the game-changing Hunting Feeder for cats. She is launching a full line of feeding solutions and a revolutionary carrier for cats in 2020.
CE Reviews:
Semi Retired at None
1 年Completely denying one's pet cat outdoors access should be compensated by giving their feline additional affection.?I do so with my cat, Simon. Still, I always tell cat owners that if they won’t do it for the vulnerable wildlife potentially killed by their roaming pet cats, they should do it for their also-vulnerable cats’ sake?—?keep it on a leash during walks or (preferably) indoors at all times.? The average lifespan of indoor felines is about three times that of outdoor felines, not to mention the notable absence of outdoor-related injury.? Growing up, I lost many beloved outdoor felines to larger predators, perhaps to even a cat-hating human. (I knew about a few guys willing to procure sick satisfaction from torturing to death those naively-trusting thus likely sweet-natured cats whose owners had allowed to wander the neighborhood at night.) As a young boy,?finding them slaughtered?on our lawn — and on another extremely sad occasion, my kitten dead next to my father's car engine with his throat cut — the following morning was quite lastingly traumatizing.??