Get Your Fat Cat Off the Couch!
shaun provost
If your cat is like mine, it sleeps for about 22 hours a day and spends the other 2 hours eating and making sure that its human servants are in check. This fabulous feline lifestyle can lead to obesity, diabetes, and other medical problems. Here are some tips to get your cat moving.
Spend some time each day playing with your cat. While you’re watching television shine a laser pointer around for your cat to chase, or play with a stick with feathers attached. Teach your cat to do tricks or climb up a “cat tree” to get a small low-calorie treat (only one treat!). Make sure your cat has cat furniture or items to climb and play on. Purchase toys that contain catnip to encourage more play. There are also cat toys which require your cat to do some work to remove a treat. Anything to get your cat off the couch and moving will burn calories, build muscle tone, and increase metabolism to ward off obesity. Consider adopting another cat to provide companionship and a playmate for your cat.
When you buy cat toys and furniture, be sure to choose toys that do not have small parts or strings that the cat may swallow. If your cat has toys with these features, make sure that you supervise play to prevent ingestion of any parts of the toy.