Is your cat overweight? Has your cat been drinking more water lately and you worry that’s the reason why he’s overweight?
An unusual increase in water drinking, particularly by an obese cat may indicate a chronic disease, such as diabetes.
Water has zero calories, no carbohydrates and no fat. Your cat did not become overweight by drinking water. Unless you are adding food that contains calories into his water, that’s the only way your cat can become heavy by drinking water. If you’re adding sugar to your overweight cat’s water, that might be the culprit. Adding sugar to your obese cat’s water will not only make him overweight but also cause more health problems.
Some cats are genetically “heavy.”. Regardless of how much food or little food they eat, they end up still heavy. Your fat cat might just fall into one of these stockier breeds. You can certainly find out by checking with your vet or by doing some quick searching online.
One of the major reasons your cat could be overweight is because you are most likely feeding him with an unbalanced, manufactured food made mostly out of corn. You need to switch your fat cat to a more balanced food that contains real meat protein, along with fats, carbohydrates in the ideal ingredient percentage range. And don’t forget about vitamins, minerals and other micro-nutrients.
You may also be over feeding your cat. Could he be ingesting too much food/calories he doesn’t need? If you are in the habit of leaving his food (most likely a dry food) out all day long, he may overeat.
Have you recently changed his feeding pattern? Switching from a canned or wet food to more dry foods? Dry foods contain approximately 10% moisture while canned foods typically contain 70 – 80% moisture. If you have recently added or replaced moist, canned food with dry foods the increase in dry foods could probably cause your fluff-ball to drink more free water. In this case drinking more free water would be a natural balancing from ingesting less moisture from his food.
Some cats would just eat and eat regardless of whether they are hungry or not. I bet your cat eats when he is bored. You can cut down on his food intake by getting the appropriate dish size. Try as much as possible not to put your obese cat on an unbalanced diet by just reducing calories!
Is your overweight cat exercising consistently? A cat that snoozes and lounges around all day long is prone to obesity. If you recently added a new play-toy, or if your chunky fluff-ball just discovered a new play-toy, and his exercising has increased, that’s a good activity. However, he may need additional free water because of his exercise!
Water by itself won’t cause weight gain. If your overweight cat is drinking too much water, it could be a sign of more serious problems. Drinking too much water can cause your cat’s kidneys to fail. Other serious problems like Thyroid and Diabetes could also be reasons why your heavy cat is drinking lots of water. On the other hand, drinking more water may be the natural consequence of a life-style change.
If you notice any changes in your cat’s behavior especially his eating habit, you should observe and monitor him carefully. Research online. Consult a veterinarian. A vet will carry out the necessary tests to check if anything is wrong.