Overweight adult cats have significantly lower voluntary physical activity than adult lean cats

Abstract

Objectives The objectives of the current pilot study were to evaluate whether body condition score (BCS) and body weight are significantly related to physical activity counts, and to evaluate potential interaction between BCS and voluntary physical activity measured over a 14 day period. Methods Ten (five lean, five overweight), neutered, adult American Shorthair cats were selected for this study (median age 4 ± 0.5 years). Cats with a BCS of ⩽3.0 were considered lean, whereas cats with a BCS >3.0 were considered overweight, using a 5-point scale. Cats were housed in a free-living environment with indoor/outdoor access and were individually fed once daily a commercially available dry extruded diet and allowed 1 h to eat. Voluntary physical activity was measured consecutively for 14 days using the Actical Activity Monitors that were worn parallel to the ribs and attached via a harness. Results Lean cats had a greater mean total daily voluntary physical activity ( P = 0.0059), and a greater voluntary physical activity during light ( P = 0.0023) and dark ( P = 0.0446) periods, with overweight cats having 60% of the physical activity of lean cats. Lean cats were more active before feeding and during animal care procedures. These data suggest that lean cats have a greater anticipatory physical activity prior to feeding and are more eager to have social interaction with humans than overweight cats. A significant interaction was observed between day of physical activity measurement and BCS for total daily voluntary physical activity ( P = 0.0133) and activity during the light period ( P = 0.0016) where lean cats were consistently more active than overweight cats. In general, cats were more active during weekdays vs weekends. Conclusions and relevance The results of this study suggest that overweight cats are less active than lean cats and that voluntary physical activity level appears to be influenced by social interaction with humans.

Cats in Positive Energy Balance Have Lower Rates of Adipose Gain When Fed Diets Containing 188 versus 121 ppm L-Carnitine

“…Weight gain and related metabolic indices in domestic cats are related to diminished physical activity, mainly in the light hours [ 6 ]. Similarly, obese cats have lower EE than lean cats [ 7 ], and we recently found that overweight and obese cats have reduced activity counts in contrast to lean cats [ 8 ]. Recently, dietary LC (100 ppm) fed to cats has been shown to increase EE and lipid oxidation in contrast to cats fed control (30 ppm) during controlled weight loss [ 9 ] and for overweight cats fed to weight maintenance [ 7 ].…”

Feline musculoskeletal ageing: How are we diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal impairment?

“…10 Hence, musculoskeletal disease as a confounder for the reduced activity levels in the abovementioned study cannot be ruled out. 106 Body condition scores of over 6/9 have been shown to be associated with an increased incidence of musculoskeletal disease in an Australian cat population; 107 although the retrospective nature of this study means a causal relationship between obesity and musculoskeletal disease could not be established. In addition to the mechanical load on joints associated with obesity, the metabolic effects of obesity may create a pro-inflammatory state, with elevations in C-reactive protein, IL-6 and TNF-α reported in obese humans.…”

Feline obesity and diabetes: a One Health perspective.

“…There is an interaction between food consumption and energy expenditure in determining predisposition to weight gain. Evidence shows that lean cats are more active than overweight cats, have a greater anticipatory physical activity prior to feeding and greater social interaction with humans [36]. Another study has shown a stronger diurnal activity pattern of cats when water is added to a dry food diet, compared with a wet canned diet of similar moisture content, the mechanism for which is unexplained [37].…”

“…It has been emphasized that, rather than focussing on the achievement of an 'ideal weight', the goal of weight loss should be established and a robust management approach designed in collaboration with the owner [ [36] may help in the prevention and management of overweight and obesity. It seems that, similar to humans, there is a stigma attached to a diagnosis of obesity in pets.…”

“…Human-animal social interaction is important in the management of obesity in pets [36,127] and there is evidence that, managing diabetes in pets pivots on their recognition as 'sentient selves' [128]. It is imperative to involve the owner closely in environment and behaviour modification [129] and in the complexities of diabetes management [108].…”