Nearly half of Britain’s cats are obese and need to go on a diet, vets warn

While the UK is a famously animal-loving nation, us Brits are apparently a little over-affectionate when it comes to feeding our pet cats.

Vets from The Royal Veterinary College have warned that nearly half of the country’s pet cats are obese and are in desperate need of a diet plan, with an estimated 50,000 of the pets suffering from diabetes.

The RVC has been running a pilot programme to put these diabetic felines on a calorie restricted diet and a monitoring programme, which has brought three quarters of the pets back to health, according to The Telegraph.

The vets are now calling on owners to enrol their fat felines on the programme, which can extend their lifespan and even prevent the need for regular insulin injections.

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Dr. Ruth Gostelow, a lecturer in small animal internal medicine at the RVC, said: “Although some cats will remain diabetic for the duration of their life, a proportion can achieve diabetic remission and stop insulin treatment.

“Achieving diabetic remission significantly increases their life expectancy, and owner and pet wellbeing.”

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Dr. Gostelow added that the study has already proved ‘incredibly successful’, with recruited cats having recorded a diabetic remission rate of around 75%, something she describes as an ‘outstanding result’ compared to what is typically reported for diabetic cats.

She explained: “The early success of the trial means we want to expand it, and now we need more vets and their cat owners to sign up.”

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Obesity among felines in the UK has risen alongside trends to keep domestic cats permanently indoors, with almost half of owners saying they do not let their pets outside, particularly those living in cities.

A study by Nottingham Trent University found that owners were particularly concerned about protecting their pets from traffic, people and other wildlife, even though an indoor lifestyle can be bad for their physical and mental health.

The weight gain could also be credited to the pandemic, which saw a number of owners keep their pets indoors amid fears of Covid.