Obesity affects approximately 60% of domestic cats and is the most prevalent preventable health condition in companion animals, causing significant welfare compromise through joint disease, diabetes, and reduced quality of life.
Feline obesity is a welfare crisis that shares features with canine obesity — normalized appearance, owner-mediated feeding excess, and invisible chronic disease burden. Obese cats experience reduced mobility, chronic joint pain, metabolic dysfunction, and shortened healthy lifespan. The physiological uniqueness of cats makes their obesity management more medically complex than in dogs — caloric restriction must be gradual to avoid triggering hepatic lipidosis. Puzzle feeders address both overfeeding and activity deficit simultaneously, turning food delivery into exercise and cognitive engagement. Post-neuter caloric adjustment is the most commonly missed preventive opportunity — reducing food by 20-30% at the time of neutering prevents the weight gain that is otherwise near-universal in indoor cats following surgery.