We are the owners of six wonderful cats. To some this may seem excessive, but we have reached a balance that is good for both the people and the cats. Both of us work at vet clinics and recently brought in our menagerie for vaccines. Along with their shots, we weighed all the cats. We have a group of healthy felines with little stomach pudges, normal for housecats, with the exception of Midnight. Midnight is a 2 year old black, domestic short hair cat. He is a polydactyl, coming in with 20 toes (a normal cat should have 14). On December 21st he weighed in at 21 pounds and 7 ounces. While Midnight is a stocky cat, big boned and long, this is about 7 pounds more than he should be. 7 pounds on this cat is comparable to being 90-100 pounds overweight on a human.
Of course, there are benefits to having a fat cat. Extra cat = more heating on your lap on cold days. Marc and I live in the Midwest making this is a definite benefit. But being so large, Midnight doesn't play like the other cats. He lies on his back, and bats at toys while the other cats jump and run around him. He sleeps more than the others do. Being overweight is not in Midnight’s current best interest, and can pose health problems later down the road.
What better time to get Midnight on track than at New Year’s? It isn’t going to be easy; in a multi-pet household, trying to diet one is very difficult. But for Midnight, we can do it!
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