Obesity affects over 50% of cats in developed countries and causes significant welfare harm through reduced mobility, chronic pain, and increased disease risk.
Feline obesity is a welfare crisis that is both extremely common and largely normalized. Overweight cats are often described as cute or fluffy, masking the welfare reality: excess weight causes joint pain that limits mobility, metabolic disease including diabetes requiring daily insulin injections, and dramatically reduced ability to express normal cat behaviors including jumping, running, and grooming. The pain of obesity-related arthritis in cats is rarely recognized because cats hide pain effectively. Weight management in cats requires a controlled feeding approach — measured meals of appropriate high-protein, lower-carbohydrate food — and is genuinely challenging because cats resist calorie restriction strongly. Veterinary guidance on safe weight loss rates prevents the serious complication of hepatic lipidosis that can occur with excessively rapid weight loss.