Elsevier

Journal of Veterinary Behavior

Volume 11, January–February 2016, Pages 37-41
Journal of Veterinary Behavior

Research
Owner's perception of changes in behaviors associated with dieting in fat cats

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2015.11.004Get rights and content

Abstract

Fifty-eight obese cats were fed 1 of 3 equicaloric diets for 8 weeks: a high-fiber (HiFi) diet, a control diet formulated to maintain weight in adult cats, or a low-carbohydrate and high-protein diet. The cats' changes in weight at 4 and 8 weeks were compared with baseline weights. Behaviors at 4 weeks were compared between diet groups. Whether the cats differed in behaviors compared with baseline was compared at 4 and 8 weeks without regard to diet. The behaviors were recorded by the owners and analyzed for direction of the change (if change occurred). The behaviors were prefeeding begging, following, meowing, and pacing. Those recorded postfeeding and similarly analyzed were jump in lap, purr, rest, sleep, and use litter box. The owners were also asked whether the cat's affection toward them had changed since the diet was fed. Most of the cats (38 of 47; 81% of those with data for that time) lost weight during the first 4 weeks, irrespective of the diet; there was no difference in percentage of original body weight lost at 4 weeks between the diets (P = 0.36). However, the HiFi group lost relatively more weight across the entire 8 weeks than did the low-carbohydrate and high-protein diet group (P = 0.0075). Overall, 38 of 50 (76% of cats with data for that time) of all cats had weight losses at 8 weeks.

Irrespective of the diet, many cats reacted to caloric restriction by intensifying their appetitive behaviors. Of the cats that had changed the frequency of the particular behavior at 4 weeks, most increased the frequency: begging (32 of 41 increased), following (35 of 37), meowing (34 of 38), and pacing (30 of 31) before the meal (all P ≤ 0.0001); however, the cats did not begin to beg earlier during food restriction (P = 0.47). The cats also increased the 4-week postmeal (satiated) behavior for jump in the owners lap (14 of 15 increased) and use the litter box (12 of 13) (both P ≤ 0.005). Affectionate behavior increased in most cats (30 of 32 with change at 4 weeks; P ≤ 0.001). The changes in behaviors at 8 weeks generally followed the same patterns except that purr became significant, and both beg and use of litter lost significance.

A HiFi diet led to more weight loss at 8 weeks than an equicaloric and high-protein diet, but the type of diet did not affect appetitive and satiated behaviors. Of the cats that changed behaviors, the appetitive behaviors typically increased, and the owners felt that their cats displayed more affection.

Introduction

Obesity in cats has been defined as 25% or more over the cat's ideal body weight (Zoran, 2009). A study of 2000 cats from 31 veterinary hospitals in eastern United States found that 20% of the cats were overweight and 5% were obese (Scarlett et al., 1994). A large study based on body condition scores indicated that more than half of the pet cats were above optimal body condition (Lund et al., 1999). A more recent study indicated that 35% of the feline population is obese (Zoran, 2009). Overweight or obese cats are more likely to develop health problems. These health problems include lameness, diabetes mellitus, and nonallergic skin conditions (Buffington, 2002, Michel and Scherk, 2012), although there are few studies proving that obesity causes these problems rather than being associated with them. In addition, the ability to perform a thorough and adequate physical examination on an obese cat can be hindered because of the cat's size. Overall welfare is decreased if the cat is obese because of the myriad health problems. Factors that have been associated with feline obesity are living in an apartment, being a single cat, male, mixed-breed neutered or inactive, and being fed a specialty or prescription diet (Scarlett et al., 1994). Cats that live in apartments cannot climb stairs or travel more than a few meters in any direction; therefore, they do not expend as many calories. Male cats seem to be more sedentary, and castration only intensifies their inactivity. Neutering decreases feline maintenance energy requirements (Mitsuhashi et al., 2011). Prescription diets are very palatable so the cats consume more calories. Single cats have no other cat with which to play—or fight—so are less active than cats in multicat households. Free-choice feeding in which the cat can eat ad libitum is another risk factor for obesity. Owners are often reluctant to impose a weight loss program on their cats because they think the cats will be less affectionate and will beg all the time. They fear that the cat will no longer like them and do not want the cat to exhibit annoying behaviors.

There are many diets on the market to help cats lose weight. These diets vary in their nutritional content. Because cats are obligate carnivores and their natural diet consists of eating many (approximately 12 mice) rodents per day (Fitzgerald and Turner, 2000), one might hypothesize that a low-carbohydrate and high-protein (LoChoh) diet would reduce food-demanding behavior more than a high-fiber (HiFi) diet and would allow for a greater weight loss than a HiFi diet. This hypothesis is supported by studies in cats (Vasconcellos et al., 2009) indicating that weight loss is greater or sustained longer when a high-protein diet is consumed.

Feeding behavior can be divided into 3 phases, appetitive behavior, consummatory behavior, and satiety. Consummatory behavior is eating the food. Feline appetitive behaviors have not been well documented but could consist of biting or pouncing behavior because cats are predators or, if cats consider their caretakers as they do their mother, they may vocalize. Satiety behaviors could consist of playful behavior, because cats often play with their prey, but may also include rest and elimination behavior (Leyhausen, 1979).

Because owners have difficulty in reducing their cats' food intake, this study focuses on whether and how cats' behavior change when they are food restricted (Kienzle and Bergler, 2006). Our study had 2 primary objectives and 1 secondary objective. Our primary objectives were to quantify how a cat's behavior changes when its food intake is reduced and to determine which of these diets the owners believed made the cats feel more satiated.

A secondary objective was to determine whether percentage weight loss was greater with a high-protein diet than with a HiFi diet or a control diet after 4 and 8 weeks of consuming the assigned diet.

Section snippets

Recruitment, assignment, and eligibility criteria

Fifty-eight neutered cats (Table 1) were enrolled in a placebo-controlled study in which both the owners and the veterinarians (who weighed the cats) arbitrarily were unaware of the formulation of the diets. The diets were coded LMN, PQR, and STU so that the owners and veterinarian did not know the composition of the diet. The owners were recruited via advertisements in local newspapers and on local radio and television stations. Each cat was assigned systematically (by household, if there were

Results

Of the 58 cats enrolled in the study, 47 returned for the weighing at 4 weeks and 50 returned for the weighing at 8 weeks. Not all owners answered all the questions concerning the cat's behavior.

Discussion

The behavioral responses to food restrictions were similar across diets. Cats were most apt to increase vocalization (meowing and begging) before meals, follow their owners, and pace. There generally was no change in the types of behaviors exhibited by the cats—only a change in the frequency. One solution to the begging problem might be to feed the cats from devices that open at set times so that the food does not come from the owners. Although that might reduce the annoying begging behaviors,

Conclusion

Equicaloric food restriction led to weight loss in cats irrespective of the diet composition. A HiFi diet leads to a greater percentage weight loss than an equicaloric high-protein diet. No matter the composition of the diet, cats react behaviorally to feed restriction by intensifying their appetitive behaviors and showing increased affection to their owners.

Ethical considerations

The protocol was approved by the Cornell University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References (22)

  • T.W. Castonguay

    Dietary dilution and intake in the cat

    Physiol. Behav.

    (1991)
  • Cited by (11)

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text