Watch out, your cat could become obese during the cold season

It was Sunday again at the clinic and, it was not a busy day. I was so bored and not in a mood to work so I decided to close a little bit earlier.

Suddenly, a middle-aged lady in boots walked in panting. She held a cream cat carrier tightly across her chest as if she was carrying very delicate cargo.

"Good evening," she said. "Is the clinic working today"?

"Yes madam," I replied. "We are just about to close. Is everything OK?" I continued as I assisted her to offload the cage that she was carrying.

I opened the carrier just to find a tabby cat curled innocently in a cage. The cat looked like it was between 9 and 12 years, according to dental aging, and she was abnormally big and heavy (around 6kg).

Since the lady was visiting the clinic for the first time, I had to take her through the routine registration and history taking process. She complained that the cat had had episodes of panting and was abnormally dull in the last few days. I suspected obesity because this is common in cats during the cold period.

I usually think about myself whenever I see a fat pet during cold season. Cold weather usually induces in me the urge to eat more -- not good for me or our feline friend.

On further interview with the lady, she admitted that Snowball, her lovely cat now ill at the clinic, always wants to have a bite whenever she does and she has never denied her. This could have been the cause of the cat's illness -- the owner wasn't fit either.

The cat was furiously panting and it had an extended belly, a clear indication that something was wrong. So I had to pay more attention and carefully proceed with my examination by gently stroking her on back and palpating down her belly in a bid to find out if there could be any fluid or kitten in her system.

I could not come out with anything significant, so I proceeded with other laboratory examinations to rule out other condition related to weight gain like Cushing's disease.

Just like human beings, cats become obese when they eat too much but perform very little exercise. An obese cat can come down with a heart disease like heart attack and their ligaments may also rupture because of excess weight. Such cats also develop respiratory problems and become susceptible to liver diseases.

In some cats, the condition affects their ability to control sugar levels in their bodies and they come down with diabetes just like humans. The beauty of any cat is its ability to groom herself and acquire a smooth shiny and silky fur coat.

So having an obese cat is not an exciting experience to any cat lover since the disease makes cats lazy and lose their ability to groom themselves. Prevention is the best remedy to avert obesity in cats.

The writer is a vet surgeon at Pets Centre Veterinary Clinic - Muthaiga