Fat Pets

I've just seen a book with some hilarious pictures of fat pets and their stories.

One of the most famous fat cats was Tiddles who lived until he was 13 - and lived at Paddington Rail Station in London, mostly in the Ladies' room. I met him once, and he was a very gentle, friendly cat. Apparently he weighed in at 32lb at one point, but sadly died not long after.

As well as lots of fat cats and dogs, there's also Dancing Star, a very large white rabbit weighing 26lb, a 5lb hedghog called George who looks like a football, and even a 265lb, 6 metre long python in Cambodia.

The strange thing is that most of their human carers assert that they're not overfed, especially in cases where they live in the same house as a normal sized pet, and eat the same food. Perhaps they're just like us - some of us are just a little more prone to being overweight than others.... I think that's true for those who are a little rotund, but can't honestly believe it of these extremely huge animals.

We often have obese cats arrive at Animals in Distress, and sometimes it doesn't take long for them to get that way. There are a couple of cats that were re-homed as regular-sized cats, and were returned to us not long after when the owners couldn't care for them, having put on pounds in a fairly short time.

Although there is some fun in this, it is a serious matter, as an overweight cat can be susceptible to any amount of medical conditions - these days there are far more animals with diabetes than ever before. When an obese, or even just overweight, animal (and they are mostly cats) comes in, they'll immediately go on a diet. Often they're not happy about this, but it's the kindest thing to do for them. And of course, while they're in the sanctuary, they're not getting much exercise.

Understandably, the Guinness Book of Records stopped accepting applications for the world record for the heaviest cat - it was starting to become obvious that people were overfeeding their cats just to get the record. A very cruel act indeed.......

It's very easy to overfeed a pet, while there are so many tasty items available for them. But it's essential that they're given no more than recommended in order to maintain a good weight, and health. Vets are very used to seeing overweight pets, and can provide good advice and support on nutrition.

Last time Bella went to the vet for her annual booster and check-up, I was told that she was a smidge over what she should be. This is a cat that grazes through the day, and a lot of the time hardly seems to eat at all. When I look at the cat food packets - the little trays and pouches - and they say to give 3-4 a day, if I did that for Bella she'd be huge!! But she'd never eat that much, so we're safe. Don't know where they get 3-4 pouches a day from, but none of the cats I feed get that much. Can't help wondering whether it's just to sell more - but that would be really cynical, wouldn't it?...........

Have you got any stories to share about overweight pets?