I don't think anyone likes getting told they're fat and it's probably considered an insult depending on the circumstances, even though it may be the truth. Today that's exactly what a guy said to Cleo this morning.
Cleo is our cat, a cute little thing of nine years old who we love very much. Like most cats she runs the household and keeps us on our toes; We'd not have it any other way. We care for her very well, provide her the best of everything and are always on the lookout for anything that may be wrong which was behind Cleo's visit to the vet this morning.
We noticed she was constantly licking at a spot on one of her rear legs and her eyes were a little weepy. This photo shows it in the eye to the right. So we packed up in her cat box which she utterly hates and took her to the vet, the aforementioned name-calling guy.
After a thorough check over, including the dreaded rear-end temperature check, the vet took a sample from the area she's been licking at for testing and before long declared that Cleo had some seasonal allergies. Phew, we were worried that it may be something more serious. An injection, cortisone to reduce the effects of the allergies, was administered and we were told she'll be completely fine moving forward and the allergy-symptoms will clear up shortly.
As always the vet put Cleo on the scale...An area she rarely excels at...You see, she really is a little chubby thing. I'm not sure, but it might have something to do with the fact she isn't very active. She sleeps, does some exercise which usually revolves around sleeping, and after she's finished sleeping she sleeps some more because, well we all know how exhausting sleeping can be!
Ok, maybe an exaggeration, but you get the idea...She's not very active.
We've been on a process of cutting her weight and in the last four months she's dropped from 6.3kg to 5.9kg...With cats one can't simply cut their food out, or drop the amount rapidly, it has to be done very slowly. Losing that amount of weight, 0.4kg, is good progress however...Yep, old-mate the vet said, Cleo, you're still chubby. She wasn't impressed.
So, much to Cleo's great disgust, she's on rations. Of course, that doesn't mean cutting food dramatically which can go very badly...But we'll reduce her intake slowly and hope to shift some more weight. The vet would like to see her at 5.3 or 5.4kg so she has about a half kilogram to lose. Sounds achievable I guess, but when one only weighs 5.9kg...8.47% of one's body weight is a fair amount to lose.
Based on a 90kg human it equates to 7.62 kilograms. It's also a little harder for a cat considering they can't walk into the local gym and hit the cardio-classes now can they!
We play with Cleo a lot, but cats typically sleep for 20 or so hours a day, or at least are at an advanced state of rest for that period, so we can't expect her to all of a sudden start running around the block like Rocky preparing for a title fight! We'll play with her more though, try to get her moving a little more and, of course, cut back on the food slightly, food that has already been cut back in the last four months.
She has a weigh-in session back at the vet in four weeks so it'll be interesting to see how she goes. We'll work at it though because, like with humans, excess weight increases the risk of serious health implications. We just lost Merlin, our cat of twenty two years and are still dealing with the loss, it's so painful and raw still, so we'll work hard with our little Cleopatra and get her fighting fit, one way or another.
How about you...Have you had a pet you had to help lose weight or has had health issues you've had to address? Tell me about it below.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised.
Be well
Discord: galenkp#9209
