For your felines, too much grooming and belly rubs is no big deal, but too much food? That’s another story. Overfeeding your cat makes them less active and puts them in danger of serious health problem. Sure, it’s not easy to detect whether your cat has had enough in a meal, but it’s important to exert the extra effort to ensure your furry friend won’t experience the following dangers of overfeeding.
- Poor Grooming
Having your cat lie down in the middle of the living room, while licking her behind, might not be the cutest sight for your guests; but her grooming habits keep her clean and happy. When your cat has had too much food, her belly bloats and gets into her grooming habits. As a result, her fur tangles, which could cause her pain; and she likely won’t care about the feces sticking on her hair and carrying it throughout your house.
- Health Risks
Like humans, overfeeding cats can increase the risk of many health problems. When your felines bloat, they’re at risk of diabetes, joint breakdown, liver diseases, and teeth problems. Many of these illnesses are lifelong, so feeding your meowing pets a more weight-conscious diet once the problem sets in won’t reverse the health condition, though it often stops them from worsening.
- Difficult to Stop
Like how humans indulge on sinful treats, consistently overfeeding your cat makes cutting back difficult. They’ll whine and constantly annoy you for more treats until they adjust to their new diet. Some cats can go extremes when they need more food, such as knock items off your counter, fight each other, or just act incredibly rude. Consult a vet to come up with a feeding strategy to adjust your pet’s diet.
- Unhappy
Cats like walking and jumping from counter to counter and scratch curtains and other hanged objects within their reach. Overfeeding your cat makes her feel heavy and prevents her from doing these pleasurable activities. Packing up too many pounds and struggling to jump and do activities leads to an unhappy kitty. Her weight stresses her and limits her from being a cat.
Animal diet is as important as human diet. If you want to keep your felines happy and healthy, feed them the right way and always be watchful of their health needs.
