Re: Anyone here got a cat like this
 

I don't understand how people can let their pets get like this. OK, a dog needs you to walk it (although, with a good diet, smaller breeds can stay fit with little or no exercise), but a cat just needs to be let out. They will often naturally hunt for small animals, or "play" with other cats. Both of which will keep them fit.

I'll admit, with my own cat, that play often turned into real fights, but he was a male, and even though we actually fed him a lot, he was active enough that he was never fat.

Re: Anyone here got a cat like this
 

I think one of the problems is that more people are keeping their cats as house cats due to a fear that something will happen to them if they are allowed to venture outside.

I belong to a Cat Forum, I know, I know ...mad cat woman strikes again :D, and a lot of members virtually foam at the mouth if they hear that you don't believe in keeping a cat confined indoors and just will not accept that their little darlings need far more exercise than just having a climbing frame and a laser pen toy. I suspect that is what has happened to this poor mog. An owner restricting the cats natural form of exercise for fear of loosing him out in the big bad world and overcompensating by 'treating' her 'big boy' to too many treats. Potentially killing with kindness.

Re: Anyone here got a cat like this
 

You're right, Joglynne - a cat that's kept indoors never knows what it's missing, so it isn't concerned, provided the environment is kept varied and the cat has opportunities to exercise its natural behaviour. By far the best course of action is to ensure the cat has some safe, high perch to climb; they like that, so they can look down and survey their domain. :p:

When a cat's sitting on a windowsill looking outside, it isn't thinking 'oh, I wish they'd let me out' - it's just taking an interest and watching the world go by. They do that. If you live in an area that's dangerous for cats, e.g. on a main road, then by all means keep 'em in. They don't mind. It isn't cruel. My Tigger was originally an indoor cat, owing to my awkward shift times...then she managed to escape a couple of times, she discovered birds, and that was pretty much that. :p:

Since my last move, she's discovered mice, too, and delights in bringing them home...I wish she wouldn't, mice are cute. :( A couple of times I managed to pull a fast one on her; I waited till she lost interest in the mouse and decided to go out, then I captured it and put it out!

Advisory for owners of cats who like to hunt, though: if the cat's drawn blood on whatever it's caught, you may as well leave the cat to it, as the poor thing's surely doomed; a cat's bite can be very toxic owing to bacteria. Otherwise, if you really can't stand it, distract the cat somehow and rescue the hapless prey, as I did.

Re: Anyone here got a cat like this
 

I remember clearing up some of the mice that our cat used to bring in. I think the best way to describe what remained is to paraphrase Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

"What we got back didn't live long, fortunately."

Re: Anyone here got a cat like this
 

Well, it's died.

Re: Anyone here got a cat like this
 

I have two male cats and they do not get let out unless its in the garden with me for a while. However they are not unfit or over weight as their diet is good and also they can be fussy wee things. They constantly 'play' with each other although it can turn into a real fight pretty quickly.

I think in this case it may have in part been the fact that the owner(s) were 87 and not very mobile themselves.

Re: Anyone here got a cat like this
 

Don't buy any meat pies for a while. :erm:

Re: Anyone here got a cat like this
 

I hope that you don't feel that I was criticising an owner such as yourself Stephen. You are aware of your cats needs. The people that wind me up tend to have a lone cat that they leave on it's own whilst they work. A cat without stimulus will sleep for most of the time and it sounds like your two have a great life with a slave........ errrr I mean owner who cares for their well being. :D

[rant}As for the owner of this poor cat, being 87 doesn't provide an excuse to overfeed it so badly, if the owner was mobile enough to feed the cat then they were mobile enough to play with it in some way. If the owner was relying on someone else to buy food and care for them then that person should have done something to help the poor cat before it got to the stage it did. [/rant]